From outside the tent, she heard the crackle of a campfire.
“Someone is already up.”
“Belcourt. He’s always up with the damned sun. Wakes everyone else up, too.”
She snuggled deeper into his chest. “Well, I’m not getting up yet. I like it here.”
Once she left his arms, she would find herself in the real world again.
Eric chuckled. “No rush.”
Soon everyone was up and awake, bacon sizzling over the fire, the scent of coffee in the air, and it was evident she was going to have to leave this refuge.
Then it dawned on her. “Everyone’s going to see I was in your tent and think we slept together.”
He laughed. “Wedidsleep together.”
She fought back a giggle. “You know what I mean.”
“They already think we’ve been getting it on. Rose told everyone in Scarlet that my truck has been parked at the inn every night, so they put two and two together.”
Vic sat bolt upright, understanding now. “That’s why your mother thought you and I ... Why didn’t you tell me?”
Eric sat up, cupped her cheek with one hand, and kissed her forehead. “Sorry, but I think I’ve ruined your reputation.”
No one said anything when she crawled out of Eric’s tent, though Lexi did shoot her the “ohmigod, girl, we havegotto talk” look.
Vic glanced around at the landscape, which looked different in the morning light, golden sunlight spilling into the valley below, the mountains behind them pink, the sky an endless blue dome. “God, it’s beautiful.”
Had she ever felt so alive?
Winona cooked them a feast for breakfast—scrambled eggs, bacon, blueberry pancakes, and coffee boiled in a pot set directly on the embers.
Eric motioned Vic over to her spot on the log and brought her a plate, sitting beside her, refilling her coffee, and treating her as if he truly was her lover, the intimacy she’d shared with him last night lingering into the morning.
Lexi looked over at her and laughed. “I never thought I’d see the day when you drank your coffee black.”
Vic took another sip. “It’s amazing.”
“Are you the designer coffee type?” Britta asked.
“Until today I was.” As she looked around her, Vic felt that these were the friends she’d been waiting for her entire life. She hadn’t realized until this moment how lonely her life had become since Lexi moved away. Her co-workers in Chicago were rarely interested in getting together outside of the office, and since the nightmare with Stewart, she’d hardly gone out anyway. Although she’d only known Britta, Winona, Chaska, and Austin for a short time, she felt almost as comfortable with them as she did with Lexi.
After breakfast, they packed up and hit the highway, arriving in Scarlet just before noon. Austin dropped her off at the inn so that she could shower and change and be ready for them to pick her up for a late lunch.
Eric got out of the SUV with her and carried her bag upstairs, giving her a slow kiss on the mouth that made her toes curl.
She slipped her arms around his neck, kissed him back, not wanting it to end. “Mmm. Are you coming to lunch?”
He shook his head. “I’ve got some things to do at the firehouse, but I’ll see you this afternoon at the rock gym.”
Now was the time to put her foot down. “I amnotclimbing.”
He grinned. “Says the woman who was afraid to go rafting and then loved it.”
“You just had to rub that in my face, didn’t you?”
“Yep.”