Page 47 of Tempting Promises
I walk toward her. “I could, but I’m not.” I lean down, grab the corner, and start to pull, but she holds on for dear life.
“I’m cold, Rowan. I’m freezing cold.”
Her voice has a tinge of ache to it, but if she was so cold, she’d be by the damn fire.
“I don’t buy it.”
“Buy what?” Charlotte asks with surprise.
“That you’re freezing cold. You’ve been inside by the fire while I’ve been in the damn freezing rain.”
She huffs and pulls the sleeping bag tighter. “Well, I’m sorry you don’t believe me, but it’s true. Besides, I’m tired and injured, so I’m going to sleep.”
“Not with my only heat source you’re not.”
“So, you want me to freeze to death?”
“It’s not the worst idea. It’d be quiet at least,” I toss back, and her jaw drops.
“You are seriously such an asshole.”
I shrug. “You made that assumption about me a long time ago. Give me the sleeping bag. Also, that cot is mine.”
“The hell it is!”
“Fine. Sleeping bag or the cot. You pick.” I give her the option.
She stands, pulling the sleeping bag tighter, and grins. “Enjoy your cold cot, asshat.”
I roll my eyes and extend my hand with a sigh. “Give me the bag.” I plan to share it with her. The two of us don’t need to die out here.
“No.”
She steps back, and I move closer. “Charlotte, stop being so damn stubborn. Give me the sleeping bag.”
“I’m not giving it to you.”
“You’re so fucking stubborn!”
“Of course I am! You want me to freeze on the dirty floor!”
I huff. “I don’t! Jesus Christ!”
She takes the sleeping bag off, putting it behind her back. “If you want the sleeping bag, come and get it.”
There’s heat in her eyes, one that warms another part of me. I fucking hate this woman sometimes, but I hate myself even more right now with the want to kiss that attitude right out of her body.
“Don’t push me,” I warn.
Her eyes narrow. “If you want it, you can come get it.”
I close the distance to her in two long strides, stopping when we’re chest to chest. Her gaze is locked on mine, and there I see the same thing I feel in my chest. A tightness, an ache, a hatred that exists.
I lean down, my arms going around her as I grab for the sleeping bag. My only thought is to get it from her, set up the fucking cot close to the fire for her, and sleep in the damn kitchen where I can keep my distance.
However, that doesn’t happen.
Instead, Charlotte lifts up, just a little, and whispers, almost as though it was a thought not meant to be shared. “Take it.”
