His gruff voice snapped me out of my lumberjack fantasy. “Stop staring at my ass, and get over here with that camera.”
“I was only looking at your ass because you sat in something brown,” I said. “Looks like you shat yourself. It’s disgusting.”
He looked back over his shoulder to see if I was joking. And that’s when it happened.
Nine’s eyes traveled down my body like the hands of an attentive lover before landing on my dick and staying there for a long moment. When his eyes moved back up to meet mine, they were filled with undeniable heat. I couldn’t breathe. My throat had turned to dust, and my heart didn’t know how to beat. What the fuck was happening?
“Based on the state of your blue jeans,” he drawled, “I don’t think you find me disgusting at all. Now get your ass over here and start taking pictures. Sweetie.”
5
Nine
The cabin wasn’t as bad as it looked. The structure was sound, and I realized my first impression had been based on some rotten boards on the fascia over the front door and the disintegrating shutters blocking the front windows. The windows were broken, of course, which had reminded me the first thing I needed to do was make a list of things that needed to be ordered. Windows would take time to get here.
I spent a couple of hours walking around with a pencil and a notebook while Cooper got started creating our social media accounts. We’d emailed back and forth a little bit to hash out some essential details before arriving here. Of course, I wanted to stick to YouTube only, but Cooper had insisted on doing an Instagram account too. Since that was the platform he was trying to build a following on for his own career, I couldn’t deny him that opportunity. Plus, I figured I could take the lead on the vlogging and video while he handled most of the still photos and Instagram.
Since I didn’t much care about the details of things like branding and whatnot, I stayed outside and got to work on the important stuff while he gave the internet hotspot a workout. I still couldn’t believe the money Stallion had been willing to spend on this project. They’d supplied us with the RV which had solar panels and a generator for electricity, a pair of mobile hotspots for Wi-Fi, an open credit line at the nearest home supply store which was about forty minutes back the way I’d come, and a giant stack of new camera and video equipment that was currently stashed in the lockbox in the back of my truck. It was such high-end stuff, I was almost too scared to use it.
Instead, I sketched out the dimensions of the cabin and began taking stock of what we had to work with. At one point, Cooper came to find me.
“Thought you might be thirsty, and I made some lemonade.”
I glanced up at him in the dim, shadowy light filtering through one of the cabin’s broken windows. “Oh, uh, thanks. Yeah. That’s nice.”
He stepped forward and held out an insulated water bottle. “I put it in here with some ice in case you were planning on being out here for a while longer.”
He looked unsure of himself which wasn’t at all like the cocky Cooper Heath I knew. I took the bottle from him, unscrewed the cap, and took a long swig. It tasted amazing. “God, that’s good. Thank you.”
“It’s just a powder mix. Nothing special. I’m not a fan of plain water, so I have a bunch of different flavors of the sugar-free mixes.”
Was he babbling?
He turned in a circle like he couldn’t decide to stay or bolt. “Anyway, that’s all. I just wanted to—”
“Wait.” Suddenly I didn’t want him to leave. “There’s an ice maker in that thing?”
“What? Oh, yeah. Totally cool. It’s connected to the drinking water line I guess. I don’t know much about RVs, but the guy gave me a kind of training session when I picked it up. There’s also a big-ass instruction manual if we need it.”
I took another sip. “I just need to know how to work the shower and turn the sofa into a bed and I’m all set.”
Cooper’s brow crinkled. “What sofa?”
“You know, RVs always have like a sofa that turns into an extra bed. Don’t they?”
“Well, maybe. But this one doesn’t. It has recliners.”
I remembered seeing the big leather captain’s chairs in front of the flat-screen television. “Shit. Where am I supposed to sleep?”
He shrugged. “Well, the banquette turns into a bed for a toddler. I think it’s about five feet long. Maybe you could try that.”
“I’m six four. Didn’t you think to ask them for the kind that had an extra bed in it?”
Cooper placed a hand on his hip. “Yeah. So my boyfriend and I could keep a healthy distance from each other at night. No, Nine. I didn’t tell them we needed separate beds. I assume it’s hard enough for the folks at Stallion to believe their beloved lumberjack poster boy is actually queer, and any evidence to the contrary might not be a great idea.”