Love Him Back Page 4

  “You’re insane,” I giggled. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”

  “After you, darlin’,” he said, mocking my accent.

  As we started to get deeper into the trail, the sounds of the campsite faded, and we were left with only nature and our footsteps crunching over sticks and leaves. It was so peaceful. Darkness surrounded us. The wind had picked up, and I could smell rain in the air.

  “I love the smell of rain,” I said, stopping to enjoy the quiet and freshness with my eyes closed, face pointed toward the sky.

  “Me, too,” he said with the same calm I was feeling inside.

  The wind lightly touched my skin, making me shiver. I opened my eyes as Zane’s strong hands touched my shoulders. He was wrapping the blanket from his backpack around me.

  “That better?” He was only inches from me as he pulled the blanket around my body and under my chin.

  “Yes,” I whispered. “Much better.”

  “Good.” He smiled, his blue eyes sparkling in the glow of the moon. “Let’s go a bit further; then, we’ll turn around, so we can beat the rain back to camp,” he said, starting to walk a bit ahead of me.

  I headed after him when my foot caught on something, and the ground rushed up from under me. “Ouch!”

  “Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.

  Yes, just making a fool of myself in front of you. Again.

  I started to stand when he reached out to help me. “I just tripped on a root or something and twisted my foot. Or it could’ve been because of one of those bomb holes.” I pointed my flashlight behind me to see.

  “Wait, you know about bomb holes?” he asked, looking shocked.

  “Yes, of course. This forest is full of them. I’ve done my research,” I replied nonchalantly. I took a seat on a tree stump behind me, so I could check out my foot. “Just give me a minute, and I’ll be fine.” I rotated my foot as much as I could. All seemed good. Nothing broken.

  He sat beside me and glanced out thoughtfully.

  “You know, it fascinates me to sit here and think of how this forest was created after the first World War to preserve as much timber as possible since they lost so many of their trees during the bombings. Each tree here and each bomb hole tells a story. Isn’t that interesting?” I blurted, suddenly feeling like such a bore.

  I was such a nerd, but I couldn’t help it. I’d always been obsessed with history. My dad was obsessed with history shows on TV, so I grew up watching them with him.

  The look on Zane’s face was hard to read. I couldn’t tell if he was bored or shocked.

  “It sure is,” he said, studying me.

  Not only was this girl attractive, but she was intelligent, as well. None of the women I knew had a clue about history, other than when the first lip-gloss or eyeliner was invented.

  Damn, I’m actually impressed.

  So far, in the few times we’d interacted, Chesney had made me laugh, surprised me, and made me want her in more ways than one. That was a first for me. Usually, I couldn’t care less what a woman had to say. I’d say anything to get her in my bed. Other than that, I had no desire to know more. With Chesney, I found myself wanting to know more about her.

  She was a bit of a challenge, too, which I admit I liked. Most women were putty in my hands. Not her. Maybe it was her playing hard to get? Maybe it was her somewhat shy personality? I couldn’t quite tell.

  “It is fascinating,” I finally responded. “The thing I’ve liked the most about living in England is the history. Everywhere you turn, there’s a story more interesting than the last.”

  I stared at her for a moment at those innocent brown eyes of hers and had to clear my throat to remember where we were. “Here, let me look at your foot.” I turned to pull an Ace bandage out of my bag.

  Carefully, I pulled off her shoe and rolled up her pants leg, so I could take a closer look. She jerked a little and winced when I touched the top of her foot.

  “I’m sorry. I’m trying to be gentle,” I said, starting to wrap her ankle.

  Once I finished, I looked up at her and into those doe eyes again. I swallowed hard as my eyes trailed down her face. She was biting her bottom lip.

  This woman is driving me insane.

  “There, is that better?” I tried not to be so obvious about how I was feeling. I lightly trailed my fingertips up her silky-smooth leg to grab the denim and pull it back down.

  “Yes,” she said, swallowing nervously.

  “Okay, good.” I broke eye contact. I had to before I started picturing her pressed up against that tree to our right, me with my hand between her legs, and her head thrown back screaming my name…

  Fuck.

  I cleared my throat. “Let’s get back before this storm hits.” I grabbed her hands, helping her to her feet. It was time to get back to camp before I did something we both might regret later.

  THE MOMENT ZANE’S FINGERS GRAZED my skin, my entire body tingled. Sensations were waking in me that I hadn’t felt in a very long time. The last time a man had touched me, it was to hurt me. With Zane, something about him felt…safe.

  Say something before you end up jumping on this man in the middle of the woods.

  “I’m sorry. I got your blanket all dirty when I fell.” I brushed it off the best I could and folded it up to hand it back to him.

  “Don’t worry about it.” He shrugged. “Are you okay to walk the rest of the way back?” He wrapped his well-built arm around my waist to help steady me as I walked.

  “Yes, I’ll be fine.” If he kept touching me though...

  We were about halfway back when a startling clap of thunder made me jump; then, the flood gates opened. Rain started pouring from the dark sky, drenching us and the ground around us.

  Welcome to England.

  With the rain beating down on us, I pushed through the pain to bear some weight on my foot and picked up the pace. There was a tree marker ahead that let us know we were getting closer to camp.

  Out of nowhere, I stopped and threw my head back, throwing my arms out to welcome the cool rain as it washed over me—cleansing me. Somehow, in that moment, I felt relieved—finally free of the dirt of my past. I was thousands of miles away from the one man who tormented me and made my life a living hell.

  Zane probably thought I was a crazy person, but I didn’t care. I was drenched—well, we both were—and laughing.

  “What’re you doing?” He looked at me like I was a lunatic.

  “Enjoying the rain,” I said giddily like it was the most usual thing in the world. “I used to always stand out in the rain when I was a kid and just feel every single raindrop. It’s so refreshing. Try it!”

  His expression became amused, but he tilted his head back hesitantly. I watched as the rain poured over his face and down his partially exposed delectable chest. His shirt clung to every muscle.

  After a second, he looked at me and laughed. “You’re something else,” he said, looking awed as he pushed the wet hair out of my eyes and tucked it behind my ear.

  I could barely breathe. The chemistry between us was palpable. The palm of his hand rested on my cheek, and he licked his lips.

  Standing this close to her and not devouring her took every ounce of control I had. She looked edible standing there wet and smiling. She was hurt though, and I was a team leader. I had to make sure I didn’t overstep any boundaries. If it were any other circumstance, I would’ve jumped on the opportunity.

  Damn ethics.

  Her wet shirt looked like it was pasted on as it clung to her chest, her wet hair draping her face and shoulders. She was sexy looking up at me. And I definitely didn’t miss the need in her eyes. I was pretty sure I was wearing her down, which thrilled me. I’d have my time with her, eventually. I’d just have to wait and make my move later.

  “Come on,” I said, grabbing her by the hand and continuing toward the campsite.

  Get me the hell outta here.

  I wasn’t sure what had just happened. I could’v
e sworn he was getting ready to kiss me. I’d wanted him to kiss me, but I needed to find out more about him before I ended up doing something I’d regret later.

  We eventually arrived back at the campsite and were greeted by two other team leaders who looked as if they were getting ready to come track us down.

  “What the hell, man?” the tall, skinny one with the oversized, black-rimmed glasses said.

  Zane talked with the other team leaders as I headed back to my tent to get out of my wet clothes.

  The rain had stopped. Some of the other campers were outside dragging their coolers back out and trying to restart the fire with some new, dry wood.

  After I changed into some dry clothes, I joined everyone by the fire. A few guys were playing their guitars, and one attempted to use a nearby stump as a drum. Everyone was drinking, laughing, and having a good time. I headed over to the cooler just in time to see Zane reaching in for another beer.

  “Hey, what’s up?” I asked casually as if we hadn’t just had a very heated moment. In the middle of a rainstorm. In England. On a camping trip where he was the team leader.

  “Not much,” he replied just as casually, and then he turned and walked off to chat with some of his friends.

  I was being ignored.

  Jerk. Maybe I was wasting my time having any feelings for him. Maybe he wasn’t worth pursuing.

  Picking out my favorite wine cooler, I traipsed back over to the fire and sat on the log by one of the guys playing his guitar. He was pretty damn good, and after a few songs, I found myself tapping my foot to the beat and completely forgetting Zane’s brush-off.

  “You wanna play?” he asked. Before I could say no, he was putting the guitar in my hands and positioning his on top of mine to show me which strings to strum first.

  I was struggling and missed a chord, but we both laughed. Truly I sounded horrible, but I was having fun.

  Looking up across the fire, I saw Zane’s blazing hot gaze on me. He looked livid. Good. Whatever. He had no right to be mad or jealous. I wasn’t anything to him. For some reason, though, seeing the look on his face made me feel guilty. I didn’t want to make him angry, but I hated the game he was playing with my emotions.

  Feeling awkward, I handed the guitar back to the guy. “Thanks for letting me play. Sorry I sucked at it,” I laughed.

  “That’s okay. Maybe you can try playing it again sometime,” he said with a friendly smile.

  “Maybe,” I said noncommittally, watching Zane’s shadowy figure flicker from across the fire. I turned back to the guitar guy. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

  “Maddox,” he said warmly.

  He was cute. If it weren’t for Zane wreaking havoc on me tonight, I’d probably flirt with him. But my interactions with Zane had exhausted me.

  “Goodnight, Maddox,” I said politely before heading to my tent. I needed a good night’s sleep and some time to clear my head.

  “Hey! What’s your name?” he called after me.

  Turning around, I yelled back, “Chesney.”

  “Nice to meet you, Chesney,” he called back.

  Emberly and Erik were already sleeping by the time I got back to the tent. I could hear Erik snoring in his tent next to ours. They must’ve drunk too much. Emberly had stolen my sleeping bag and was wrapped up in hers and mine like a cocoon.

  I grabbed my poncho in case it started to rain again and unzipped our tent flap just enough to peek out to see if Zane had gotten in his tent yet. The last thing I wanted was to go talk to him after he’d ignored me like that, but thanks to Emberly, I had nothing to sleep in.

  “Emberly. Wake up. You have my sleeping bag,” I said as I pulled the slick fabric, trying to pull it off of her.

  She groaned and pulled the sleeping bag tighter to her chest, making me fall backwards.

  Well. Looks like I’ll be paying Zane a visit, after all.

  There was a soft glow of light coming from Zane’s tent, and I could see his silhouette moving inside. He had a huge tent that had an attached vestibule. Lucky.

  Groaning internally, I stepped out, zipped up the flap, and headed over. When I got there, I whispered his name as audibly as I could without disturbing other campers.

  “Chesney?” I heard him say, surprised, as he unzipped his tent. “What’re you doing here?”

  Holy crap. I lost my words for a second. He was standing there, bare-chested, in only a pair of gym shorts that hung loosely on his hips. His hair was still a little wet from the rain.

  He pulled me further into the tent, and I looked down, so he wouldn’t see me blush.

  I swallowed, trying to steady my nerves. “Do you still have that extra sleeping bag?”

  “Yes.” He nodded. “Oh please tell me you didn’t forget yours.” He looked amused, very unlike his aloofness from earlier.

  “Come on now. Have a little faith,” I joked, trying to bring things back to normal. “No, Emberly decided to wrap herself in both of ours, so now I don’t have one. I’d rather have some kind of barrier between me and the ground if I can help it,” I said with a smirk.

  “Yeah, you can have this one.” He handed me a brand new one, still rolled. “We can’t have you sleeping on the cold, hard ground,” he teased. “Anything else?” He arched an eyebrow, looking conflicted.

  A goodnight kiss maybe?

  “Nope, that’s it,” I said swiftly.

  “It’s supposed to storm off and on tonight. You sure you ladies will be okay?”

  Right after he finished his sentence, a pulsating bolt of lightning lit up the sky followed by a piercing detonation of thunder. It was so violent it made me jump.

  “Why don’t you hang out here until it calms down a little bit,” he said encouragingly. “I even stole some hot chocolate from Nate earlier, if you’d like some.”

  “Okay, sure.” I stepped all the way in and stopped short when I saw—“Wait! You have an air mattress? Screw the hard ground. I’ll sleep in here, and you can go sleep with your new roomie, Emberly,” I giggled. “Just to warn you, she snores.”

  I expected him to joke back with me, but he gave me a devious smirk and replied, “You’re more than welcome to sleep in here with me.”

  Oh boy. Yes, I’m sure that would end well…I clapped my hands together, trying to rid my body of some of the nervous tension.

  “I’ll take you up on that offer for hot chocolate. I don’t feel like getting wet again,” I said, blushing.

  He shook his head. “What a shame.”

  Oh. My. Did he just? Whoa.

  I pressed my thighs together at the thought. Yes, it’d been way too long for me, and his flirting was making me want him.

  Reaching down, he grabbed the thermos and two stainless steel camping mugs and poured us both a cup. Wrapping my hands around the warm mug, I breathed in the steam as it reached my face. It smelled delicious. Anything chocolate was all right by me.

  I sat down on the edge of the air mattress to make myself comfortable, and he sat across from me, on the other side of the mattress. Zane’s muscles were distracting. I tried to stop staring, but I couldn’t. I imagined what it would feel like to run my fingers across his hard chest down to his sculpted abs, tracing that perfect V…sigh.

  His voice interrupted my wandering thoughts, “So, Chesney. Where’s home for you?”

  He took a drink of his hot chocolate. I watched his throat bob as he swallowed, and my mouth went dry. What I’d give to be that cup of hot chocolate.

  How can he be so calm and collected when I’m over here squirming?

  I cleared my throat and said, “A small town in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Pretty sure you’ve never heard of it. Not many people have.” I took a sip of my hot chocolate, enjoying the sweet liquid as it warmed my tongue. “What about you?”

  “Actually, since my dad’s Air Force, I’ve lived all over. I was born in Florida but lived in California before I joined the Air Force myself. Who knows where my parents will end up retiring. I’
ve called many places home over the years.” He picked up some marshmallows and plopped them into our cups.

  “How’s your ankle?” he asked, reaching down and touching it lightly.

  “Oh, it’s fine. Feels as good as new,” I said nervously, trying not to pay attention to the way his touch made me feel. My ankle did feel fine; I wasn’t lying.

  Silence filled the tent. We both listened as rain tapped on the fabric above our heads.

  “I had fun out there tonight,” he said, moving in closer to me. His face was only inches from mine. “You’ve got some hot chocolate here...” He touched the corner of my mouth, clearing it off with his thumb.

  Without thinking, I parted my lips and kissed the pad of his thumb, and then I pressed his hand against my cheek. A look of amusement crossed his face, and the muscle in his jaw clenched as if he was holding back. Closing his eyes, he pulled away and let out a long sigh.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, feeling self-conscious and rejected.

  He shook his head. “Nothing, I just don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into. Chesney, I’m not a good person when it comes to women. I’m not the kind of man you want to be with. Besides, if we go there, I mean really go there, I won’t be able to stop myself. I’m a bit hardcore, and there’s nothing gentle about me when it comes to sex.”

  Talk about honesty.

  My eyes widened, and I gulped. “Who said anything about sex?”

  A look of regret came over him. “Chesney, I like you. More than I should, probably. Trust me. If we start something now, we will have sex,” he said, shifting on the air mattress. Every muscle in his stomach and arms flexed with the movement.

  I could clearly see he was turned on. So was I…

  “Why were you so mad when I was sitting by Maddox?” I blurted, needing to know.

  He shrugged. “I wasn’t. You can talk to whomever you want.”