Page 9 of A Date with Fate

The camper was for my parents, designed for them to pick up and hit the road easily. They’d elbowed me then, telling me that they’d be more than happy to upgrade to a larger camper with bunk beds when grandkids came along.

I’d rolled my eyes playfully, pretending to be offended, when inside, my chest physically caved in under the pressure there. Didn’t they realize that if I found the right woman, I’d give them as many grandchildren as they could manage? Clearly not.

Bottom line, the reason for my hesitation tonight was the fact that there was only one freaking bed in this camper. And it wasn’t a big ole California king. It was going to be full, maybe a queen mattress max.

I wasn't a little man. There was no telling Taylor that we could share and not touch, because if I got in bed with that woman, we would be breathing each other’s air. There was no way around it. And that was if I could manage to keep my hands to myself.

I tilted my head, staring hard through my windshield. I wondered if she was a snuggler. She’d always been so fiercely independent. But maybe when she slept, maybe her shell would slip back a little and I could see more of the sweet, almost shy woman that hid underneath. I wanted to be there for her, to help her understand she could be soft with me. If she wanted.

Hell, I wouldn’t mind being her protector when I needed to. But I never wanted that smart mouth to go away. I loved her smart mouth. I’d listened to her take classmates down a few pegs in high school on the regular. And now, the idea of it turned me the fuck on. Whatever that meant.

Fuck. Why had I agreed to this trip?

A hand rested on my thigh, making me jump in my seat.

“Scott?”

I stared at her, watching as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She always seemed to be doing that. My fingers twitched from their death grip on the wheel, disappointed I had missed a valuable excuse to touch her.

“Are you alright?”

I grinned at her. “Sorry, just spaced out for a moment. Now, here’s the plan, Miss Haley. I’m going to get the camper set. You’re going to find the closest place that serves fried pickles and has functioning televisions.”

Taylor blinked slowly then grinned back at me. “Any other requests?”

I unbuckled my seat belt, opening my door and turning to look back at her. “Honey, we are in the middle of nowhere. If you can manage to find somewhere with those things within twenty minutes, then I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.”

Taylor guffawed, leaning back and pulling her legs back up on the seat. “I’m on it. Shout at me if I can help.”

I stopped myself before the door closed. “Have you set up an RV before?”

The red tint of her cheeks was cuter than it should’ve been. “Well, no, but I am very teachable.”

“A notable quality. But please, you search, I scramble, and then we’ll get some food.”

We’d had campers on and off my entire childhood, so it didn’t take me more than twenty minutes to get everything set up and turned on. The hot water wasn’t great, but the bedding was fresh, the bathroom clean, and it was way better than staying in some sketchy motel.

After glancing out the door to see if she had gotten out of the cab, I slipped back to the single bed and laid across it. It was plenty comfortable, but I’d been right. There was no way that I could share this with her.

Not without a good portion of me falling all over her—which, while appealing, was absolutely not good. Logan would kill me. Then my brothers would be forced to kill Logan. It’d be a whole thing.

“Trying it out?”

For the second time that hour, I jumped at the sound of Taylor’s voice. She was standing in the doorway, a crooked smile on her lips as she watched me. I stretched, comically making myself as big as possible before raising a brow at her.

“Seems like I fit just fine. Logan had volunteered for the couch, you know. So you’re screwed.”

Taylor met my stare head on. “You think you can scare me away? I've slept on way worse.”

As if I’d actually let this woman sleep anywhere but safely in a bed tonight. But it was cute to banter with her anyway.

“Did you find dinner?”

Taylor grimaced, and I laughed. “Did you get at least one of those things?”

“There aren’t any pictures on yelp to confirm televisions, but it sounds like the place to get fried pickles.”

I chuckled. “I’ll survive either way. You want to go now?”

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