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“Stop it. I mean it.”

“I think he touched her ass,” Cora continued, eyes sparkling with humor. Each horrible thing she said brought her closer to him though.

“Why are you being mean? What have I ever done to you?”

She laughed, low and husky, and he sort of didn’t care what other words might come out of her mouth, because she was close, and he could smell her perfume and soil. Every worry or concern was obliterated by it.

“Because after listening to Lou telling me stories of how much of a goody-two-shoes you’ve always been, I’m all too tempted to debauch you, but, you know, people, so I can’t. So I have to be mean and boner-killing instead.”

“Boner . . . killing. Wow.” He shook his head, more than a little enraptured by the happily mischievous tilt to her mouth. He lowered his voice, and his mouth so it was close to hers. “Lou doesn’t know everything about me.”

“Oh really?”

“Really. But you’ll have to wait until Thursday to find out.” Instead of kissing her on the mouth like he wanted to, he simply pressed a quick peck to her forehead and stepped around her. “Have to go check on the branding. See you later,” he offered, not daring to look back.

“Now who’s mean?” she called after him.

He chuckled as he stepped out into the late afternoon sun. For a brief second, he thought Micah scowled at him, but it was gone in a blink, his face back to blank as could be.

Shane must have imagined it. His insecure imagination playing tricks on him.

Things were fine. Things would be fine.

Chapter Sixteen

Cora practically bounced as she watched Micah shove a random conglomeration of crap into his backpack. She’d already warned him he was going to have to carry it, since Sam and Hayley would be carrying all the supplies they’d need to camp, but Micah didn’t listen.

She was having a hard time focusing on making him listen because Shane would be here to pick her up in two hours. A date. Arealdate. It felt like she hadn’t had something just for her in ages upon ages.

She was going to have sex.Goodsex if those few and far between kisses were anything to go by. That had been ages and ages too.

She didn’t have to feel guilty about it, because Micah would be off doing something fun for him.

Micah rocked back onto his heels from a crouched position that looked nothing but uncomfortable to Cora, studying her in that quiet, thoughtful way of his. He’d been doing it since he was two, and, a decade later, Cora still couldn’t figure out what it meant. What he might be thinking. Good, bad, or in between.

She’d talked to Dr. Grove about it and been assured it was normal. Kids needed their interior space to work through hard things too.

“You could come with,” he offered carefully.

Cora tried not to grimace at the thought of sleeping in a tent. With bugs. And animals creepy crawling around at night. She shuddered.

Micah’s expression softened a hint. “You’re such a baby.”

“A happy, warm, comfy bed-sleeping baby,” Cora agreed.

His mouth quirked at that as he zipped up his backpack.

“Did you pack your toothbrush?”

“Mom, there’s no running water. Sam and Hayley have those toothbrush wipe things.”

“Right.” Camping really was beyond her, but she was glad Micah liked it, and not just because it meant she got a date with a hot guy out of the deal. With sex. Actual alone-in-her-house sex.

Micah got some time with hisinterior thoughts. Which was supposed to be good. She wished it felt good not knowing what he was thinking, what he was feeling.

“There isn’t anything you want to talk to me about before Sam and Hayley get here?”

“No.”