Zoey brushed stray stands off her face, and I noticed her hand was trembling slightly.
“Not strange,” I replied, with what I hoped was a reassuring grin. “I was just worried that something was wrong. I’m glad it had to do with your work, and not something one of us said or did.”
“No, no, not at all,” she replied, bringing her wide eyes up to mine, finally looking at me.
“Good,” I said softly as I poured the wine I’d already uncorked into the goblets. Handing her one I asked, “Want to sit, or do you want to go back out and join the group?”
“We can sit,” she said softly, holding the goblet in two hands as if it were a lifeline.
“So,” I began once we were settled a slight distance apart, knees touching. “What are you working on?”
Zoey’s face flushed as she replied, “Just the third book in a series I’m doing … no big deal.”
“O-kay,” I replied, taking the hint that she didn’t want to talk about work and changing the subject. “What made you decide to come here, to the camp with your nephew?”
Zoey visibly relaxed, so I knew the redirect had been a good idea. If she didn’t want to talk about her writing, I certainly wasn’t going to force her to. I hoped we had time enough to get to that at a later date.
“Chloe was originally going to come, but said that something came up with work at the last minute,” she replied with a half-shrug. “That’s not uncommon for her, she works hard to provide for Christopher … but, she didn’t want him to come to camp alone. He’s never been away from home for that long before, and although I’m sure he would have done just fine, she’s a bit of a worrywart. Chris called me, pleading for me to come along so that he didn’t have to cancel. Of course I said yes. It’s only a week, and with my job, it’s easy for me to work from anywhere. Of course, then I had to go and get the dates wrong…”
“I’m glad you did,” I admitted, smiling when she grinned at me over her glass.
“Me too.”
I took a sip then eased back, getting more comfortable before saying, “So, tell me about Christopher.”
Zoey’s expression grew animated, and I could see the love she felt for her nephew written there.
“Chris is great! Smart, funny, and a huge football fan,” she began. “He’s been talking about coming to this camp since it opened. This is the first year he’s old enough, so that’s another reason why I agreed to come right away, I know how much it means to him.” She took another sip of wine, her tongue darting out to catch a stray drop, causing my focus to waiver. “I know next to nothing about football, but Christopher has loved watching it since before he could talk. It’s something that he and Chloe share, and if there’s a game happening, you can bet they’re watching it.”
“But you don’t watch with them?” I prodded, thinking that would explain why she had no idea who I was.
“No,” she admitted with another shrug. “If there’s a game on while I’m there, I’ll usually pick up a book and read. I’ve tried to get into the game, for their sake, but I just don’t get it. I don’t know why … I usually pick things up quickly, but I cannot get a grasp on the rules of football. What about you, do you like it?”
I didn’t want to lie, but I wasn’t ready to lose my anonymity yet, so I replied honestly, “Yes, I love football. I played in high school and college. Reardon, Dillon, and I take in games whenever we can.”
“I’ll have to introduce you to Chris,” she said.
“I’d love that.” Unable to hold back any longer, I brought my hand up to her face, running my fingers along her soft skin before playing with a strand of her hair.
Zoey closed her eyes and held her breath. I leaned over and brushed my lips gently across the place my fingers had just touched.
I leaned back slightly, looking into her upturned face, before placing my glass, then hers, on the end table, and coming back to see her watching me. All trace of nerves gone, she surprised me by placing her hand behind my head and pulling me back toward her.
She met my lips with a fervor, opening her mouth and sweeping her tongue along my lower lip, pulling a groan from me before I took over. I leaned her back slightly, loving the feel of her soft breasts against my chest, her hand tightly grasping the hair at the nape of my neck, as I teased her with my mouth.
I broke away from her lips, kissing down her exposed neck and flicking my tongue along the base. She tasted sweet and salty, like a decadent desert, and I wondered if I’d ever get my fill.
Realizing that my body was drawn tight, and I was reaching the point where necking on the couch wouldn’t be enough, I pulled away and sat down a foot farther than I’d been moments before.
I’d told her I was coming over just to talk, and didn’t want to overstep my bounds or take more than she was willing to give so soon in our budding relationship.
She looked unbelievable sexy, her chest heaving as she watched me with eyes half-lidded with
desire. Her lips were swollen from my kiss, and I had to dig my fingernails into my hands to stop from reaching out and pulling her to me.
I was mentally telling myself all the reasons we needed to take things slow, when Zoey shocked me by straddling me swiftly, bringing her lips back to mine as she ground against the desire that I had no hope of disguising. It looked like taking it slow wasn’t on Zoey’s agenda, and who was I to deny this woman anything?
Chapter Twelve ~ Zoey