Free Entangled Summer by Michele Barrow-Belisle Page B

questionable dairy products.
    He studied me briefly, before venturing deeper into the room. “Good. I know Grace can be, pushy, at times."
    "Ha. You don't know that half of it." I tilted my head to watch him. Or maybe he did. His brows were furrowed together, and he clearly had something on his mind. But then he often looked like something heavy was on his mind.
    Wonder if there was a way into his secrets. Immediately I remembered my own, and shut down the idea. Mine were impenetrable, to anyone who wasn't Grace Strange, why wouldn't his be as well.
     

Chapter Fifteen

     
     
    I watched Troy survey the living room. A place that despite our limited accessories, we’d managed to make look almost homey. Well, Kenzie had. I'd pretty much gone along with her decisions. Her money, her choices. Sort of had a Sex in the City meets Little House on the Prairies vibe going on.
    He had to have noticed the dozen or so camp rule infractions, just on the main floor alone. Not even I could count how many rules Kenzie broke up in her room. Including the no boys/ no sex rule. That one bit the dust week one.
    I stuck my head in the fridge. “Can I get you a soda or a something. Chocolate milkshake, fruit juice, maple syrup? Anything with sugar, we've got it.”
    He shook his head. “Not fans of the green juice and kale smoothies I take it.”
    I made a face, shutting the door, then grabbed a bottle from Kenzie's stock. "Not so much. But we do have green apple vodka, so..."
    He laughed, and his gaze drifted to the staircase, the one leading up to my bedroom. “Are we alone?”
    I set the bottle down, my heartbeat picked up tempo. "Yep. Just us."
    Silence descended, thick with innuendo. I nibbled my lower lip, and his eyes darkened as he watched me.
    "I should go." He said it abruptly, as though being here was suddenly making him very uncomfortable. It wasn't like there was anyone to punish him if he got caught rule-fracturing. He owned the place.
    I frowned. "Okay sure. But, why? Worried about getting fired?" I teased.
    His half-smile gave me a shiver. "I do have a board of directors to answer to,” he said. “But that’s not it. I just don't think being here is a good idea." He walked toward me, stopping when we were about a foot apart. "There's only so much temptation I can withstand."
    I burst out laughing and his eyes widened in surprise.
    “I'm— I'm sorry,” I giggled, pushing stray strands of hair out of my face. My tank top strap slid down one shoulder, my cut off jean short were permanently stained with rainbow hues of paint, my hair was pulled back into its usual rats nest ponytail and I hadn't even showered yet. "By temptation, you must mean the candy and vodka bar, because you couldn't possibly mean me."
    He didn't crack even a hint of a smile when he closed the distance between us. His fingers reached out to slowly lift my strap back in place. Tiny thrill bumps followed the trail as he grazed my skin.
    "This tank top is exactly the reason it's not a good idea for me to stay. The entire time we were together the other day, I barely registered a word you said. I watched your lips and all I could think about was the way they felt against mine."
    His hands traveled up to cup my face, and I melted into to him.
    His voice lowered to a whisper. "And we're here. Alone. Together."
    His eyelids lowered as he focused on my mouth. "Do you have any idea how hard it is not to pull you into my arms again?"
    "Then don't fight it." Everything was moving in slow motion and I honestly don't know if I said that out loud or in my head, but I stretched up on my toes, as he leaned in to kiss me softly. Then he pulled back, just as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
    "For all of these reason Nora, I really think it would be best for me to leave."
    "You know, you don't have to." I said quietly. We were alone. We were adults. And we had history. Hot heavy history. Where was the harm? The blood rushing in my ears was so loud I could barely hear