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“No, silly,” she said as she put his arm back into place because, well, safety. “I know you’d never hurt me.”
His grip tightened with the contraction of his muscles, and he felt as stiff as he had last night while they were dancing.
“Never,” he croaked as his breath tickled the back of her ear.
Course completed and back on solid ground, they walked back to the lodge. She couldn’t believe she’d conquered her fear. Well, maybe not conquered—she was still terrified of heights. In fact, there was a point where Nate’s warm body pressed against her lower half, and she was almost positive she’d peed her pants. But he’d helped her through—even confirmed there were no wet spots on her pants.
He was right, though. They made a good team. She knew they worked well together. They’d been doing it for over a year now. But this felt…not like work. This felt like a different kind of relationship. Like the one they were supposed to be faking.
He looked back over his shoulder at her as her footsteps slowed. “Still with me, Stells?”
She stopped, taking in Nate’s windblown hair, his hulking size. His warm, cocoa eyes. He was a good man. Someone she could trust. Someone she could count on.
“I’m coming,” she said as she caught up to him. The crunch of leaves underfoot carried with them the spicy scent she’d smelled on him when he’d held her close. It made her long to curl up in his arms again, which was probably not the best idea. Not when she was trying really hard to ensure the success of her business. Not when she remembered what always happened when she got hold of a good thing. And Nate wasn’t just a good thing.
He was a great thing.
Which was why she couldn’t mess things up with him like she’d done to so many other things in the past.
Chapter
Eight
“Well, howdy ho,” Stella said to her reflection in the vanity mirror and then cringed. She sounded like that Christmas poop that showed up in theSouth Parkholiday episodes Lucy made them watch every year.
She fastened the final elastic in her braided pigtail, turning her head from side to side to make sure it matched the other. Though she was going for a scarecrow look, it read more cowgirl…minus the hat. But the addition of straw sticking out of the sleeves of her flannel shirt would surely get the point across.
Her eyes drifted to the closed bathroom door, where Nate had disappeared to not long after they got back from grabbing a quick bite at the restaurant down the hall from their room. He’d told her the first day here that he hadn’t brought a costume, so she couldn’t imagine what was keeping him.
Tonight, the group was working atBoo at the Zoo,a favorite activity among the children of the community. When Lucy realized they’d be at the Oglebay while it was happening, she reached out to her friend Josie, an event planner for the resort,to see if they needed any volunteers. Turned out, they were happy to welcome the crew to hand out treats at various stations set up throughout the zoo.
She sat back from the vanity, pumping a couple of spritzes of hairspray to tame a few flyaways. “That ought to do.” She gave her reflection a satisfied nod before she put on her hat. It was pointed and brown, and the patches of fabric on it were a nearly perfect match to the flannel plaid she wore, which was a small miracle since she hadn’t bought the pieces together. The bill of the hat swooped, the felt material stiff enough to have much structure. But the way it allowed one eye to peep out made her feel a little…sexy?
And speaking of sexy…what was taking him so long? Whoa, where did that come from? She’d always thought of him as good looking. But sexy? She hadn’t given that much thought, unless you counted the number of times she replayed him making short work of the aerial course. In that case, she’d given it a lot of thought.
Stop it, Stella.
Had it only taken him showing a glimpse of his softer side to make her this unhinged?
You know it wasn’t just that. Think of how he held you close, how he made you feel safe, how he said you made a good team.
How he supported you.
She leaned toward the mirror, her elbow on the vanity to steady her hand as she drew a few freckles on her cheeks with her eyeliner pencil.
“This isn’t what I’d imagined.” Nate’s voice sounded above the squeak of the bathroom door, and her pencil fell on the table. She heard it roll until it plopped softly on the carpet, not knowing where it had gone. But something told her she needed to find it because her eye makeup was about to be ruined.
“What—?” Her breath caught as she viewed him in the mirror as he stood several feet behind her. She swallowed hard, closing her eyes tightly to keep any moisture at bay. But as she caught one last glimpse of herself in the mirror, the red rims around her eyes were undeniable. But could anyone blame her?
She turned in her chair with the speed of a snail because—come on—this was a dream, right? If she moved too fast,poof!Nate would disappear and, along with him, the worn jeans, straw-stuffed flannel, and floppy hat he wore.
“Howdy, ma’am,” he said with a tip of his hat as he took two steps toward her.
“You’re a scarecrow,” she responded because every ounce of energy she had was fighting like heck to keep her from crying, and there weren’t enough brain cells in reserve to do anything more than state the obvious.
“But I’m reading more cowboy, right?” He glanced down at his costume and then back up at her as a blush streaked his cheeks. Cheeks he’d reddened with face paint and sprinkled with darkened freckles that matched hers. He didn’t look like a cowboy. He looked like someone she wanted to hug.
“Nah,” she said with a sniffle because she was obviously allergic to the fake straw. Not because she was getting overly emotional at the sight of a man in a scarecrow costume. “I think you look perfect. But how? You said you didn’t have a costume for tonight.”
