A Family Under the Stars Read online

  He heard some rustling around and then the flapping sound of the tent door as she unzipped it fully and climbed out. She held a small pink neoprene toiletry pouch and seemed to be checking the contents before tucking it under her arm and grabbing another bottle of water. He imagined she was the type of person who carried around dental floss, hand sanitizer and wet wipes with her wherever she went.

  As they walked into the copse of trees, she kept close to him, so close that she bumped into him when she jumped at the sound of a red squirrel scampering across the ponderosa branch above them. It was another good reminder that he and Charlotte were worlds apart. And with the way his pulse skyrocketed every time she was near him, he needed all the reminding he could get.

  He stopped and grabbed three football-sized rocks, then carefully stacked them on top of each other. “I’ll meet you back here in a couple of minutes.”

  “Okay.” He handed her a small flashlight and they went their separate ways. When he returned to the designated cairn, she was already there waiting and holding something out to him.

  “Here,” she said as he reached his hand out reflexively, only to feel a squirt of cold gel plop into his palm.

  He nodded toward the travel-sized bottle of disinfectant. “You really are a city girl, huh?”

  “Yes. But I’m also a mom. I usually have half the medicine cabinet packed into my purse.”

  And there was another reminder that this woman wasn’t only from a different world, she was also someone’s mother. She couldn’t be any more off-limits to him if she were a nun.

  She wrapped her arms around her torso and took a big, shuddering breath. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  “I think so,” she nodded. Then stated with more force, “I will be. I need to stop worrying about whether or not the girls have everything they need and keep in mind that Kylie is a mom as well and my children are in good hands.”

  “They really are.” Alex used his finger to raise her chin up so she could see the reassurance in his eyes. “Your daughters are probably having the time of their life at their lake house.”

  “But what if nobody finds us?” The concern on her face was better than the blind panic he’d seen right after pulling her out of the water. But he was overwhelmed with the need to put her fears to rest.

  “Charlotte, you need to trust me. I’ll get you back to your girls, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said and this time he felt her nod. His finger had moved from her chin and was cupping her cheek and it was only a matter of time before Charlotte realized that he was standing way too close to her. He forced his feet to take a step back and dropped his arms.

  “Your kids and husband must be lucky to have you taking care of them.” Man, that sounded like the cheesiest attempt to fish for information. But Alex really needed to hear that she was married, or had a boyfriend, or anything to cement his belief that she was off-limits.

  “Thanks. The girls are still young enough to appreciate it, but I have a feeling that by the time they hit those tween years, they’ll accuse me of smothering them.”

  “And your husband? Does he appreciate it?” Crap. He hadn’t actually asked that had he?

  “Ex-husband. And I haven’t spoken to him in over two years so I really don’t know what he appreciates.” Her voice grew quiet, losing the animated tone she normally used whenever the subject of her daughters came up. Which must mean that she didn’t want to talk about the guy. As interesting as that was, he should probably take Commodore’s advice and mind his own business.

  “Do you think the storm’s passed?” she asked.

  As though to answer for him, the sky opened up with a heavier batch of rain. “Nope.”

  By the time they got back in the tent, Alex’s shirt was soaked through. Granted, it had been wet to start with, but there was no way he could keep the thing on all night and not freeze to death. Same thing with his cargo pants.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, causing him to pause with one sleeve off.

  “I’m taking off my clothes.”

  “Why?”

  She sure used that word a lot. “Because they’re wet. And I’d suggest you do the same.”

  “But I don’t have any more dry clothes.”

  “You don’t need clothes to sleep. In fact, your sleeping bag will keep you warmer if there isn’t a layer of material to detract from your body heat.”

  The soft glow from the lantern made the blush on her cheeks more pronounced. Thank goodness for this week-old stubble covering his jaw and his own flush of embarrassment, because his blood was hot enough to burn through his skin.

  “Here,” he said, reaching for the light hanging from a carabiner overhead. “I’ll turn this off first and we can face away from each other.”

  “Okay.” Her voice was whisper soft and he’d never heard a more alluring sound in his life. Maybe it wasn’t awkwardness heating his body from the inside out, but plain old fashion lust. He kept his back to her as he peeled his damp pants off and laid them out flat on the tent floor.

  He’d been wrong a few seconds ago.

  The sound of her removing her clothes was way more alluring than her voice. He disregarded his earlier advice about sleeping completely in the buff and kept his boxer briefs on, climbing into his sleeping bag quickly so she wouldn’t see the evidence of his arousal. Thankfully, it was too dark to see anything. Although that realization didn’t do anything to diminish his desire to catch a glimpse of her.

  Waiting for the sound of her zipping up her sleeping bag took forever. When it finally came, he let out a breath and commanded his body to relax. Neither one said a word, and he wondered if she was as completely aware of him as he was of her.

  After a few minutes, he heard something other than the booming roar of thunder outside.

  “Are you cold?” he asked her.

  “No.”

  “Then why are you shivering?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Are you afraid of the thunder?”

  “Not exactly.” But he could hear the tension in her voice.

  “Of bears or wolves?”

  “I wasn’t until you just reminded me of them.”

  “Then what are you afraid of?”

  She paused for so long, he wondered if she’d fallen asleep. “It’s embarrassing.”

  “Listen, Charlotte. It’s just you and me and a few bears out here. What happens on the whitewater rafting adventure trips, stays—”

  “I hate being alone,” she interrupted.

  “But you’re not alone. I’m with you.”

  “I know, and I’m glad for that. What I mean is that it’s just so vast and solitary out here in the wilderness and I don’t like being away from the people I love. Sorry, you must think I’m crazy.”

  He just thought she was too used to the crowded city—which was somewhat crazy. “Don’t feel bad about it. Not everyone is made for the outdoorsy life.”

  “Alex, is Mariah Judge really your mom?”

  Where in the hell had that come from? “Do we have to talk about this? I thought we were talking about you and your hang-ups?”

  “I’d rather talk about yours. It helps me not to think of mine.”

  He sighed. “Yes, she gave birth to me, but she was never my mom. That’s the ironic part of her book, not that I would ever lower myself to actually reading it. She came on a spiritual quest to find herself, but doesn’t mention the baby detour on her life journey or the fact that she discovered that motherhood wasn’t for her. She painted herself to be all about self-awareness and open to change, but after her trip was over, she couldn’t wait to get back to her hotshot life in the city. Really, she sold a lie to millions of people.”

  “And I bought it,” Charlotte’s voice sounded resigned. �
�You’d think that after my ex-husband and his blatant dishonesty, I’d become better at not just hearing what I want to hear and seeing what I want to see.”

  Whoa. That was a loaded admission and one Alex wanted to learn more about. But the rain had somehow reactivated the rich, floral fragrance of her hair and a throbbing of awareness—low and deep and intense—was warning him not to let things get any more personal.

  ‘We sure are a dysfunctional pair, aren’t we?” he said. “I’m sure we can come up with something more pleasant to talk about.”

  Actually, he preferred not to talk at all. The sooner he fell asleep, the sooner he could stop imagining what those full, cotton candy lips of hers would taste like.

  “You know,” she said, her voice lighter as if something finally occurred to her. Maybe just having someone to talk with had calmed Charlotte’s fears. “It’s scary out here, but if I don’t let myself get swallowed by my worry over my daughters, it’s also a little liberating, isn’t it?”

  “I guess so.” Personally, he thought there was no better experience on Earth than to be all alone, communing with nature. “And remember what I said about making sure you get back to your girls. You’re not alone.”

  “Alex, would you mind if I put my sleeping bag closer to yours?”

  Only if he wanted to be up all night inhaling the fragrance of her shampoo and imagining her naked skin nestled into her down-filled nylon cocoon. “I don’t know if that would be such a good idea.”

  “I promise I’m not trying to make a move on you.”

  “Why would I think that?” he asked, too defensively. The answer would’ve been obvious if she could see how tense his body was at that exact second.

  “Oh, come on. I’m sure you have women on these trips throwing themselves at you all the time.”

  “Actually, my dad usually runs these trips.”

  “That’s what Commodore said.”

  “I try to stay away from the women looking for too much adventure,” he continued.

  “That’s what Commodore said, as well.”

  He leaned up on his elbow. “Really?”

  “No. But I’m sure he would’ve if I’d asked him.” She lifted her head and rested it on her palm as she looked at him.

  Hmm. After seeing the way the gruff old mountain man let her coddle him with lip balm and lectures about wearing a hat in the sun, Alex didn’t doubt his grandfather would’ve told the inquisitive woman anything she wanted to know.

  “I’m sorry about bringing up your mom,” she said, growing more serious. “I had no idea.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “But it makes sense why you wouldn’t want to get involved with the customers.”

  “That doesn’t have anything to do with it. I just like to keep my distance from women in general.” He sure wasn’t proving the truth of that statement because, as he said the words, he noticed that he’d somehow managed to scoot his sleeping bag closer to hers. “I like my life the way it is.”

  “Of course you do,” she said, in that sexy, soft whisper.

  Another clap of thunder shuddered through the trees outside, and he found himself grasping the edge of her bed roll, tugging it toward him. He heard her indrawn breath, the same one she’d made when he’d placed his hands on her hips to lift her into the raft earlier today. But, just like then, she didn’t pull away.

  “You live in your world and I live in mine,” he said, talking more to himself, wanting reassurance that, despite their physical proximity, he still had some emotional boundaries left.

  Their faces were inches apart. She slowly brought up her fingers and he sensed her hesitation as she tentatively reached out to touch his jaw. Yet, this time, her caress felt anything but maternal. “You said it yourself, though, right? What happens out here stays out here?”

  But what exactly was happening? He could navigate the wild mountain terrain in the snow without a GPS, but he’d never trusted himself to read women very well unless they provided him with a clear course.

  “Are you sure about this?” he asked, not wanting to question what exactly this was.

  “Just tell me the rules.” Her thumb traced the outline of his upper lip.

  Of course she wanted rules. “No,” he said, kissing her finger lightly. “You tell me.”

  “But I’ve never done this before.”

  “Neither have I,” he admitted.

  “Okay, rule number one,” she said, those full lips of hers practically touching his. “When they find us, we go back to our worlds. No strings attached.”

  “No strings attached,” he agreed, before pressing his mouth to hers.

  They never got to rule number two.

  Chapter Four

  It had been way too long since Charlotte had felt the weight of a man pressing against her body. It had been even longer than that since one had rained hot, tender kisses down her neck. One minute Alex Russell, sexy river guide extraordinaire, had been naked in his sleeping bag. The next, he was naked inside of hers.

  The down-filled nylon embraced them like a cocoon and held their bodies together. When he’d told her that she would warm up quicker if she took her clothes off, she’d mostly listened. But going from the dorm rooms to the sorority house to the townhome she’d shared with Mitchell—who had always worn a shirt to bed—and then her daughters, meant she’d never slept in the nude before. So she had kept her damp cotton camisole and panties on, and now she wished she’d been a bit more impulsive.

  Alex’s cool, rough palms set off sensations against her rib cage as he slid her shirt up over her head. Her bun fell loose and she had to fight the urge to clap her hands to the top of her scalp to smooth down the wild curls. She felt more exposed without her trademark headband in place than she did shirtless.

  “I was fascinated by your hair the second I saw it,” Alex murmured. Charlotte had spent thirty minutes blow-drying and straightening it this morning—as she did every morning—and could only imagine how much different it looked now after being dunked in the river. “I knew all that tamed smoothness was hiding something better underneath.”

  Maybe it was just the soft romantic glow of the lantern, but his eyes drank her in. The muscles in her neck melted, causing her head to fall back and her chin to lift up toward him. Like her hair, Charlotte suddenly felt untamed and wild.

  Alex toyed with another strand before dipping back down to kiss her. And, oh, what a kisser he was! His mouth was as adventurous as his personality, navigating her lips, exploring her tongue and trailing his way down to her chest. He was in no hurry, probably because they had the whole night out here, but Charlotte had never experienced such a rush of pleasure and was eager to make the most of this one-night adventure.

  She shifted her legs to make more room for him, causing his hips to settle firmly between her thighs. She moaned when the rigid length of him nestled against the thin fabric of her panties, and she tried to wrap her legs around his waist before realizing the sleeping bag was prohibiting her movements.

  “Hold on,” he said, his voice sounding as ragged as her heartbeat felt. Alex yanked so hard on the zipper, the sound of the nylon material ripping echoed in the tent.

  Cool air breezed over her bare skin as he rolled off her and reached for something in the corner. She squinted at the white box with the red cross. “Are you hurt?” she asked, quickly sitting up and springing into caretaker mode.

  “No. I just need to get something out of the first aid kit.”

  “Like a bandage?”

  “No. Like this.” He held up a small square package and it took several seconds for Charlotte to figure out what the thing was. When she did, heat stole up her face and she prayed he hadn’t noticed her puzzled expression. Of course she knew what a condom was, but she’d never actually seen one up close. When they were
dating, Mitchell had refused to use one and Charlotte had always taken birth control pills—or, at least, she had until those antibiotics from a bout of strep throat had rendered them ineffective and she’d gotten pregnant with Elsa.

  She lay back against the silky fabric of the torn sleeping bag and squeezed her eyes shut, forcing all thoughts of her daughters and her ex outside of the tent. She was about to have sex with a stranger—spontaneous, rugged, outdoor sex with an incredibly good-looking stranger. None of her research had prepared her for this experience, but for once in her life, Charlotte Folsom wasn’t going to overplan or overthink things.

  Alex tore open the package, and though Charlotte was tempted to watch in complete fascination, she took advantage of his distraction to ungracefully shimmy out of her underwear. All those poise lessons for all those beauty pageants were wasted here and the only thing she could do was hope that she didn’t appear foolish. Why wasn’t she better at this sort of thing? Should she lie there flat or should she attempt a seductive pose? It turned out that she didn’t have time to do either.

  He returned to his position over her, but he didn’t kiss her again. Instead, he studied her face as if he needed confirmation that she was okay with what they were about to do. She bit her lip, sucked in a shaky breath, then simply said, “Please.”

  * * *

  Alex’s arms were trembling as he held himself over Charlotte, trying to take things slow. But the second she said “please,” he couldn’t hold himself back any longer.

  She arched her hips and he slid into her as she moaned. He almost shuddered with his own release right then and there, and pulled out a little, just so that he could get himself under control. But the resistance of Charlotte’s calves locked around his waist propelled him back inside. Another moan—from her or from him, he wasn’t sure—and then they were moving together, building a rhythm until he gave one final plunge and felt her contract around him before calling out in ecstasy.

  When his throbbing pulse finally slowed its jackhammer speed, he gazed down at her. Her eyes were closed and a small smile played upon her lips. He might not be boyfriend material, but he wasn’t opposed to satisfying a woman in other ways. Of course, he hadn’t expected how passionate or responsive she would be, and Alex was surprised at his own body’s inability to hold back—and his sudden urge to keep her close.