Page 31 of Point of Contact

Reed studied her for a second before returning his attention to the fire. "Today's your lucky day then, because most campgrounds have bathroomsandshower houses."

That had her springing to her feet. "I could take a shower?"

She’d done her best to scrub Reed down before bandaging him up, but there simply hadn't been time to waste on her own filth.

Reed gave her a nod as he continued working on building up the fire. "The closest one is at the end of this loop. Why don’t you go do that while I make us something to eat."

He didn't have to tell her twice. The words were barely out of his mouth before she was rushing into their little camper and digging through the bags of items she lawfully purchased from the local Walmart. After packing a plastic bag with travel size bottles of body wash and shampoo and conditioner, along with a fresh set of cheap clothing, she rushed back out, giving him a wave over her shoulder as she flip-flopped her way along the blacktop.

She'd expected to be bathing with bottled water and doing nothing more than a tops and tails sort of thing, so the thought of a hot shower felt like a freaking luxury at this point.

But her version of hot, and the campground’s version of hot turned out to be two very different things. Still, a lukewarm shower was better than nothing. She scrubbed hard at her skin and hair, rinsing away the muck left from their hike through the swamp, and the bit of Reed's blood still lingering under her fingernails from where she cleaned his feet and head. Once every inch of her was squeaky clean, she wrung out her dark hair and stepped from under the water.

To discover she had not brought a towel.

Didn't matter. She didn't care. She shook off her arms and wiggled around to try to knock the bulk of the remaining water loose before pulling on her bulk bag panties, fleece joggers, and an oversized T-shirt emblazoned with the words There Better Be Coffee. After collecting her toiletries, she stepped out of the building and shivered. A towel wasn’t all she forgot. Her thin T-shirt did nothing to stop the chilly air as it cut through the trees, making her hustle her way back to the campsite, ready to pull on a sweatshirt and get warm.

A glorious scent wafted through the air as she rounded the front of the camper to see Reed cooking over the flame. "What are you making?"

He turned to glance her way, doing a double take that lingered, his eyes drifting down her freshly cleaned frame.

She followed suit, looking down to see what was so attention-grabbing about her outfit, outside of the words printed across her shirt.

But it may not have been the corny text printed across the front that caught his attention.

Reed’s sudden focus might have had something to do with the fact that the wetness from her skin soaked into the thin, lightly colored fabric, leaving very little to the imagination. The coolness of the weather made her shiver, and her nipples were pulled more than tight, poking at the cotton fused against them like a second skin.

Reed quickly snapped his eyes back to the fire, but not before she saw the tiniest hint of lust lingering in their dark depths.

She pressed her lips together, smothering out a smile. It seemed like maybe she was growing on him. And that was an opportunity she wasn’t going to waste. Even if it meant freezing her ass off a little longer.

Dropping the plastic bag of items at the door, she grabbed her chair and pulled it to the other side of the fire pit. Sitting directly across from him, she positioned herself so her damp, unmissable tits were looking him right in the eye. "You didn't answer me. What are you making? It smells amazing. I can't wait to put it in my mouth."

Reed's eyes lifted to her mouth, lingering a second before snapping to the cheap skillet they'd picked up where a pile of meat, vegetables, and noodles were cooking together. "This is a version of my mom's japchae recipe, so I'll make sure I tell her if you like it."

Courtney shifted in the seat, discreetly pushing her tits out a little more. "Technically, I’m moving to Alaska, so I could tell her myself."

The thought of meeting Reed's parents was intriguing. Seeing what sort of people combined to create the man in front of her would definitely be interesting.

"We'll see." He pulled the pan off the fire and came to her side, dragging the second chair along with him before sitting down and holding the food between them. He dug into his pocket and passed off a plastic fork. "The noodles are wrong, and it's better when there's kimchi to go with it, but it should be decent."

Courtney's stomach was growling as the savory scent hit her full force. All she'd had since crawling away from her burning home was a couple of energy bars and drinks. And while they did help her power through, they weren’t very satisfying.

She snagged the offered fork and went to work twisting some of the prepackaged noodles before stabbing a hunk of chicken and a carrot and shoving the whole thing in her mouth. It was salty and slightly sweet and like nothing she’d ever had before. She moaned around the mouthful, eyes rolling closed as she chewed through the bite. "This is fucking amazing."

When she opened her eyes, Reed was watching her, that same simmering intensity in his dark gaze. "I'm glad you like it. It's all I really know how to make."

She gave him a little smile as she went in for another bite. "It's more than I know how to make, so I'm not one to judge." She shoved in another mouthful, unable to stop herself from moaning again. "I'm not sure how anything would make this better, even—" Her eyes went to his, "I forget what you said would make this better."

"Kimchi. It's fermented cabbage." Reed finally took a bite, looking unaffected by the deliciousness of the meal. Probably because he got to eat shit like this all the time.

"What's kimchi taste like?" She worked up another bite, not even bothering to pretend she wasn't starving.

"It's a little spicy. A little sour. It adds freshness to this and a little crunch." Reed's eyes dipped to her mouth again. "My mom always has a big vat of it at her house and we eat it with pretty much everything."

Courtney relaxed back into the chair, her plans of taunting Reed with her diamond hard nipples completely overshadowed by the deliciousness of the dinner he made. "Now I definitely want an invite, because I can't imagine anything better than this, and I love pickled foods." She chewed through her latest mouthful. "Is that all you do with kimchi? It's just sort of like a condiment?"

Reed shook his head. "You can use it for all kinds of shit. It’s good in fried rice. Great in these savory pancakes called kimchi-jeon." His head tipped to one side. "I think my favorite way to eat it is this soup my mom makes. Jjigae."

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