“You want to sleep in the bed or drive home?” Lachlan asked.
“We can stay. So far, I like this version of camping,” I told him. “Don’t even think about getting me into a tent, though. And I refuse to use an outhouse.”
He chuckled, pulling me out of the truck to my feet. “I never thought you would.”
I was wearing satin pajamas. My adorable turquoise ones with the black lace trim. The sun had risen an hour, maybe two, ago. Snuggled up in Lachlan’s hoodie, I tucked my legs inside with me. It would be hot in the canyon later, but this early, it was barely above sixty. Yet, here I was, outside, sipping a cup of coffee from a mug that said “Glamping: Camping for bougie people.” The floor under my chair was dirt. The ceiling was a clear blue sky. I’d spent a night outside, but that wasn’t the strangest part.
The strangest part was the sense of contentment settling inside me. There was no question most of that was due to the man sleeping in our treehouse bed. The rugged, overgrown man who knew most of my ugly and still looked at me like I was something precious.
Twinge.
Ugh, I was so stupid for him. Thank Prada he couldn’t see how gooey I got at the very thought of him. I couldn’t even look at him sleeping now, with his tree trunk arm slung above his head, or I’d blush.Me,blushing over my own boyfriend.
This was probably love. I didn’t twinge or blush for anything less.
He’d said only light and fun, but things had changed. We’d gone through heavy and dark, and he was still here. As far as I was concerned, the promises we’d made at the beginning were null and void due to lack of information at the time of the agreement. Lachlan had to feel it too.
I wasn’t worried.
How could I be when my beautiful man had climbed out of bed and was stalking across the dirt to get to me with a look on his face a lot like hunger.
“You look good out here, Elsa,” he rasped.
“You do too.”
I set my mug down and popped my legs out of the hoodie. When he got to me, I was ready for him. Sweeping me in his arms, he buried his face in my neck, and I wrapped my arms and legs around him.
“My outdoors girl,” he rumbled against my skin.
“Only for you,” I murmured back.
With a groan, he reached into his pocket and slipped out his phone, frowning at the screen. “Shit, looks like my mom went off in my texts last night.”
“Is there an emergency?”
He stuffed it back in his pocket and pressed his cheek to mine. “Not anything that can’t wait. We’ve got another hour here. I’m not going to think about anything but this.”
With my ass in his hands, he strode across the dirt floor to our treehouse bed and tossed me down on it. He stood over me, looking at me. His eyes were soft as they trailed along my limbs and hair. When our eyes met, the corners of his mouth curved with satisfaction. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but in that moment, I felt like I was his favorite everything.
No, I wasn’t worried at all.
The drive home was quiet. Without traffic this time, it went a lot faster. Lachlan’s phone vibrated a few times. Each time he read the texts from his sister, he frowned. His parents were putting her in the middle again.
“Do you want to stop so you can call her?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nah. Let’s just get home. I’ll deal with it then.”
“Okay.”
Our hands were clasped in the middle of the bench seat the rest of the trip. He let go when he pulled into his driveway, then he was around the truck, opening my door before I could miss him. He had me out, pressing me into the side of the truck, kissing the hell out of me.
His body leaning into mine, his thick erection digging into my stomach, his mouth feasting on mine like there was no tomorrow. He took my breath away. Knocked my knees out from under me. Held me close and let me soar.
If he had expected me not to fall for him when he did things likethis, then he was really, really dumb. And Lachlan wasn’t dumb. I suspected he was falling along with me.
Forehead against mine, he exhaled a shuddering breath. “I need to go home, take care of this family shit.”
“I should go take care of family shit too.”
He pecked my nose. “You’re a good daughter, you know?”
“Thank you for saying so.”
He gave me one more hard kiss. “I’ll see you later.” Backing away, his eyes stayed on mine as I pried myself off his truck. With a sharp nod, he carried my bag to my house, dropped it on my porch, and gave me one more kiss. “Thank you, Elsa. For camping with me. For all of it.”
He strode down the steps, back to his house before I could respond.
I touched my tingling lips and whispered, “Thank you for taking me. I might be totally in love with you.”
Then I went inside to shower and change into my good-daughter costume. It was time to face what I couldn’t avoid.