The One That I Want (Scorned Women Society Book 3) Piper Sheldon (classic books for 12 year olds .TXT) 📖

He followed my focus where he tapped the toes of his horrendous shoes together. They were black rubber Crocs-style slip-ons lined with fur. They were horrendous. How could a man with those shoes cause me to have all these bubbly feelings? Roxy ten years ago wouldn’t recognize this girl.

“Don’t hate on these beauts. Like walking on clouds,” he said.

I sighed and let my head fall back on the couch. Now the buzz was wearing off into exhaustion. I’d have to get up soon. Just five more minutes.

“This Lodge is gorgeous,” he said.

“Mmm,” I agreed sleepily. “Wait until you see the changes they’re making.”

But he wouldn’t see them, would he? Eventually, he’d go back to Denver and a life I knew little about.

“And the forest, for what I’ve seen is just lovely. But that bridge is a bit dangerous. You guys might want to think about marking that.”

I slowly turned my head toward him. “You’re kidding me.”

“What?” He too had his head leaned back, and his eyes were heavy. He must be exhausted too. With both of our heads back and legs up and me wrapped under a blanket, it was almost like we were sleeping together.

“Did y’all really not see the five different notices posted about flash flooding? And how it very specifically says not to take this trail if it’s supposed to rain?”

Sanders looked up and around. His eyebrows furrowed. “I guess we missed those.”

I sighed but was really fighting not to smile. He made it very difficult to stay mad at him. “You. You are the reason we have umbrella insurance.”

“Would you believe that isn’t the first time I heard that?”

That time I couldn’t hold back the laugh. It was a cough that I quickly covered up. His eyes were lit with joy before they dropped to my mouth. My head fell back and I watched the fire. My heart was pounding with nerves.

“That knob took his blanket with him.” Sanders rubbed his hands up and down his goose-bumped arms.

I fought the nervous shudder, doing something I’d probably regret. I sighed in frustration. At myself. I was an idiot. I untucked myself and stood up.

Sanders frowned. “Was it something I said?”

“Shut up,” I said as I unwrapped the blanket from around me and shook it to spread it out. I covered us both as I sat back down, keeping a healthy, professional distance between us.

Under the blanket. Which we were sharing. Next to a fire.

I was a damn fool.

“Cozy,” he said quietly.

I didn’t respond. I just kept my focus firmly on the fire. My hands were loose by my sides, palms down. Sharing this blanket shifted the entire energy of the room.

At first, I wasn’t sure that I really felt it. My right pinky was nudged slightly. Without moving my focus from the fire, I studied Sanders in my periphery. He, as always, seemed perfectly relaxed as he settled into the couch. His eyes shut with a contented sigh.

Did he notice that his finger grazed mine? My heart was pounding so loud that he must have felt the couch shaking. A slight brush of skin and my body was as enflamed as it was that night in Denver. I tried to calm my breathing. I would just twitch my finger and cough, alerting him to the fact that we were touching and he’d pull away. I supposed that I could pull away too. But no reason to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Too late.

I shifted my weight, under the guise of settling in. My hand definitely moved. It moved a lot more than I intended. Now the entire sides of our hands were flush. Why wasn’t he pulling away? Was he feeling this too? Or was he so used to physical intimacy that this was no big deal. My chest was moving up and down in an embarrassing fashion. I needed to get myself under control. Normal people didn’t act like this when they were casually touched.

Neither of us moved. We still faced the fire. What if someone saw us? Could they see the conflicted emotions on my face?

Just move, Roxy. Just pull your arm away. What would the SWS do?

I did move, but my damn traitorous body did not obey my screaming mind. Instead, my hand inched closer. His hand instantly reacted. As I slid mine closer, his flipped over. Our fingers intertwined. His was calloused but tender. Warm without suffocating. It fit mine perfectly. He squeezed it lightly.

I couldn’t explain the moisture that burned my eyes then. The emotion that made my throat feel too tight. I swallowed it all deep down. I kept my face neutral. I’d been so scared earlier. More than I would ever admit. Having him next to me felt like a second chance. How many second chances could one gal get before her luck ran out?

None of this made sense. I knew pushing him away would keep my control in place. It would protect me from making any more mistakes with my life. But I couldn’t move from that spot. When he held my hand, I felt more tethered to life, not less. He made me want more.

I swallowed and turned my head toward him. The second I did, he turned too, like he’d been waiting for it but didn’t want to make the first move. His fair cheeks were splotchy with color. His chest, too, rose and fell quickly. His Adam’s apple moved up and down on a swallow.

What does this mean? I thought.

It doesn’t have to mean anything, he seemed to say in return.

His thumb moved gently on the back of my hand shooting electricity through my whole body.

I opened my mouth to speak when I heard my name.

“Roxanne,” Vincent said.

I glanced up to find my manager glancing between Sanders and me and the blanket.

I’d never moved so fast. Pulled my hand away and stood up so fast.

Felt ashamed so damn fast.

Sanders

Once on a camping trip