Page 52 of Point of Contact

But just like always, Courtney managed to lighten him up. Remind him that even though life was serious, it didn't have to be so intense.

"It doesn’t mean you're not still a pain in my ass." He managed to say it, but the fact that he was smiling probably meant it didn't come across the same as it used to.

Courtney laced her arms around his neck, tipping her head. "And you are still as grumpy as ever."

Before he knew what he was doing, his arms were around her back, holding her close. It was easy to do and felt like a completely normal thing. Like he'd done it a thousand times.

Courtney chewed her lower lip, eyes on his. "So, when you say we can't fuck—"

"I mean no fucking, Princess." He palmed her ass, pulling her a little closer, the press of her belly against his cock feeling way better than it should. "I think we need to be sensible about this. Not get ahead of ourselves."

Courtney tipped her head from side to side, eyes lifting to the ceiling. "I think I can work with that."

He was a little surprised she was agreeing so easily. Especially since she was the one adding condoms to their order. But Courtney was turning out to be way more easy-going than he remembered. Adding to the laundry list of ways she was not at all what he thought.

Courtney backed up, carefully shucking her coat and tossing it onto the couch. "I guess we should get going then."

Maybe what he was seeing now wasn't Courtney being easy-going. Maybe what he was seeing now was Courtney when she was up to something. She was being too agreeable. The fact that she hadn't given him a hard time at all was suspicious as hell.

And a little disappointing. As much as he gave her a hard time about it, he loved her attitude. Loved how feisty she could be. He might even do shit specifically to bring out that side of her, much like he suspected she goaded him. Courtney grabbed a bag of pretzels from the table, fished a bottle of water out of the large pack beneath it, and dropped into her seat without a word of complaint.

Yeah. She was definitely acting suspicious.

But he wasn't going to argue. Not now anyway. They really did need to get on the road, especially if the weather was going to be shit. And it looked like it was.

He'd been able to get new tires put on the camper at one of their stops, but he still wasn't completely confident the thing was going to make it all the way to Fairbanks on its own. But if he had to pay a tow truck to take it the rest of the way, then that's what he would do. Until then, he was going to enjoy the ride his parents would never get to take. Grabbing a bottle of water for himself, he climbed into the driver's seat, starting the engine and testing out the new wipers before pulling out of the lot.

The rest of the day passed quickly, with occasional stops for gas, bathrooms, and stretching breaks. By the time they got to the campsite Heidi reserved for them, the sun was long down and his ass was starting to drag.

But Courtney seemed just as full of energy as she always was. She practically leapt from her seat, going straight to the back of the camper. "Heidi said this campground was supposed to have a laundry room and really nice showers." She was already peeling open the new sheets and duvet cover, shaking them out before shoving them into the large tote bag she bought to keep her things collected in. "I'm gonna go load these in the washer and take a shower." She turned to him, her expression sweet and innocent. "What about you? What are your plans?"

He moved toward the bedroom, pausing at the closet to collect some fresh clothes and his small bag of toiletries. "I could use a shower too."

They'd stopped to grab dinner on the road, so there was no need to start a fire or try to cook anything, which was great because the farther north they went, the more difficult it would be to do that anyway. Courtney's new pots and pans would have to wait for another trip to be used.

Shit. Now he was already planning another trip. With her. Even more proof they had to keep their heads. This close proximity was making it easy to get carried away.

"We can go together then." Courtney slung her bag over one shoulder, giving him a sweet smile as she opened the door, climbing out the side of the RV and immediately yelping. "What the fuck?" She wiggled around, trying to grab the hood of her coat to get it yanked up over her head, but between the bag and the positioning of the hood itself, her arm wasn't quite capable of reaching.

Reed hurried out behind her, closing the door before grabbing what she couldn't and settling it over her head. He pulled the ties at the front, bringing it down tighter so less wind would break through. "We need to get you a hat."

Courtney's eyes lifted to his own bare head. "Aren't you cold?"

"I've lived my whole life in Alaska, Princess." He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her toward the bathhouse. "This is nothing."

He put one arm around her, making sure she moved quickly down the lane, watching for any spots that looked slick. There was no snow on the ground, but sometimes ice was worse. Luckily, everything seemed dry enough that it wasn't a problem. And when they stepped into the laundromat portion of the main building, the humid air felt like a sauna.

Courtney let out a long breath. "Oh my gosh this feels so much better." She went to one of the washing machines and dropped in their new items, adjusting them around the barrel. Once the lid was dropped in place she looked over the slots on the side. "I hope you know how to do this."

Reed smiled, realizing it was ridiculous as fuck that being able to help her with this felt like an accomplishment. "Lucky for you I’ve visited a few laundromats in my day." He went to the change machine, feeding in a five before bringing the quarters back and loading them in. Then he added an appropriate amount of detergent from the small bottle Courtney picked up during their Target trip.

Courtney watched his every move. When he was finished, he turned to her and she wiggled her brows at him. "I didn't know watching a man do laundry could be sexy." She leaned into his chest, her voice practically a purr. "But I'm starting to realize I think just about everything you do is sexy."

He tapped her on the end of the nose. "We're still not fucking, Princess. No matter how sexy you think I am when I do laundry."

Courtney's mouth dropped open, like she couldn't believe he'd already figured out what she was up to. "What about how sexy I find it when you go down on me?" She moved in a little closer, gripping the front of his coat. "Or when you shove your fingers in my—"

The door swung open, letting in a blast of cold air along with an older woman carrying an overflowing laundry basket. She stopped a few feet in, looking them over with a frown. "You two weren't about to fuck in here, were you?"

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