“They were okay after lunch today when we were in said enormous water source, swimming.”
“They’re worse after sunset.”
“Yes, they are.”
I yawn, holding a hand in front of my mouth. I lean back and turn on the small air-conditioning unit Brad installed last month. It purrs to life, shooting out its cool breeze.
“You should get some sleep. I’ll take first watch.” Hadley pulls his boots off, setting them by the door.
“First watch?”
“Skeeter watch. So we’re not eaten alive.”
I chuckle, and he turns on the bed a little. What I want to do is move closer. He smells incredible, like his sandalwood cologne and soap. The dark team shirt is doing things to me. He looks otherworldly in the navy shirt after seeing him in lighter colors...
I swallow, dipping my head. After the kiss at the lake, and now in the dim light inside Bets?—
“Maggie,” he breathes.
I snap my gaze to his.
Bad move.
It’s darkened over his set jaw as his chest rises and falls quicker than it did a moment ago. I stand, almost tripping over his overnight bag.
“Let’s catch some sleep. Maybe they’ll be gone in the morning.”
Hadley runs a hand behind his neck. “Yeah, we can hope.”
He picks up his overnight bag and dumps it up near the cab. Unbuttoning his shirt, he sinks to the floor and lies, his head propped up on his bag, his knees bent to fit the length of his body in the small space.
He looks utterly uncomfortable.
The floor must be so hard.
“I’m going to...” I hike a thumb over my shoulder toward my bunk. Climbing back onto it, I pull the privacy curtain closed and peel off my clothes, piece by piece. The fact Hadley is just outside the curtain has my body coming alive.
He moves, the sound of his buckle being undone, the slide of fabric over his back as I make out his movements through the thin curtain, sends my heartbeat racing. After taking his shirt off, his jeans go next.
My mouth dries out, and I have to wet my lips and force a swallow to sate it. He rifles through his overnight bag before making quick work of washing his face and brushing his teeth over the tiny sink. All as I stare through the thin veil in front of me, watching like this is voyeurism at its best.
Not a routine so basic as getting ready for bed.
Resetting my out-of-control response to the man on the other side of the curtain, I strip down to my panties and pull on atank and sleep shorts before pushing the curtain back. Hadley’s eyes are closed, his jaw flexing as I move around him to brush my teeth and turn out the light.
My foot brushes against his calf as I try to clamber back up into the bunk, leaving the curtain pushed aside. My head hits the pillow, and I stare up at the dark ceiling just over a meter from my face, tugging my bottom lip through my teeth.
I can’t stop thinking about how hard the floor must be.
And that kiss from earlier.
If he had the desire to repeat it, he hasn’t said so. Or done anything to make me think he wants a repeat. The bare-bones memory of it has my breath shortening.
“Maggie?” His voice is gravel, splitting the buzzing quiet white noise around us against the backdrop hum of the after-party.
“Yeah?”
He groans and I see his silhouette rise off the floor to sit up. “Got any spare blankets up there? I’m not used to AC.”
