Beth Ann hefted the bottles of rum and stared at them thoughtfully. “Seems a shame not to at least taste our alcohol.”
Colt grimaced. “That’s a cheap brand of rum. You’re probably lucky you didn’t taste it.”
“Oh?” She studied the bottle.
“You’re probably used to drinking some fancy shit anyhow,” he said, using the side of his boot to rake mud and leaves over the remains of the fire pit.
“Actually I’ve never been drunk,” she admitted. “I kind of wanted to try it.”
“Never?” He looked down at her, incredulous, then picked up a bottle. “We’ll save one for you then. Maybe see what you’re like when you’re plastered. You’ve led a pretty sad life if you’ve never been drunk off of cheap alcohol, Miss Beth Ann.”
She grinned with wickedness. “I know.” It was like Allan’s wants and needs had ruled her life for the last nine years. Longer than that—they’d gotten together when she was in high school.
So much time wasted trying to please a man that couldn’t be pleased.
“Tired of being the good girl?”
“Not that,” she said, tugging one muddy, horrid shoe back on her foot. After this, she was going to wear sneakers for a week. “Tired of doing what everyone expects me to do. That’s all. I did it and it got me nowhere. I’m doing what I want to do, and if that means trying new, occasionally stupid things, I’m going to do it.”
“Atta girl,” he said, and then gestured at the woods. “Come on. Let’s see if we can make it back while the day is young enough.”
And to her surprise, he held out his hand. A warm feeling swept through her, and Beth Ann smiled. She took his hand and glanced around. “Where’s your slicker?” She was still wearing his shirt over her dress, and his chest was still bare. Streaks of mud dotted his skin, and she could have sworn that those were claw-marks from her nails on his back.
She could only imagine what she looked like.
“It’s pretty destroyed,” he admitted, and he glanced over at her, giving her a blade-sharp smile that made the dimple in his cheek appear. “Someone got carried away last night.”
She nudged him with her shoulder, blushing. “Two someones.”
“True enough,” he said with a chuckle.
He was cold, wet, tired, muddy, needed a shower and a shave…and he didn’t want the day to end. The woman at his side held his hand, and her tangle of hair brushed against his arm occasionally as they walked. She looked like a mess, too, but she seemed content. There was a sensual look in her eyes when she glanced over at him and it fired his blood all over again.
Last night had been incredibly hot. This morning had been incredibly hot, too. Here in the woods, she was all his. When they got back to civilization, she’d turn into pink and blond proper Beth Ann Williamson, queen bee of Bluebonnet, and he’d turn back into that white-trash Waggoner boy. She’d thank him for getting her out of the woods and the one-night stand would just be a dirty little secret between the two of them.
And for some reason, that didn’t sit right with him. Maybe it was because he needed another night of sex with her to get last night’s experience out of his mind. Maybe it wouldn’t be as good and she wouldn’t be as responsive, and he’d be done with her and could go back to work with an itch scratched. That’d be all right. But they didn’t have another night. After they got out of the woods, he was going to borrow Grant’s car (since his was supposed to be stranded along with hers), drive her home, and not think about her again.
But he kept thinking about last night, and her, as they walked.
He knew exactly where they were, of course. They were on Daughtry Ranch land, and he knew every acre by heart. He’d crawled over and under every shrub in the area in the past six months or so with their survival classes. And so he deliberately tracked back, circling over to one of the many creeks that cut through the area. The water was high, but not swollen and rushing. They crossed at a shallow point, and after they crossed, Beth Ann shivered with cold, and he pulled her in close to him for a minute.
“You going to be okay?” He could stand to hold her for a little while if she needed. When he pulled her close, he could smell the wood smoke in her hair, and her tight little ni**les brushed against his chest.
She nodded, biting her lip. “I’m glad we waited to cross,” she said with relief. “Just imagine how bad it would have been yesterday.”
Still crossable, he thought to himself, but only drawled a “Yup.” Then, he rubbed her back. “Let’s get going. Not too much farther now.”
The ground began to level out, the trees thinning, and he led her toward one of the trails. She promptly took off her shoes, smiling over at him and wiggling her toes in the still-damp earth. “Thank goodness. Those shoes are killing my feet.”
And here he felt all guilty again. “Almost there.”
It was another hour of walking until they reached the edge of the land, and the trail forked ahead of them. The trees were thick, but the branches overhead were clearing a bit more, and he knew this area by heart now. They were on the edge of the ranch proper, with the cozy group of cabins up ahead. Almost home. Almost back to reality.
“Which way?” she asked, turning to him. He noticed dark circles under her eyes. She was tired. Another thing he had to blame himself for. Damn. He hated feeling guilty, so he ignored it. “If we head left, we’ll run into Dane’s cabin. Mine is on the right fork of the trail.” Straight ahead would take them to the main house, and behind that was Grant’s cabin, and Brenna’s, and the spare that they’d had built.
Her eyes brightened at the mention of his cabin. “You mean we’re almost out of here?”
“Almost,” he said dryly, hating that enthusiasm in her voice.
“Could…could I borrow your shower? I hate to impose.”
Beth Ann wet, naked, and sudsy in his cabin? “Impose.”
She grinned. “Lead the way.”
Everyone that worked at the survival business had a small cabin built for themselves. It was one of the perks of being employees, and Grant had insisted. They were always nearby if needed, though the occasion hadn’t happened often. Dane’s cabin was the most remote, and he didn’t have electricity running to his cabin. If he wanted electricity, he’d explained to them, he’d have gotten a place in town. Dane was just intense about the survival stuff like that. His shower and water was hooked up to a well, too.