Fated for Love (17 page)

“Chemical toilets?” Kathie asked.

“We used to have outhouses. I think you’ll like these better. Don’t worry. They’re not that gross, and they’re emptied after every trip.” Wes was obviously used to this reaction.

“It’s better than using the woods, Kath,” Callie offered with a shrug. She didn’t think anything could spoil the idea of a night under the stars with Wes. She saw Bonnie walking toward her with a serious stare.

“Hey, Cal, come with me.” Bonnie grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away. “I just want to talk to Callie a minute. Go ahead and dole out the instructions,” she called over her shoulder.

“What are you doing?” Callie tried to focus on Wes’s voice as he told Christine and Kathie to choose a tent and let the horses graze in the grass, but after that his voice fell away as she stumbled along beside Bonnie.

“You’re holding me so tight it hurts.”

“Oh, sorry.” Bonnie let go and crossed her arms. She wore a plaid sleeveless shirt tucked into jeans and secured with a thick leather belt.

“You look like you’re going to string me up in a tree. What did I do?”

“Nothing.” She stared past Callie at the others.

Callie watched Wes helping the others untie their packs from the horses. She wanted to be over there with him.

“What, then?”

“Okay, mama hen here.” Bonnie turned her back to others and guided Callie to do the same.

“Oh God. You’re making my stomach hurt.” She had no idea what Bonnie was going to say, but her mouth was pinched tight and her eyes were narrow and serious, and that couldn’t be good.

“I just wanted to say something without the others around. I tried to tell you at the cabin, but we were packing and running late, and the girls were in and out of our room. I can see that I won’t have a second with just you here before nightfall, so I had to drag you away. I’m sorry.”

“What’s so private that the others can’t hear?”

Bonnie’s eyes softened. “I just wanted to talk to you alone. Look, we all tease a lot about how hot the guys here are and what we’d like to do to them. I know that you know we’re just being goofs and having fun. We’d never actually do anything. We adore our husbands. God, you’ve known us forever—of course you know that—but I felt like I had to say this, between you and me. I really respect you, Callie. We tease a lot, but you’ve never fallen for peer pressure, and Lord knows we’ve put you in situations where a weaker girl would have given in. But those were college days. You know, fun kid stuff. This is real life, and when I see the way you look at Wes and the way he looks at you.” The tension in her shoulders eased on a sigh. “Oh, Callie. I just wanted to be sure you weren’t caving on your beliefs because of peer pressure.”

“Thank you for worrying, but if I didn’t cave as a naive freshman when you guys were egging me on night and day, I sure as hell wouldn’t cave now.” She drew in a deep breath. “I really feel something for him, Bonnie, and I want him more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.” She covered her face and took a step away. “Oh God, I sound desperate.”

Bonnie pulled her into a hug. “No. You sound like a girl who’s falling for a guy, and I’m pulling for you, Cal. On a bigger scale than
hey, let’s bang the hot wrangler
. I thought you looked like your heart was so tied up in him it’s practically clawing its way out of your chest to get to him.”

“You can see that?”
That means he can, too
.

“Yup. I just wanted to be sure. I’d hate myself if we pushed you into doing something with a guy that you really didn’t want to.” Bonnie glanced behind her at Kathie and Christine pointing at the tents. Christine pulled off her visor and pointed to a tent in the middle. “I better go over there before they pick the best tents.”

Callie couldn’t love Bonnie more than she did for everything she’d ever done for her, but now she worried that if Bonnie could tell how much she liked Wes, he could, too, and that made her fifty shades of nervous.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. “You’re blushing again. I bet when you’re fifty you’ll still blush.”

“Bon, I don’t know if we’re going to…you know, or not.”
But I hope we are
. “But this is the guy that I dream about at night.” She lowered her voice. “I mean, I think about doing all sorts of things and not waiting for him to make the first move. Do you think
he
can see that, too?”

“I think it doesn’t matter what he sees. Do whatever feels right at the time. There’s no right or wrong if you both want it. I’d better join the peanut gallery.”

“Thanks, Bon.” She watched Bonnie jog toward the tents. Wes stepped into her field of vision, and like pen to paper, she was drawn right to him.

Thank you, Bonnie. Thank you so freaking much for giving me the okay to follow my heart, because I’m not sure I can hold back much longer
.

WES WAITED WHILE the girls chose their tents. He liked privacy, and on overnight trips he usually claimed the tent that was farthest from the group. Tonight he wanted that distance for an entirely different reason. He was going to climb out of his skin if he had to stay away from Callie much longer. She was like a drug, and damn, did he ever need a hit.

He watched as she, too, held back on choosing her tent. When the other three girls moved to the tents at the far side of the camp, Callie took the next in line.
Closer to me
. He wondered if she was thinking that, too.

Callie sat on the cot in her tent. She hated spiders and snakes, and he imagined her worrying about those things while she bounced up and down, palms to the thin mattress, like she was testing out its durability. Was she thinking about the two of them coming together on one of those mattresses later that evening, like he was?

He was so proud of her for riding Trina like a champ, and when she’d jumped into his arms earlier in the day, he’d wanted to carry her up the hill to his cabin and love her until she forgot how to read. The way she looked at him, the way she touched him, hell, everything she’d been doing lately felt like she was ready to move forward, and he was goddamn nervous.
Nervous
. He’d never wanted to
not
fuck something up so badly in his life. He knew that being intimate with Callie couldn’t be anything short of mind-numbing. Jesus, just watching her come was ecstasy. It was the whole
taking-the-good-girl-to-bed
thing that was messing with his head. Her words sailed through his mind.
I like sex as much as the next person, but for me, it’s connected to my heart.
If that wasn’t pressure, he didn’t know what was.

Wes grabbed his leather bag and slapped his thigh, bringing Sweets to his side. He filled food and water bowls for her before stowing his bag in the most outlying tent.

While the girls talked, he checked on the horses and led them to the lake to drink. Sweets was sacked out beneath the picnic table when he returned to start the fire.

“Those toilets aren’t bad,” Kathie hollered. She’d pinned her hair up into a ponytail and had put on a blue hoodie.

What’d I tell you?
“Beats the hell out of outhouses.”

Bonnie came out of her tent wearing a gray zip-up sweatshirt. “Can we help?”

“Callie’s an amazing cook,” Christine chimed in.

He lifted his eyes to see Callie’s reaction. She’d changed into a cream-colored sweater with a scoop neck. It was slightly transparent, and he could see the outline of her pink bra. One sleeve was mint green, the other was peachy pink, and both covered her knuckles. The edge of her sweater hung loosely over her cutoffs, leaving only the fringe of her shorts visible. She looked so sweet that he wanted to fold her into his arms and snuggle with her.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Snuggle?

Holy hell, you’ve brought out a whole side of me I never knew existed. And, damn, if I don’t love it.

The realization brought him to his feet. Callie laughed at something Christine said and covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes darted between Christine and Kathie.

“Ready to hand the cooking over to the best cook this side of Kansas?” Christine asked.

He’d hand Callie anything she wanted. “That’s up to Callie. Butch already seasoned the steaks and prepared everything we need. It’s just a matter of heating it up over the fire.”

“That’s okay. I’ll cook for you some other time.” She hooked her index fingers in her pockets and flashed an innocent smile.

“I’ll look forward to that.” He loved that smile. He loved all her smiles, from the innocent to the shy and the bold, like he’d seen earlier in the day when she’d jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around him. He needed to snap out of the daze she’d propelled him into, and as she blinked a few times and her smile turned more heated, he forced himself to continue.

“Okay, ladies. I’m going to get dinner rolling. There are margaritas in the cooler, and if you want to take a walk, don’t go far, because it’ll be dark soon, and take Sweets with you to scare off the bears.”

“Bears?” Callie stepped closer to him with a panicked look in her eyes.

He cataloged that reaction for later. Not that he’d need a ruse to get closer to Callie, but he was trying to remember all the things she was afraid of.

“We are in the Colorado Mountains, Cal,” Christine reminded her.

Wes touched Callie’s arm and felt a zing of electricity course between them. “We don’t worry about bears. Keep a clean camp, keep Sweets around, and we’ll be fine. They won’t bother us if we don’t bother them.”

“Unless they’re superhungry,” Kathie said. “Then we might look like a tasty meal.”

“Kathie!” Bonnie shook her head. “Callie, if they had trouble with bears, do you really think they’d do these camping trips? Tell her, Wes.”

“Tell her you do and she’ll end up in your tent tonight.” Christine raised her eyebrows in quick succession, causing Callie’s cheeks to heat up.

“Christine.” Callie glared at her.

“Okay, fine. I’m kidding.” Christine poked at the fire with a stick. “Sort of.”

Wes laughed. “I swear you guys act like sisters. Don’t worry, Cal. Bears aren’t going to bother us.” He was tempted to whisper,
But you can still share my tent
.

She nodded, but her eyes were now shadowed with worry. Without concern about her friends, who clearly knew everything there was to know about them, he draped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Relax, okay? Just take a deep breath and let’s enjoy the evening.”

She pressed her palm to his stomach. “Okay.”

Holy Christ
.
How many more hours until your friends are asleep?

They ate dinner around the campfire, and Sweets enjoyed the scraps of meat tossed her way. The margaritas were cold, the meal was tasty, and the stars shone like diamonds against the black sky. With Callie by his side, the cool breeze, and the sounds of the forest surrounding them, Wes couldn’t think of anywhere he’d rather be.

“Tell us the truth, Wes. Do you ever get tired of taking these trips?” Bonnie sat between Kathie and Christine, leaning her elbows on her knees, holding her drink in both hands.

“You’re married, right, Bonnie?”

“Yeah, the three of us are.” She pointed to the others. “Why?”

“Well, do you ever get tired of coming home to your husband?” He watched Christine’s eyes light up and knew she had a joke on the tip of her tongue.

“Nope,” Bonnie said. “I love everything about Mark, from his stinky feet to his anal need to keep things orderly.”

“You just love his anal needs,” Christine teased.

They all laughed.

“Sorry. I couldn’t help it.” Christine took a drink of her margarita. “So you love it. What about when you’re not on trips? You live in Trusty, right? Do you miss being here when you’re there?”

Wes reached an arm around Callie. “Not on Thursdays.”

That earned him a collective
Aw
from her friends.

“What about you guys? What do you do for a living? And do you like what you do?”

“I’m a writer, and yeah, I like it too much.” Kathie gazed into the fire. “I think I need a twelve-step program.”

“Oh, come on. You’re not that bad,” Bonnie said.

Kathie glanced up at her. “Yeah, I am. That’s one reason I didn’t bring my laptop on the trip. It’s like an obsession. I think sometimes Paul feels slighted by the attention I give my writing.”

“Aw, Kath.” Callie tilted her head. “I’m sure Paul doesn’t feel slighted. He adores you, and he knows how important your career is.”

“Yeah, he does, but still.” Kathie took a long drink. “I think I’ll plan a trip away like this with Paul. He’d love it.”

Christine put an arm around Kathie. “Why don’t you plan something more extravagant? Pamper him a little.”

“Not that I know much about this, Kathie, but have you thought about defining the hours that you write, like when he’s at work? I know it’s hard when your work is there with you every second, but maybe treat it more like a job and less like something you love?” Callie shook her head. “That sounded horrible. Less like something you love? Everyone should love their job.”

Wes set his drink down and held Callie’s hand. He loved her thought process. “You know, from a guy’s perspective, I think it’s great that you love your job so much, and I have no idea what Paul is like, but I know with my job, and with most of my siblings’ jobs, if we don’t draw a line, we could easily have no life at all. Sometimes you have to create your own boundaries.”

“What do your siblings do?” Callie asked. “For that matter, how many do you have?”

“Five.” He waited for the typical wide-eyed response.

“Five?” Callie’s eyes widened.

And there it is
. “Yup.”

“Do they live near you?” Callie asked. “I’m an only child. I can only imagine how great it would be to have a big family.”

“Yeah, most of them do. My oldest brother, Pierce, owns casinos and travels a lot, and my third older brother, Jake—he’s almost two years older than me—he’s a stuntman in L.A. The others live in Trusty. Ross is a vet, Emily is an architect, as I mentioned the other day, and Luke, the youngest, owns a ranch and breeds gypsy horses.”