Chapter 12
CHAPTER
TWELVE
Elliott
The rain lashes against the windows with a ferocity I haven’t experienced in years.
The forecast said to expect thunderstorms all night, but this sounds like so much worse.
Lightning flashes outside the windows every second, or so it seems. I wait for Baylor to wake up from the thunder that’s rattling the walls.
When your livelihood is set in the woods, lightning like this feels like the lottery. Will you be the winner or will you be the loser and have it hit your camp and start a forest fire?
I’m thankful that Baylor was already asleep when it started. She’s usually scared when they roll through and ends up in my bed all night, which isn’t that big of a deal, but her little toes always end up wedged into my back, which means a restless sleep for me.
I’d planned to sand down and restain a bunch of the furniture at the camp tomorrow, so I need my sleep. Though with all this, they won’t be dry enough for me to get to it.
I’m watching the sports channel on the TV in the living room when a loud crack of thunder sounds, followed by a flash of lightning that feels way, way too close to the house. In fact, the hair on my arms stands on end.
Then a crack and a thud I know too well—a felled tree.
I lunge off the couch and race to Baylor’s room, heart hammering. I push open the door, and thankfully, the room is dark. She’s nestled under her covers, safe and sound. No tree lying on top of her.
I breathe a sigh of relief until Emelia comes to mind.
Shit.
I don’t bother putting any shoes on before I open the sliding glass door and race outside. Fuck. The tree beside the bunkie has been hit by lightning and now lies on the far corner of the bunkie.
I’m racing across the lawn, squinting from the rain pelting my face. “Emelia! Emelia!” I leap over the four steps that lead to the deck and burst inside. “Emelia, are you okay?”
“Elliott!” She races over to me, wrapping her arms around me, panicked. “I was in bed, and then I heard the cracking sound. The next thing I knew, there was a huge crash.”
Her face is plastered to my wet T-shirt, and I wrap my arms around her. She’s shaking, obviously in shock over what just happened.
“Lightning hit a tree near the bunkie, and it came down. You’re okay? You’re not hurt?”
She shakes her head, pressing her face into my chest.
I shouldn’t focus on the feel of her in my arms at a moment like this, but it’s impossible.
All I can feel is her warm skin pressed against mine.
All I can smell is the scent of her perfume or her shampoo—something woodsy with a hint of vanilla.
All I can see is a replay of the way she ran directly for me when I burst in here, as though she saw safety in my arms.
Just then, the lights go out.
“C’mon, let’s get out of here. I won’t be able to see what the damage is until the morning.” I gently push her away from my body, but keep hold of her hand, pulling her out the door.
I lead her across the lawn as fast as possible, but we’re both soaked by the time we reach the sliding door. I motion for her to go in first. There’s still electricity in my house. The tree probably hit the line into the bunkie since it’s on the back side of the building.
But all my thankfulness stops when I see what Emelia wears to bed. Now that her white tank top and boxer shorts are wet and clinging to her skin, I don’t have to imagine what she looks like naked. The outline of her nipples sends my dick into overdrive.
It’s been way too long since I’ve gotten laid—it takes every single ounce of willpower to tear my eyes away.
I blink, then spin on my heel, heading for the hallway. “I’ll find you something dry to change into.”
Anything I give her is going to be way too big, so I just grab the first pair of sweatpants and T-shirt I find.
When I return from my room, her arms are crossed over her chest, probably since she saw me staring at her minutes ago.
“Sorry, I didn’t think to grab an umbrella or anything before I raced out there to see if you were okay.” I hand her the clothes. “They’ll be too big, but they’re warm and dry.”
She takes them from me, shivering.
I look away, not wanting to take advantage of the situation just so I’ll have material for my spank bank.
“Thanks for these.”
“You can use the bathroom down the hall to change.” I gesture, and she goes without saying another word.
I go to my room and change into dry clothes, and by the time I return, she hasn’t come out, so I stand at the sliding glass doors, looking out over the backyard.
Every time the lightning flashes, I get a glimpse of the bunkie, and the damage doesn’t look good.
It’s hard to tell because the tree fell on the far side of the building, so I won’t really know what the situation is until daylight.
The hardwood creaks behind me, and I look over my shoulder.
Every muscle in my body coils tight when I get my first look at Emelia in my clothes. The hunter green T-shirt with the logo for my camp hangs off one shoulder, and she’s swimming in my pants. There’s a huge bulge under the T-shirt where she’s rolled the waistband several times.
Fuck. Seeing her in my clothes like this…
I clear my throat and turn my head back around, discreetly adjusting myself.
The thunderstorm continues to rage outside as she steps up beside me.
“I wasn’t sure what to do with these wet clothes.” She holds them out between us.
“I’ll put them in the dryer for you.”
I take them from her as a loud crack of thunder shakes the entire house, and we’re plunged into darkness. Emelia yelps.
I don’t know what it is, but something about the sound—like a dying hyena—makes us both laugh. We don’t stop right away, and it’s not until we’re quiet again that I realize how long it’s been since I’ve laughed with a woman.
“I guess I’m more freaked out by being woken up by a tree falling on the bunkie than I thought.” Her voice is a little breathless, and in the dark like this, all I can think about is whether this is what it would sound like to be in the same bed with her.
“Anyone would be freaked out. Guess I’ll just go hang those in the shower. You good here on your own for a second?”
“Yeah, sure.” She wraps her arms around herself, and I fight the urge to pull her into my arms, though I can’t account for it.
Objectively, Emelia is hot. So it’s no surprise that I feel an attraction to her. But this urge is driven by the need to comfort. Something I don’t understand because I don’t like this woman or what she represents. I should hope that this scares her right out of town.
Using the periodic display of lightning Mother Nature is giving me to find my way, I get to the coffee table, pick up my phone, turn on the flashlight, and head to the bathroom.
Once Emelia’s clothes are hung over the top of the shower curtain pole, I go back to the kitchen. She’s right where I left her, looking at the backyard as rain pelts the windows.
“You’re going to have to sleep here tonight.” Clearing my throat, I refuse to consider the way saying those words out loud makes me feel.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” She turns to face me, and I point my phone toward the floor so the light isn’t shining in her face.
“Course not. I have a guest room you can stay in. It’s not fancy or anything, but it has a bed and mattress. And a roof.”
She chuckles low in her throat. “What more can a girl ask for?”
“Follow me.” I lead her down the hall to the room across from Baylor’s. “The power should be up and going by the morning. This happens a lot when there’s a bad storm. County keeps saying they’re going to upgrade things so we don’t have this issue, but I haven’t seen it yet.”
I gesture into the room with my hand and shine the flashlight inside. I don’t dare follow Emelia inside the bedroom. Tonight has been temptation enough. The last thing I need is to be with her in a dark bedroom with a mattress.
“Here you go. This work for you?”
Emelia takes a quick look around. “This is great. Thanks, Elliott.” She looks directly at me when she says my name, and something about the way she says it unsteadies me.
I snap my attention away from her and clear my throat. “No problem. Why, uh…why don’t you get in bed since I’ve got the only flashlight, and then I’ll leave.”
She sucks her bottom lip into her mouth and nods. “Yeah, okay.”
She walks over to the bed and slides underneath the covers.
“If you need anything through the night, I’m in the room at the end of the hall.”
Her eyes widen for a heartbeat, and I realize how that must have sounded.
Jesus. Get your shit together, man.
“I didn’t…well, you know what I mean.”
She nods. “Yeah, I do.”
Without embarrassing myself further, I pull the door closed and head to my room. By the time I slide into bed, I have a raging hard-on that I’m too stubborn to take care of. I refuse to beat off to thoughts of Emelia when she’s in the next room.
The idea is ridiculous when she represents everything I hate.
Unfortunately, my dick doesn’t get the message, and it takes me damn near an hour before my erection subsides and I can finally fall asleep.