Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
B eth tried to focus on the task in front of her—logging the camp T-shirt supplies and reordering those that were running low—but her hands wouldn’t stop fidgeting with the corner of the paper.
The space felt oddly still since Aaron had arrived.
He was leaning casually against the filing cabinet like he belonged after showing up and asking if he could lend a hand.
He hadn’t explained why he’d suddenly shown up, and when Zoey had smiled and waved him in with a grateful, “Thanks for helping us out,” Beth’s curiosity had only deepened.
Zoey had stepped outside earlier to talk to someone over the walkie-talkie. Was something going on?
She told herself she wasn’t going to ask. Not with Zoey standing there flipping through the order lists. But the longer Aaron stood there, calm, steady, watchful, the more it unsettled her.
Why was he here now?
When Zoey’s phone buzzed and she excused herself and stepped outside to take the call, Beth’s nerves finally snapped. She turned and faced Aaron. “Okay. Why are you here? And don’t tell me you’re just here to help. You said you wouldn’t hide anything from me. Remember?”
“Right.” Aaron’s eyes softened, but his voice stayed firm. “There was an incident at one of the cabins. Brett and the police are handling it. I’m here because it’s safer if you’re not alone right now.”
Her chest tightened like a vise. She didn’t need him to explain further. Ian was somewhere on the grounds. She pressed her lips together tightly and nodded once quickly. In truth, it was the only thing she could manage.
It wasn’t the first time he’d been called there on official business.
Over the years she’d worked at the camp, the police had been called a dozen times.
Almost every time, Ian showed up. She believed he waited for those calls, lived for the moment when no one could stop him from stepping foot on ground where he was not welcome.
For the next hour, she buried herself in tasks, forcing her mind to stay on forms and computer entries instead of the slow burn of dread in her stomach. Aaron didn’t hover; he just stayed close, steady as a shadow.
Zoey had returned, and once the supply lists were all caught up and orders placed, Beth gathered her things and walked with Aaron towards the main building, where she would spend the rest of her day.
The sun was high overhead, causing short shadows across the gravel path. She was just starting to breathe easier when a figure stepped out from between them and the pool house.
Ian.
Her blood went cold. It was obvious he’d been looking for her. Waiting in the shadows.
His eyes locked on hers, then flicked to Aaron at her side, and his expression twisted. “So this is what you’ve been doing?” His voice dripped with accusation. “Parading around with another man like you don’t have a husband?”
“I don’t have a husband,” she said firmly after a heartbeat. For what seemed like the first time, she was fighting back, even if all she could use were words.
Even with the old instinct to shrink back tightening her spine, she stood her ground. Maybe it was because Aaron’s hand brushed her elbow, somehow grounding her.
“Enough,” Aaron said evenly, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Ian’s face darkened, his voice rising. “You think you can have her? She belongs with me. Not?—”
Aaron stepped forward, placing himself squarely between them and causing Ian’s words to drop away.
“Beth doesn’t belong to anyone. You know what the restraining order says.
If you don’t leave now, you’ll be escorted off the premises.
We wouldn’t want to make a scene now, would we?
” He motioned to the camp guests strolling along the pathways, heading to and from the pool.
Beth’s heart pounded in her throat, the words she wanted to say to her ex-husband stuck somewhere deep and unreachable.
For a moment, Ian bristled, his fists clenched like he might test his luck. Thankfully, Aaron didn’t flinch. He didn’t even move. He just stood there, steady as stone, radiating authority.
Finally, Ian spat out a curse under his breath, his glare cutting back to Beth one last time before he turned on his heel. “This isn’t over.”
Beth’s knees went weak at the venom in his tone. She hated that part of her still trembled at his voice, but she couldn’t hide it.
Aaron reached over without looking, gently took hold of her elbow, and held her against his side for a silent moment.
Once Ian disappeared down the path, she took a deep breath and swallowed hard, then, in a moment of strength, slipped her hand into Aaron’s.
They stood there in the heat of the day for just a moment. Then something primal took over her, and she began tugging his arm, pulling him towards the boathouse.
Only after they had stepped inside the cool, dark building did she drop her hold on Aaron’s hand. When the door closed behind him, she pressed herself against his chest, lifted on her toes, and kissed him until she felt his heartbeat in her lips.
His hands covered her hips, holding her lightly. If she’d wanted, she could have pulled away. She could have run away. But she didn’t want to.
She was exactly where she belonged. Here. With Aaron. The man she wanted to be with.
Everything she’d been feeling for him, everything that had bubbled up inside her, released when his tongue touched hers.
With Ian, there had never been this much heat. Sure, she’d wanted him, had dreamed of what it could be like, but it didn’t compare to how Aaron made her feel. How he was making her feel now.
“Beth.” Her name was a soft groan that escaped his lips as they were pressed against her own.
“I don’t want to think.” She sighed and closed her eyes as he kissed her forehead. “Please, I just needed… a moment.” She looked up at him.
She felt his chest vibrate as he chuckled softly. “Take as many moments as you need.” His fingers tightened for a brief moment on her hips.
“I didn’t mean to attack you.” She rested her forehead against his chest.
“You’ll hear no complaints from me,” he said as his arms wrapped around her shoulders. “Although, I can hear the next paddle boarding group of the day heading our way.”
She stiffened and then jerked away from him when she heard the voices outside the door. Aubrey’s voice rose over the group as she began listing off instructions.
“Do you think we can sneak out…” She glanced around and realized there were only two ways in and out of the boathouse. The door he was still backed up against and the larger doors that opened over the bay.
“I’m not swimming for it,” he said with a chuckle.
“Right.” Her shoulders slumped. “Aubrey is so going to tell everyone.”
He shrugged. “They’ve been speculating for a while now.”
“They have?” she asked just as the door opened, and Aubrey stepped inside.
When she saw them, a huge grin filled her lips. “Good morning,” she said cheerfully.
“Morning,” Aaron replied. He quickly took Beth’s hand in his and pulled her through the group of paddle boarders.
“Don’t mind them,” Aubrey called out, “just a little workplace romance hot spot.”
Beth’s face heated as he pulled her down the pathway. By the time they stepped into the main building, she felt back under control.
Beth tried to slip back into her usual rhythm once she and Aaron parted ways in the lobby. He gave her hand one last squeeze before heading out to make his usual rounds, leaving her standing at the front desk with her pulse still uneven.
Work. She needed to work.
She pulled up the day’s registration logs, though her mind kept wandering back to the boathouse, to the heat of his lips and the steadiness of his hands on her hips. The memory was both grounding and dizzying, a reminder that she had just done something she hadn’t let herself even want for so long.
“Someone’s glowing.”
Beth’s head snapped up to see Jules leaning on the end of the counter, smirking like a cat with a bowl of cream. Hannah stood beside her, arms folded, eyes dancing with barely disguised amusement.
“Aubrey has a big mouth.” Beth groaned. “Please don’t start in on me. I’m still processing… things.”
“Oh, we’re starting,” Hannah said, sliding into the chair across from her. “You disappeared with Aaron for, what was that, ten minutes? Or so Zoey claims. And Aubrey finds you two holed up in the boathouse, then you come in here looking like you just got off a rollercoaster.”
“I did not,” Beth protested, cheeks heating.
“An Aaron rollercoaster,” Jules supplied, causing them both to giggle like schoolgirls. “You totally did,” Jules said, grinning. She plopped down beside Hannah. “So… are we talking sparks or SPARKS?”
Beth buried her face in her hands. “Why do I even work here.”
“Because you love us,” Hannah said sweetly before sobering. “But seriously, Beth… Aaron being here, with you, when Ian showed up? That wasn’t nothing.”
Beth froze, her heart giving a painful twist. The mention of Ian soured her stomach as his words echoed in her mind. “This isn’t over.”
Jules picked up on it instantly. “Hey, are you okay?”
Beth nodded quickly. “Yeah. It just caught me off guard, Ian being here.”
“He catches everyone off guard,” Hannah muttered. “But the way Aaron always steps in…”
“He didn’t even blink at Ian’s nonsense. He just shut him down,” Beth said softly, still amazed.
Then she bit her lip and stared at the computer screen in front of her. She could still hear Ian’s voice, sharp and dripping with accusation, but over it came Aaron’s steady, calm, unshakable voice. That, more than anything, had kept her standing tall.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done if he hadn’t been there,” she admitted softly.
Jules reached across the desk, resting her hand over Beth’s. “That’s why he was there.” Her voice was unusually gentle. “And, from the way he looks at you, I don’t think he’s going anywhere anytime soon.”
Beth felt the warmth of those words sink into her chest, unsettling and soothing all at once. She swallowed, blinking back the prickling behind her eyes.
“I’m not ready for… whatever this is,” she whispered, almost to herself.
She’d wanted to kiss him, yes, but was she ready for more? Could she chance it?
“It doesn’t look like you really care if you’re ready,” Hannah teased lightly, though her eyes softened. “Sometimes the good things come when you’re not ready. Like with Owen and me.”
“And the rest of the Wildflowers, for that matter,” Jules jumped in. “God knows I wasn’t ready for Damion. I mean, I was, but I wasn’t, you know.” She shrugged.
Beth laughed weakly, shaking her head as she glanced at her work.
“We’ll let you get back to work.” Jules touched her shoulder.
“We’re here if you need us or if you just want to gossip,” Hannah added.
After they left, she couldn’t stop the tiny smile tugging at her lips at the friendships she’d gained along with the job.
She couldn’t shake their words, because, in all honesty, they weren’t wrong.