Page 45 of Love By a Landslide

“I have to say that’s refreshing because that is so not how my ex saw it.”

“Your ex sounds like a tool.” Jonathan shrugged at Lucy’s gaping expression. “That’s just my expert opinion.”

“That’s not fair. Brodan—”

“Brodan? Oh, yeah, there’s a frat-boy name if I ever heard one.” Jonathan crossed his arms over his chest and dared her to challenge his statement. “I bet he calls thingsdopeand refers to everyone asBro.”

Lucy scoffed and crossed her arms too. “You’re . . . not wrong,exactly.”

Jonathan started to feel a little bad. Not about mocking Brodan’s childish behavior but that his ribbing made Lucy defensive and she was probably taking what he said personally. “I’m teasing, not trying to judge. We all choose partners that are awful for us at some point in our lives. Or we stick it out longer than we should. Best to take it in stride and learn from it.” He knew from experience what it was like to cling to a relationship that had run its course.

“Which is exactly why I’m here.”

“Satisfying your wanderlust.”

“Among other things,” she added, winking comically.

Jonathan chuckled, pleased that she seemed to be warming up to him after he’d been insulting her choice of mate. “You can’t leave it at that.”

“It’s nothing earth-shattering or glamorous.” She shrugged, gazing into the fire. The flickering light played across her sunburned cheeks. Matching flames danced in his gut, warming his belly as he watched the nuanced shifts of her facial expression. He leaned in, suddenly desperate to know her secrets. “I’ve decided to stick up for myself more. Take what I need and say ‘no’ more often.”

She peeked up at him, perhaps to measure his reaction, and he grinned.

“Like I said. Nothing fancy.”

“No,” he rushed to assure her as she discounted her words. “People don’t realize how hard it is to do that. I commend you.”

A smile spread slowly, growing until it transformed her green eyes into brilliant emeralds. Something about his words causing her to beam took hold somewhere deep inside of Jonathan. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Lucy.”

She let out a loud yawn as her eyelids started to droop. He stood up, brushed dust off his pants, and walked over. “Let’s get some sleep?” he asked, reaching out his hand. Lucy looked at it then up at Jonathan’s face. Her cheeks were rosy, and he was certain it had nothing to do with the warmth of the fire. He pulled her to her feet, and side by side, they walked over to the hammock.

Chapter twenty-four

Lucy

“Idon’t see how this is going to work.” Lucy eyed the hammock with its sagging pleats of cloth then sized up her large soon-to-be bunkmate. There was no way they would both fit in that tiny strip of fabric.

“The only way it wouldn’t is if you weigh about two hundred and fifty pounds, which I highly doubt.” This time his perusal of her body was purely for analytical purposes. “This baby is rated for four-fifty, so unless we use it for a trampoline, it’ll hold.”

“But . . . will we fit?”

“There’s more room on the inside than it looks on the outside,” he assured her.

This earned Jonathan a wide grin. “So, your hammock is a Tardis?”

He cocked his head to the side. “A what?”

Lucy waved a dismissive hand. “Never mind.” Crushing fatigue made Jonathan’sDoctor Whoeducation seem momentarily unimportant. She had too many things to worry about just then. Like sharing a bed the approximate size and shape of her fallen sleeping bag with a man who had been increasingly making her blood boil. “How do we get in? Same time from either side?”

“I’ve never actually shared a hammock. But I think the best option would be for me to climb in first and stabilize it, then youroll in after me.”

“It’s as good a plan as any, I suppose.”

Jonathan nodded then proceeded to undo the buttons on his pants.

“Woah, buster! What are you doing?”

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