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“Don’t feel bad. I managed to lose a bag at the airport.” Pausing for a second, I glance over at Ty. “Oh my God, we are the problem. Thiago is going to be so pissed at us”
“So pissed,” Ty says. “When he sees that piece of canoe coming down the river, he’s going to blow a fuse.”
I chew my lip for a second, looking around and realizing how alone we are. “They will see it, right?”
Ty gives me a confident nod. “Oh yeah, definitely.”
“I mean, how could they miss it, right?”
“They won’t,” he says. “That would be absurd. It’s going to keep on going right past them.”
“Yeah,” I answer. “It’ll probably be a lot quicker without all the weight too.”
Ty clicks his tongue a few times, then says, “Unless it sinks.”
“Right. That’s a distinct possibility, isn’t it?” I say, my heart dropping a little. “Or maybe the backpack will stay afloat?”
“Yeah, let’s hope for that.”
“Because otherwise we’re … kind of stranded, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, and given the fact that we’re on the opposite side of the river from where we started, it’s not like we can walk back,” he says. “Maybe we should try to hike along the shore until we find them?”
I shake my head. “They say if you get lost in the wilderness to stay put so you can be rescued. Besides, I’m guessing it would take days to hike as far as they’re going by canoe.”
“So, stranded, it is.” His gaze is doing all sorts of things to me that it shouldn’t be.
Clearing my throat, I stand up. “I guess we should hang up all these wet things while the sun is still high.”
Ty stands too. “And here you said you don’t know anything about camping.”
I chuckle, then say, “You don’t happen to have some secret survival skills they didn’t mention in GQ, do you?”
“Sadly, I have no attributes when it comes to camping or camping-related fields,” he says, pulling the tent out of its bag. “Other than having the proper travel vaccines, that is, but they probably won’t come in too handy when it comes to starting a fire.”
“True,” I answer, grinning at him.
“They will keep me from getting, what was it you were saying the first time I saw you?” He taps his lips with his index finger. “Oh yeah, unbearable abdominal pains, bleeding gums, and rapid breathing?”
“I really know how to make a first impression, don’t I?”
“I’ll never forget it.”
He stares at me a moment too long, then we both seem to come to our senses and get back to work while I silently lecture my lady bits to settle it down. Nothing is going to happen out here. Nothing. Yes, he’s the hottest man I’ve ever laid eyes on. Yes, he’s completely sexy, fun as hell, and ridiculously manly, what with the saving of my life earlier. Yes, he also seems like a loyal and loving brother. Wait, was I talking myself out of sleeping with him just now?
Right, yes. It’s a no. For several important reasons that have completely slipped my mind, but I know are important.
Once everything has been hung to dry, I turn in time to see Ty peeling off his wet t-shirt. Wow. Nothing about that sight says no.
He hangs it on a nearby branch, then grabs his swim trunks. “I’m going to go throw these on.”
“I’ll try not to peek,” I say, even though I will most definitely be peeking.
Damn, he’s too far into the trees.
Oh my God, Gwen, get it together already! Pathetic. Just pathetic.
I grab my bikini off the log I set it on a few minutes ago and find a spot behind a tree to change out of my wet clothes. Soon, we’re both back on the beach together, completely alone with no distractions, no devices, and nothing to do. Ty sits down on the sand, then stretches out his long legs, looking totally relaxed. “Come take a load off, Ms. Fox. We might as well relax while everything dries.”
