Page 66 of Rival Hearts

“Too much rotten wood,” Charlotte said, nodding as she looked around.

“Yeah.” I undid my jeans and pulled them down.

Charlotte stared, but when I looked at her, she looked away, averting her eyes.

I grinned. She was sweet. So out there, so wild in bed—I spoke from experience—but so shy and withdrawn at the same time.

I turned my back, giving her privacy so she could get undressed, too.

I hung our wet clothes over the banister on the stairs that led up to the lantern room.

“Thank you,” Charlotte said.

We’d dragged the tarps to the wall next to the table and sat down on it.

She still shivered, her hair wet, and I shifted a little closer. I put an arm around her and pulled her against me. She was a little stiff at first, but when my body heat seeped through the blankets, she huddled a little closer.

“I can’t believe stuff like this still happens,” she said.

“Stuff like what?”

“Getting stranded on an abandoned island. In these modern times.”

I chuckled. “Nature doesn’t care how advanced we are. In the grand scheme of things, we’re nothing. Without nature, we’d shrivel and die, but without us, nature would continue on as it is. Or it would thrive, even.”

Charlotte nodded. “It’s grim to think about it that way, but it’s true.”

“It’s important to know that we don’t exist without expiry dates and vulnerabilities,” I said. “It keeps us humble.”

Charlotte glanced up at me. “That’s not something I ever thought I’d hear out of your mouth.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I just thought you were a certain type of person. Now I’m starting to think that I might have been wrong.”

I warmed at that. I didn’t know what she’d thought about me, but I did know that if I could impress her or make her see me in a positive light, that was a win.

“We might have to stay here until morning,” I said. “We can’t leave until this storm passes.”

“We’ll be okay here?”

“I think so. We don’t have any food or water, but I’ll see what I can find downstairs once the worst is over and we can risk it.”

“I have water and cookies,” Charlotte said and reached for her bag, careful to hold the blanket tightly to her chest.

She pulled out two bottles of water and a soggy box of cookies.

“Oh,” she said. “Well… Ihadcookies.”

I laughed. “We can work with this. I don’t mind soggy cookies. The water is more important.”

Charlotte nodded. “And here I was wondering if two bottles would be too heavy to carry around all afternoon. Now I wish I’d taken more.”

“It will be fine.” I pressed my lips to her forehead before I could catch myself. “We’ll just ride out the storm, and soon we’ll be able to go home. The island isn’t too far for a rescue team, and if the boat is still intact by morning, we might not even need it.”

“Oh, no, the boat,” Charlotte said.

“It’s fine,” I said with a grin. “Boats can be replaced. We cannot.”