Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
TANNER
“ T hese will do,” she says, pointing to the cheapest chisel and hammer the hardware store has.
“You’ll break them on those rocks.” I shake my head and grab the more expensive ones, then smile when Sarah’s brows bunch together in a scowl. “This way, you’ll have these for all the geodes you find in the future.”
“Well, that’s true. I’ll make a little toolbox for our glamping trips.”
We add a small, red toolbox to our pile of purchases that also includes a towel to throw away and a bucket, then make our way to the checkout counter.
“I’m starving ,” Sarah says when we leave the store.
“It’s been a little while since the sandwiches,” I agree. “Should we take a pizza back with us?”
“You get me,” she decides as she fastens her seatbelt. “I like that about you.”
I put our order in at a local pizza spot online, and while we wait for it to be ready, Sarah grabs her phone to take some photos of the cute little town but frowns when she looks down at the screen.
“It says I don’t have any service.”
I check my own phone and shake my head. “I have one bar. Maybe power off and back on again.”
“It sucks when we move in and out of coverage so much. Confuses the phone.”
She powers off the phone, then waits a couple of minutes and turns it back on. “Nope. No service.”
“That’s odd.”
My own phone pings with a message that our order is ready, so I walk inside to collect the food, and when I come back out, Sarah’s taking some photos.
“The camera still works,” she says with a shrug. “I’ll figure the rest out when we get home in a couple of days. I don’t really need it, and we have yours for emergencies.”
“Good idea.” With Petunia sunning herself on the dash, I start the van, and we head back to our home away from home.
“Was it this bumpy going in?” Sarah wants to know as we bump along the road that leads into the campground.
“Yes. You were just asleep.”
“That’s right.”
I check in with the kiosk, and before long, we’re back at our spot. And, with the pizza temporarily forgotten, Sarah gets to work setting up a little geode-cracking station.
“Okay, I want to catch the water and examine it,” she says as she places a rock to crack the geode on in the bucket. “I’m so curious. Does it smell bad? What does it taste like?”
“You’re absolutely not drinking that water.”
She scrunches up her nose at me. “Spoil sport.”
“We have to draw the line somewhere. Okay, what do you need me to do?”
She shrugs her gorgeous shoulder and purses her lips. “I honestly don’t know. I’ve never broken one open before.”
“Well, we’re both beginners, then. That’s kind of cool.”
“In a really, really nerdy sort of way.”
I lift her chin so she looks in my eyes, and the excitement there makes me smile.
“You’re the sexiest nerd I’ve ever met, pretty girl.”
“Aw. You’re sweet. Okay, don’t distract me with your sexy ways. I’m discovering treasure here.”
“Sorry. You’re just irresistible.”
“I know.” She laughs now and sets the geode on the rock, then braces the chisel on it and takes a whack with the hammer.
It doesn’t break.
“I guess it’s going to take a few hits,” she mutters, and proceeds to hit the hell out of the end of the chisel, until finally, the geode falls into two pieces, and water splashes into the bottom of the bucket.
“Yes!” She flings her hands over her head and dances the cutest little jig I’ve ever seen in my life. “You know, that’s really good exercise. And a way to get out some aggression. I should do it more often.”
“Do you ever find these on our beach?”
“No, it’s too sandy. Not a lot of rocks. But I think there are places closer to us that we can check out. People pay a lot of money for these. Not that I’ll sell mine , but I’m just saying.”
She picks up one side and examines the crystals that sparkle in the sunlight.
“Looks like quartz. So pretty!”
Then she goes about checking the water. Smelling it, examining it.
“I feel like you need a white coat and a microscope.”
“Oh, good idea. I’ll buy one of those for the tool kit.”
It’s late when she turns to me in the dark and wraps her sweet body around me like a blanket.
The best blanket that’s ever been invented.
We’ve been sleeping with the back doors of the van open so we can see the view in the moonlight. The cat doesn’t seem to mind living in her harness and leash, and is curled up in her little nook by our heads.
“Are you sleeping?” Sarah whispers in my ear as her hand journeys down my naked chest, over my stomach, and cups the family jewels.
“Not anymore,” I reply with a grin and kiss her soft lips. She moans, then silently slides on top of me, already wet and inviting me inside her. “Ah, babe.”
“I just want you,” she says as she braces her hands on my chest and begins to ride me. The night breeze feels amazing against my skin as she moves, her curves lit up by the moonlight. “I don’t even care if someone could see.”
“No one can see.” I sit up and wrap my arms around her, kissing her collarbones and neck. “Jesus Christ, you do things to me.”
“Good.” Her smile is smug and satisfied as she grinds herself against me. “Because same.”
Her mouth drops open when I slide my hand between us and press on her clit with my thumb.
“Come, baby. Don’t be quiet.”
“The doors are open,” she insists, but I shake my head.
“No one’s around. No one can hear you.” I push just a little harder, and her head falls back on a gasp. She bites that plump lower lip, and when she tightens around me, I take a nipple in my mouth and tug.
“Ah, shit.” Her voice is almost guttural, and finally, she comes apart, crying out my name.
To my surprise, she slides off me and turns around, exposing that perfect ass.
“From behind.” She pushes her hair out of her face and looks back at me, leaving no room for argument. “Hard.”
And hard is what she gets. I slam into her, then slap her ass, sending the sound out into the night. My hand braces over her sacrum, just above her crack, and I ride her hard and fast, our bodies slapping together.
When she cries out once more, and her hands fist in the bedding, I lean over and press my lips to her ear.
“You’re mine . Do you understand?”
“Yes!” She pushes back on me. “Fuck, yes.”
“Mine, and only mine. I’m the only one who gets to touch you like this. To fuck you like this.”
“Oh, God.”
She reaches down and presses her fingers to her clit, and when she tightens even more, I can’t hold back.
I jerk and push, gripping her round hips so hard I know I’ll leave marks after, and I don’t fucking care.
When her breathing slows, she looks back at me, her eyes shining in the moonlight.
“Holy shit, that was fun.”
I pull out of her and turn her onto her back, then push inside once more.
“Let’s do it again.”
“I can’t believe you talked me into a hike.”
It’s our last morning at the campsite, and I’m milking every damn minute out of it.
“It’s a short one,” I remind her for the third time. “And it’ll be worth it.”
“I could be sleeping in the hammock,” she mutters, making me smile. I’ve loved spending all this time with her, just the two of us. Getting to know her again, in every way, is an adventure.
I don’t plan to ever stop learning her.
“Trust me, you want to see this.”
“I trust you.” She reaches back and takes my hand. “I just don’t like to hike.”
“And yet, you walk the beach pretty much every single day.”
“That’s not the same,” she insists. “That’s taking a walk .”
“What do you think we’re doing right now? We’re just walking, you know.”
“Uphill,” she replies. “We’re walking uphill. Which means it’s hiking.”
I laugh and urge her on. “It’s not much farther. You’re doing great.”
Ten minutes later, we walk around a bend, and before us is a waterfall. It has to be a hundred feet high, and when the water hits the pool below, it sends up a fine misty spray, making the whole area feel cool and fresh.
“Wow,” Sarah breathes and stares with her mouth open, taking it all in. “Okay, this is really cool.”
“Told you.” I lead her to a log, and we sit next to each other, staring at the water. “Thanks for taking this week with me.”
“Are you kidding?” She leans in and kisses my cheek. “Thanks for bringing me. I don’t remember the last time I felt this relaxed. I didn’t realize I needed it so badly.”
“When was the last time you took a vacation?”
She opens her mouth, then closes it again and narrows her eyes, thinking.
“That long, huh?”
“I don’t remember,” she finally admits. “So, yeah, this was way overdue. We shouldn’t wait a decade between time off.”
I shake my head, already mentally planning something for a few months from now. “We shouldn’t wait a year. ”
“I don’t know how much vacation time you have,” she says dryly, “but I don’t have a ton.”
“You’re about to be self-employed,” I remind her. “That comes with some liberties.”
“Hey, you’re right. I’ll have to check with the boss, but I hear she’s really cool.” She laughs and bumps my shoulder with hers. “Yeah, we can travel a little, if you want to.”
“I want to.” I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her against me, kissing her hair and breathing her in.
When she shivers with a chill, I stand and take her hand in mine. “Let’s go back to the van and pack up to go home.”
“It’s time,” she agrees, but takes a moment to look back at the waterfall, taking in a deep breath of fresh air. She looks so happy, so calm, and absolutely beautiful. “But first, we have to hike. ”
“You can do it. I have faith.”
She grumbles a little, but heading down doesn’t take nearly as long as hiking in did, and before I know it, we’re back at the van.
“What’s that?” Sarah asks, pointing to the side door. “It wasn’t there earlier.”
“Dirt.” I wave it off, but when I approach, I scowl. “Wait, it’s a dent. ”
Sure enough, the sliding door of the van has a dent in it the size of my head. No paint is chipped, and it looks like it would be an easy fix, but how ?
“How in the world did that happen?” she asks, echoing my own thoughts. “We haven’t been anywhere in days, and no one has been here.”
I prop my hands on my hips and look around the campsite, but nothing has been disturbed. The hammock’s floating in the breeze, and our folding chairs sit by the fire pit, all as they were when we left earlier, only an hour ago.
“Weird,” I murmur. “I wonder if it could be a bear?”
“A bear ?” Her voice just raised three octaves. “A freaking bear ? There aren’t bears in Oregon.”
I frown over at her. “Of course, there are. Okay, you just lost some science cred with that remark.”
“But, there can’t be.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m terrified of bears, and I’d know if they were here! Crap. Now I have to be scared of getting eaten by a damn bear. It’s good that I didn’t know that when we got here, or I would have spent the whole week inside with Petunia. Petunia!”
She races to open the van door, and there’s the cat, taking a leisurely bath in the driver’s seat.
“She’s fine,” I assure her. “Come on, let’s clean up and gather our stuff, then hit the road.”
“There could be a bear lurking behind any of these trees.”
“I don’t think they lurk.” I untie one end of the hammock. “I’m pretty sure they just go about living their bear life.”
“Eating unsuspecting campers,” she adds, quickly gathering and folding our chairs. She stows them in the van.
With the fear of becoming a wild bear’s lunch, Sarah moves fast, and we get everything packed up and ready to go in less than thirty minutes.
On the way through the campground, Sarah points to the spot, now empty, where the pregnant girl was staying.
“I didn’t notice earlier, but she’s gone.”
“I’m just relieved that neither of us had to deliver a baby this week.”
“No kidding. I hope she’s okay, though. She was so young and so pregnant.”
When I stop at the kiosk to check out, I point to the spot on the van that’s dented. “Any idea what might have caused that? We found it after we took a little hike this morning.”
The man scowls at it, then shakes his head. “I’ve heard that there’s been a black bear hanging around,” he says. “Could have been that, trying to get into your food. It also could have been a deer, or anything, really.”
“That’s what I thought.” I nod and sign the checkout paperwork. “Probably wildlife.”
“I hope y’all enjoyed your stay.”
“We did, thanks.”
I nod and drive off, headed toward home.
“Shouldn’t they alert people that there’s been a bear about?”
“I suspect that they assume anyone who’s camping knows that they’re taking the chance that there might be any kind of wildlife around.”
“I suppose.” She bites her lip. “Oh well, we survived the attack. Wait until I tell the others.”
I stare over at her and then turn my eyes to the road again, and I laugh my ass off.
“I can’t wait to hear how you spin this.”
“So, you’re telling us that you survived a bear attack,” June says, narrowing her eyes.
“A bear likely dented the van, yes.”
“But you didn’t see the bear,” Apollo adds.
We’re sitting out on my patio, telling camping stories. Not an hour after we arrived home, friends started showing up.
Luna and Wolfe were first, followed closely by June and then Apollo.
I guess they missed us this week.
“We didn’t see the bear with our own two eyes,” Sarah concedes and reaches for one of the sandwiches that Luna brought with her. “But the ranger said that there had been one about, and what else could have left that dent in the van? It was huge. Poor Petunia was probably scared to death.”
“Aside from wild, carnivorous animals,” June cuts in. “Did you have fun?”
“So much fun. But enough about us. What’s been going on around here? I didn’t hear from anyone, so I figured everything was okay, but my phone has been screwy.”
Wolfe frowns at Sarah. “What’s wrong with your phone?”
“Who knows?” Sarah shrugs. “I’ll probably have to go down to Newport to have it checked out. But I have a shiny new car, so I can go do that whenever I want.”
“But not by yourself,” June says before I can. “Because if your phone doesn’t work and something happens, you need to be able to call for help.”
“I’m just destined never to have any alone time again,” Sarah mutters. “Anyway, what’s been going on?”
“Nothing exciting,” Luna replies, earning a scowl from June.
“Are you kidding me?” June demands. “We started on the trim inside the inn. The floors are done, at least on the first floor. And the outside is being painted. All of that isn’t just exciting, it’s”—she waves her hands about, as if she’s searching the word—“remarkable.”
“Well, yes, there’s that,” Luna clarifies as I look over to Wolfe. He’s just watching her with big ole heart eyes. I wonder if he’s told her about the charity race he wants to do yet. “But I meant that there wasn’t any gossip. That’s all. Geez, don’t get testy.”
“Let’s go get some beers,” I suggest to the guys, and the three of us leave the girls to chat and go inside. “Any word about who could be trying to get to Sarah?”
“I’ve been in touch with Cullen since you’ve been gone,” Apollo says. “So far, they don’t have much to go on. And there’s been no new activity since last week. No one tried to get into the house while you were gone, from what we can tell.”
“I tried to do some digging on the ex,” Wolfe adds, his face grim. “From everything I can find on him, and there’s plenty, he’s a ruthless asshole. Didn’t do much of anything to actually make his money. He came into it the old-fashioned way. He inherited it.”
“Sarah mentioned that he worked really hard.”
“At his golf game, maybe,” Wolfe says with a shrug. “I don’t see where he actually works a job. He doesn’t hide the fact that he sleeps around, and about a month after their divorce was final, he remarried. She’s ridiculously young.”
“He likes them young,” I mutter. “Well, thanks for checking.”
“From what I can see, he’s a prick, but he’s not the type to harass her. I don’t think he’d know how, and if he’s already remarried and focused on that, I doubt he’d come looking for Sarah.”
“You’re probably right.” I nod and open the beer, taking a sip. “Hey, did you ever tell Luna about that race you want to do?”
He opens his mouth to answer, when we hear behind us, “What fucking race?”