“Steady,” Roan coached at her elbow.
Her arm trembled under the weight of the lid. One slip and it was coal cookies. Biting down on her bottom lip and gripping the lifter with both hands in thermal gloves, she eased the lid down onto the bricks beside the Dutch oven.
“Ta-da.” Sweat beaded on her brow.
Roan applauded.
She stripped off the gloves and leaned over to peer at the cookies. The edges looked a little too brown, but the tops were golden. Roan handed her a metal spatula and a paper plate.
Mindful of the edges of the hot pan, she gingerly leaned forward to scoop out the cookies one by one. The last cookie flipped over in the process.
“Aww,” she said. “The bottoms are burnt.”
“Common mishap when first learning campfire cooking.”
“I’m assuming points are counted against you for that.”
“If you’re lucky. Usually, in competitions you’re disqualified if you burn something, but the coordinators of this contest might cut the contestants some slack since the money goes to charity.”
“How do you keep the bottoms from burning?”
“That’s a lesson for another night, but just because they’re a little singed and inappropriate for competition, doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy them.” Roan reached for the cookie that had flipped over.
Jazzy grabbed a cookie too. “Ow, ow, hot, hot.”
Roan blew on his cookie to cool it. Jazzy juggled hers from hand to hand. The burnt smell curled into her nose. Other than slightly scorched, the cookie looked good. Crispy on the outside, soft in the middle, the chocolate chips completely melted into chocolatey goodness.
She popped the cookie into her mouth. It tasted pretty darn good except for the burnt parts.
“Congratulations,” Roan said after he finished his cookie and dusted the crumbs from his fingers. “You’ve made your first campfire cookies.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you.” She rocked back on her heels beside him and looked up to see his face.
“You’ve got some chocolate right there.” He rubbed at his chin.
“Oh.” Laughing, she dabbed her chin.
“Other side.”
She scrubbed the other side.
“You’re still missing it.” He leaned in, cupped her jaw in his hand, and with the pad of his thumb, gently wiped away the chocolate smudge.
He was still touching her face. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her cheek, smell the scent of chocolate in the air, and for one glorious second, she thought he was going to kiss her.
“There,” he murmured. “All gone.”
“Thank you,” she croaked and leaned into him.
Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.
His lips puckered and she held her breath.
“Jazzy?”
“Yes.”
They stared at each other, spellbound, but then the back door opened and on the soft breeze came the sound of Trinity’s sleepy little voice.