Corey must see the exact moment my thoughts go there, because his smile turns rough at the edges. For a second, neither of us moves. The blanket is half folded between us, the basket open at our feet, and the air feels thick enough to touch.
Then he exhales, slow and uneven, and glances away first. “Cabin,” he commands, Alpha voice lower than before, capturing every inch of my attention.
“Right.” I grab the basket handle with far too much enthusiasm.
Somehow, we manage to finish packing without either of us doing anything reckless. Barely. Every brush of his hand against mine feels loaded, every glance a bad idea we keep deciding not to follow, until we’re finally walking back through the trees and he’s taking the picnic basket from my grasp.
“So glad you wrongly invited me to the wedding as your date,” he says out of the blue. “Best mistake that ever happened to me.”
I nudge him with my shoulder, trying to hide how much I love those words. “You’re very generous toward accidental kidnappings.”
“I’m a forgiving man.” He nudges me back, but instead of letting the contact end there, his hand finds mine. His fingers slide between mine as if he has done it a hundred times before, and my heart immediately forgets how to beat.
Corey only smiles, and that’s what gets me.
Not the kiss against the tree, though my body still burns from that. Not even the flirting, or the way he stares at me as ifevery awkward part of me is worth his attention. It’s this. The simple confidence of his fingers locked with mine while we walk through the forest, his thumb brushing over my knuckles, his stride adjusting to mine without comment.
He isn’t hiding that he wants me. And I crave it so badly it scares me.
My stomach is full of butterflies because this is everything I wished to have.
We reach the cabin, and Corey finally lets go of my hand to open the door. He unpacks while I collapse on the couch in front of the fire, my palm still tingling from where his fingers had been. “So what’s for dinner?” I call toward the kitchen.
“Still hungry?”
“Always.”
“Steak. Everything’s prepped. Just needs the pan.”
“I’m going to cry. This day is too perfect.”
He’s putting things away when his phone rings. He answers on speaker and sets it on the counter.
“How’s it going up there?” Brody’s voice fills the kitchen, and the sound of it sends a pulse through my chest that I wasn’t expecting. I miss him. It’s been a few hours, and I miss the way he grins and stares at me.
“Best day of my life,” Corey says.
“Fuck me. Keep it in your pants.”
Corey chuckles out loud. He catches my eye and winks, while I roll mine. So I get up and join him in the kitchen. “How’s the security going?” I ask.
“Done. Cameras. Motion sensors around the perimeter. Once you’re back, we just need to sync it to your phone so you get real-time notifications.” Brody pauses. “Nobody is getting near your place without all four of us knowing about it.”
“I love that more than you realize.”
“How are you feeling, Claire? More relaxed?” Jakob pipes in.
“This place is incredible. I can see why Corey booked it.”
“Haven’t been up there yet. Saw the photos, though, and was super impressed.”
Corey leans toward the phone. “Okay, well, we’ve got a hot tub to fire up, so?—”
“Right, I’m coming up there,” Brody says immediately.
“Nah, all good. Okay, speak later.” Corey hangs up and grins at me. “That’ll drive them mental.”
I laugh just as Corey meanders around the island, and he’s now standing in front of me, his hands gripping the granite on either side of my hips, his body bracketing mine against the counter.