Page 22 of Conveniently Wed
She was elbow-deep in the freezing water when a twig snapped behind her. She whirled, and the tin cup she’d been scrubbing flew from her fingers and landed in the water with aplunk.
“Oh!” she cried in dismay, quickly leaning out to reach for the cup. The bank beneath her knees shifted.
“Watch it!”
Edgar.
His voice registered just as he grabbed the back of her dress and kept her from tumbling headfirst into the water.
Her relief melded with irritation that he’d snuck up on her, and she slapped at his hand. “Let go!”
He did, but caught her as she went off-balance a second time and this time drew her away from the water’s edge.
“You made me drop a cup—it’s there.” She was breathless from fear, not from his nearness. Mostly.
“Leave it. I’ll come fetch it in the morning.”
Well.
In the near-complete darkness beneath the canopy of the trees, his presence seemed larger, as he held her loosely by the waist. He smelled of horse and man and with him this close, with her hands resting on his broad chest, she didn’t feel any fear at all.
He seemed to realize exactly how close they’d become at the same moment she did.
He released her and took a giant step back. “What’s taking so long?”
“I thought you were a bear!” she said at the same moment.
There was a beat of silence.
“A bear?”
“Or a mountain lion.”
She sensed more than saw his smile in the darkness. She remembered the one time he’d smiled, at the sheriff’s office. Did she, in particular, bring out his frown?
“I scouted this area before it got dark,” he said. “No tracks or sign from any bears or mountain lions. Maybe a turtle, or a rabbit or two.”
“Ha.”
“You about done with those dishes?”
“Almost there. Are you done checking up on me?” She knelt at the bank again, expecting him to return to the campsite, but toher surprise, he joined her, his big shoulder bumping hers as he reached for a plate.
She couldn’t stay silent.
“Are you surprised by what I accomplished today?”
He seemed stumped by the question, staying silent for a long moment as he scrubbed his plate with his hand.
“A little,” he finally said.
Their hands tangled as they both reached for the last cup. He tugged it away from her grasp quickly, exhaling loudly in the silence.
Why was he so prickly? Her single experience with the opposite sex made her unsure. Was it her or the fact that she’d ruined his bachelor status? She couldn’t help that she’d forced him into a situation he wanted out of. She didn’t know if they would have enough time together to make peace.
She gathered the dishes and put them into the now-clean cast iron skillet, wondering if she dared to ask him.
She didn’t.
