“Liam!” my father barked. “You can’t even pay attention to me. If I get one more call from your teacher, you’re going to boarding school. A strict one. They don’t put up with nonsense there.”
My heart leaped in my throat at the thought of boarding school. No. I refused.
“You must learn to be calm if you are to work for the family business one day. It isn’t appropriate for you to be disorganized and late to everything.”
The family business? I didn’t want to work for the family business. Building houses sounded like my worst nightmare.
“All right, papa. I’ll try harder.”
A flashof lightning jarred me from my memories as the rain began to fall. So much for attempting to stay dry. Another crack of thunder, the rain coming down heavier.
I groaned and cursed under my breath, scanning the woods for a possible cave or something.
I guess we can go ahead and put up the tent and hide in there.
“Cerise, we should set up the tent.”
She stopped and turned around, squinting through the rain pelting her face. “All right.”
I scanned for a flat spot higher than the rest. “There.”
We climbed a small hill, Cerise slipping in front of me in the mud.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, sliding down.
I immediately caught her, my hands landing directly on her ass, pushing her up.
“Liam, get your hands off me,” she chided through her laughter.
“I’m just catching you to make sure you don’t fall,” I said, and squeezed, unable to help myself.
She yelped.
We reached the top of the small hill and I reluctantly let go, giving her a smirk. She returned my smile, seemingly amused. I took off my pack and set it down, pulling out the tent. I began to set the poles into the ground when Cerise came up beside me.
“Not like that. Stretch it out more,” she instructed.
“I know how to set up a tent, sunshine.”
“You’re doing it wrong, though. It’s too muddy. You need to pull them tighter.” She leaned over and tried to help, graspingthe pole.
My feet slipped in the mud as I tried to keep hold of the tent. “You’re making it more difficult. Step back.”
“Just let me do it,” she argued, rising to her full height.
I stood, frustrated with her overbearing behavior. “Your interference is going to make it take much longer.”
“This is a bad spot. We need to find somewhere with less mud.”
“Everywhere is mud! It’s fucking raining,” I said, stepping closer to her.
Her clothes were soaked through, making her shirt slightly see-through, revealing the outline of her breasts. Her hair was matted to her head, droplets of water streaming down her face, her neck, her chest.
We stood in silence for a moment, staring at each other. The energy shifted between us. A mix of anger, irritation and…desire. My eyes dipped to her lips before meeting her gaze again.
Shaking her head as if trying to dispel whatever thoughts she seemed to want to ignore, Cerise prepared to turn away. “Since you won’t listen to me, I’m taking the tent somewhere else.”
“Dammit, woman,” I muttered, reaching out to grasp her arm. “You are so stubborn.”
