Page 78 of Love in Tandem
Charlotte returned the guitar to Mick. “Absolutely.”
After they ate their fill of cobbler, Charlotte looked like she was about to fall asleep face-first in her empty plate. Zach reached for her hand. “We should call it a night.”
“Goodness, you two must be exhausted,” Faye said. “How far did you say you still had to go?”
“Just fifty miles,” Charlotte said, keeping hold of Zach’s hand.
“Just fifty miles.” Faye laughed. “Did you hear that, Mick? Just fifty miles. Pretty sure five miles would kill us. Well, best of luck tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll do fine. What an accomplishment. And what a fun story to tell your future kids someday. I hope you’ve been taking plenty of pictures.”
“Oh. Well . . .” Charlotte stumbled to find words, and Zach wasn’t sure if it was because of the pictures comment or the mention of future kids. “We’ve, uh—”
“Had issues with our phones,” Zach finished for her. “You know, keeping them charged.”
“Oh no. Well, that’s no good.” Faye reached toward her husband. “Here, Mick. Hand me your phone. You’ve got to have at least one photo. I mean, you know what they say. If you don’t post it on social media, did it even happen?” She winked and took Mick’s phone. “I’ll get your number and text it to you later. Now scooch together and look cute.”
Charlotte dropped Zach’s hand and inched closer to him.
Faye frowned at her phone, then frowned at them. “I said look cute, not like you’re recreating the American Gothic pose. I mean, at least look like you like each other,” she added with a good-natured laugh.
“Better just lay one on her, Jack,” Mick called out. “That’s what Faye’s after.”
“It’s Zach,” Faye said over her shoulder.
“Well, Zach can kiss her too. Just nobody tell Jack,” Mick said, elbowing the man next to him. They all started laughing.
“Oh hush,” Faye said, twisting to scold the men before facing Charlotte and Zach again. “Sorry. Getting carried away again. You don’t have to kiss—though that would make an awful sweet picture,” she murmured from the side of her mouth as she lifted the phone again.
Zach couldn’t agree more. Too bad they’d gone back to the no-kissing clause.
“Zach,” Charlotte whispered, probably wanting to remind him. He’d no sooner turned his head than her lips were on his.
Charlotte certainly had a hard time following her own rules, didn’t she?
“Oh,” he heard Faye say. “There we go. Hold on. Let me get back to the camera. Where is it? Keep kissing. Mick—”
Zach slid his hands around Charlotte’s waist, enjoying the soft press of her lips, the soft press of everything molded against him. Part of him hoped it took Faye the rest of the night to find the camera button again.
“What happened?” he heard Faye muttering. “Oh shoot. Mick, what’s your code?”
Charlotte’s lips smiled against his, and he couldn’t stop from smiling back. Which made it kind of hard to keep kissing.
“Oh, now why’d it just take a picture of me?”
And it was definitely hard to keep kissing once they both started laughing.
The next morning after their feast straight from heaven, Zach and Charlotte pedaled away from the campsite before any of the other campers had awakened. A faint glow of light bathed the sky as they reached the main trail. Other than taking care of bathroom necessities, eating a quick breakfast, and making sure their water bottles were filled, they hadn’t wasted any time getting started.
Zach wondered if Charlotte’s desire to get up and get moving partly stemmed from not wanting to face their newest and biggest fans again. Fans who might ask for another kiss.
He smiled despite the fatigue of a restless night. He had a feeling replaying that kiss in his mind would fuel him better than the banana and protein bar they’d split for breakfast this morning. Though if he had to guess, her thoughts were more consumed with completing the challenge today.
He shot a quick glance at Charlotte over his shoulder. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“You’re being awful quiet. Thought maybe something was on your mind.”
“No. Why? Something on your mind?”
