Vicki rested her head against him and took a deep, deep breath, letting it out as slowly as possible. “I’m sorry for screaming. What a girl, right?”
Joel shook his head, cupping her face in his big hands. “You have nothing to apologize for. Come on. I’ll get you a drink, and we’ll relax for a while. See if you can get hold of your boss to arrange a day off for the camping excursion.”
Sounded like a good plan, but she didn’t want to simply give up. “What about our lessons?”
Joel pressed his lips to her forehead, as if trying to give her something to think about other than demon horses appearing out of nowhere. “Later. We’ve got time. This is more important right now.”
Vicki rose to her feet, reaching to tug him to vertical. Her offer was a token one—as if he needed her help—but he solemnly took her hand.
She leaned against his strong bulk to catch her balance, physically and mentally. It was a good thing spring wasn’t just around the corner, because while she’d already mastered a few lessons?
The most important one, well, at that moment success seemed a woefully long way off.
Chapter Seventeen
Packing was done far too soon for Vicki’s tastes. “You sure you have enough gear we’re not going to freeze?”
Matt stepped past her and dropped a duffle bag into the truck bed. “What is it with you girls? You really think we’d take you into the backcountry and let you die of exposure?”
Hope crossed her arms. “I would say if it suited your plans, you would leave a few blankets behind and be all ‘oh, we can share body heat to stay alive’. I know your type, Matt Coleman.”
She winked at Vicki, though, before she moved forward to wrap her arms around her fiancé and kiss him thoroughly.
“Stop that. Focus on the task so we can hit the road.” Joel transferred another cooler into the back of the truck. “Man, Vicki. It looks as if we’ll be eating enough to stay warm, that’s for sure.”
“Hey, you made the list. I just cooked it.”
The whole going-camping thing had rolled forward like a train. Her boss had okayed an extra day off from the shop, and suddenly she and Joel were joining Matt and Hope for a night in the mountains.
She stared at the sky, but it was anyone’s guess if the snow would show up early or hold off until they were done this adventure. At least Joel had nixed the idea of using horses and camping on Coleman land as Matt had first suggested. Joel had convinced the others he wanted to hit a site farther from Rocky Mountain House, which meant using a truck.
One bullet dodged.
Getting there ended up rather comfortable and easy. Joel crawled into the back of the crew cab, tucked her to his side and held her hand as they shot the breeze with the two in the front. Matt and Hope made her feel welcome, and she appreciated that so much. Hope’s dry sense of humour helped set Vicki at ease, and by the time they were setting up camp, her concerns had faded.
For everything except the actual camping.
She handed Joel items as he asked for them. “We’re really going to sleep on something that thin?”
Joel laughed, tugging the air mattress from her fingers and pushing it in to the tent, arranging it carefully. “This from a girl who is currently sleeping on a mattress on the floor all the time?”
“Whose fault is that?” Vicki winked then dodged out of reach when he would have grabbed her.
“I didn’t break your bed,” Joel insisted.
There was a snort of disbelief from a few feet away where Matt was setting up a second tent.
“Stop listening,” Joel called out to his brother.
Matt stood and shook his head. “First, I’m moving our tent farther from yours because you’re too damn loud, and if I can hear you now, who knows what we’ll be hearing tonight. And second? You broke her bed? Damn…”
“I didn’t break her bed. Idiot.” Joel threw a tent peg at his brother, but Matt had already grabbed his and Hope’s tent by the sides and lifted it in the air.
Vicki knelt beside where Joel continued to work. “You’re so bad.”
“He’s my older brother. It’s in the rules I have to torment him on a regular basis.” Joel caught her this time, tugging her into his lap. “But I’m glad they moved farther away. He’s right. I don’t want to listen to them fool around all night.”
His hand smoothed upward, stroking along her throat until he held her chin captive, kissing her with lots of tongue thrown in for good measure. Vicki dug her fingers into his hair and went for broke. When he groaned in arousal, she smiled. From never having had a kiss to knowing how to drive him mad, she hadn’t done poorly over the past month.
They separated just enough to draw in air. “Maybe they’ll be happy not to listen to us all night as well,” Vicki teased.
That delicious expression washed over his face, the one that said he had definite plans. “You not sore anymore?”
“Nope.” His palm rested on top of her thighs, an innocent enough touch. She wanted him to shift his grasp a little and cup her sex. Oh shoot. “Did you bring a condom?”
“Hell, yeah, more than one.” Joel glanced over his shoulder. “But stop talking about sex, or there’s no way I’ll last without dragging you into the tent right here and now.”
The food coolers were still in the back of the truck, and neither Hope nor Matt was anywhere to be seen. “Umm, Joel? Where are the others?”
She and Joel fell silent for a bit until a loud laugh gave the answer. Joel grinned. “Damn, they’re at it already.”
Vicki wiggled her brows. “I think I’m going to like camping.”
Only before Joel could haul her into their own tent, Hope popped up, her hair mussed, deep masculine laughter following her. She glanced their direction then rolled her eyes as she turned back to scold through the tent flaps. “Great. Now your brother and his girlfriend think we were fooling around. Nice going.”
Matt’s head poked out, an ear-to-ear grin shining on his face. “Pay no attention to the mad woman over here. She’s in need of a little discipline.”
“Matt,” Hope snapped. “Behave.”
He crowded out of the tent and went after her. “You’re in trouble…”
Watching the two of them run and play made something break free in Vicki’s heart.
That a couple could have a fun relationship as well as a sexual one—well, she knew about it, but to see it played out before her?
Magical.
A finger stroked her cheek. “What’s got you smiling so sweetly?”
She went for honest, pointing across the campsite.
“It’s good to see how much in love those two are. Makes me believe in positive things for down the road. That fairytales can come true. Maybe there’s someone out there who will love me like that some day.” She glanced up and was surprised to see his expression turn serious. “What’s wrong?”
Joel shook his head. “Nothing. Just, yeah, you are right.” He settled her to the ground and gazed after Hope and Matt. Matt had caught her in a close embrace, kissing her soundly with so much life and energy and sheer happiness in his attentions Vicki smiled even harder.
They got the fire going. It was cold enough even with the thing blazing, Vicki cuddled in tight to his side and still shivered.
“I hope our sleeping bags are good and thick.” She shivered again, and he pulled her into his lap, wrapping the quilt around her tighter.
“You’ll be warm tonight, I promise.”
The way she looked at him with the promise of something else showing in her gaze made Joel have to focus on what they were about right now.
“Vicki, you did a super job with the dinner. Thanks.” Hope and Matt were curled up to the right of them, the smoke from the fire drifting to the west away from where they were all huddled. Close enough to speak quietly, and yet not able to see exactly what was going on with the other couple unless they deliberately got up and looked.