Page 16 of The Love Fix (The Sunrise Cove #8)

Grateful that dusk seemed to go on forever this warm June night, Lexi didn’t waste her phone battery on her flashlight. At

least not until she’d neared the tent and heard a soft rustling in the trees off to her right. She froze for a beat, then

hit the app, but the beam of light didn’t cut through the purple sky.

A breeze brushed over her face, and she relaxed. “Just the wind dancing through the trees,” she said out loud, wanting any

wild animals within hearing range to decide she might taste as bitter as she sounded.

Crawling into the tent, she sat back on her heels and eyed the space as small as Judy’s bathroom.

Maybe smaller.

And she and Heath would be sharing it... That morning when she’d realized he’d be coming on this trip, she’d wanted to

argue that his presence wasn’t necessary. But a part of her, an annoying part, had settled and calmed at the thought of him

being here for them.

Gah. Her emotions were giving her whiplash.

Suddenly, she registered the utter lack of sound.

No cars, no sirens, no city noises. Nothing.

A little unnerved, she once again pulled out her phone, pleasantly surprised to see she had enough service to stream something.

She picked Bake Wars , a show she had a love-hate relationship with.

Love, because she had some weird obsession with judging the bakers who competed.

Hate, because despite having watched the show for years, she sucked at baking.

Ten minutes in, she was stretched out on her sleeping bag, staring at her screen. “What are you doing? You can’t just dip

the walnut whirl into the tempered chocolate. You’ve got to carefully drizzle it over the top to achieve the characteristic

wobble of the coffee ganache, Parisian café–style!”

She heard a short laugh just outside the tent. The calm energy told her exactly who it was, but her heart still leapt inside

her chest. “Password required,” she called out.

Heath’s shadow on the other side of the zipped tent made him look ten feet tall and broad as a mountain. “Are you really streaming

a show in there?”

“Nope, sorry, that’s not the password.”

“Your sister’s peeking out the curtains, spying to see if you’re going to let me in.”

“It’s not that either.”

His shadowy stance—feet spread, hands on hips, the tilt of his head—suggested irritation. Good. He could join her damn club.

How were they going to share this tiny tent without killing each other?

“I brought dessert,” he said.

“Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner.”

With a low laugh, he crouched and reached for the zipper, but stopped. “Are you... changing?” he asked.

“I’ve tried, but it never takes.”

That got her another brief chuckle, but he still didn’t move. After a few beats of silence, he quietly spoke without an ounce of his usual dry wit or sarcasm. “It’s okay, Lex. I can sleep out here.”

And even though he couldn’t see her, she nodded. Definitely, that would be the safe route, and she watched, silent, as he

stood and walked away. But then she remembered the bears, coyotes, mountain lions, oh my, and scrunched up her face. “Heath!”

His shadow reappeared, said nothing.

On her knees now, her show paused and forgotten, holding her breath, she tried to figure out what she thought she was doing.

“I don’t want you to get eaten. I mean, it’d make a big mess and all.”

The tent’s zipper slowly rose, and then there he was, hunkered low, balanced on the balls of his feet, his hooded gaze holding

hers prisoner. Whenever she tried to hold that pose, she tended to fall over. Heath didn’t. He seemed perfectly comfortable

and... damn. Sexy as all get-out.

He flicked a gaze to the show still paused on her phone screen. “Do you bake?”

“Only if I want to burn a kitchen to the ground.”

He snorted, and she rolled her eyes. “Hurry, you’re letting bugs in.”

He did not, in fact, hurry. Instead, he remained still. “Are you comfortable with this?”

“I think it’s fair to say I’m comfortable with almost nothing these days.”

He didn’t smile. He merely grabbed the sleeping bag he’d brought out of the house.

“Stay,” she whispered.

His eyes held hers. “You’re sure?”

“I mean... I have some rules.” She half expected him to smirk or make a joke.

He just nodded. “Whatever you need to feel comfortable and safe.”

This took some of the starch out of her righteousness. How did he know that she rarely, if ever, felt truly safe? “First...”

She tossed him a bug spray, which she’d gotten from the supplies left out for them and had already used.

“I’m surprised you don’t have bear spray.”

“Oh, I have that too,” she said. “Judy is, thankfully, well prepared. Second—there’s only one pillow, so we’ll have to thumb

wrestle for it.”

His mouth quirked. “You can have the pillow, Lex.”

Whenever he shortened her name in that low timbre of his, she melted—every single time—even if she had no intention of following

up on that feeling.

Ever.

“Anything else?” he asked.

The question caught her off guard. He wasn’t mocking her, or even teasing. Rules had been an important part of her life. Rules

kept her sane. But the truth was, she was overwhelmingly tired of making them, tired of letting them keep her from things

that might’ve turned out to be good for her.

Not that Heath was going to turn out to be good for her. She wasn’t that na?ve. But... maybe sometimes she needed to step

outside her comfort zone and just let things happen. “Not right now,” she finally said.

He nodded. “If that changes, just say the word.”

Control. He was giving her all the control, which she appreciated, more than he could ever know. Returning the nod, she scooted

back, making room for him to crawl in. “Now hurry.”

“Is that actual concern for me, or are you worried that if I get eaten, I won’t be able to share my body heat?”

She rolled her eyes so hard, she saw her own brain.

Chuckling, Heath climbed in, and suddenly the tent felt even tinier. There would be no moving around without bumping into

each other, which would make things... interesting, to say the least.

He looked around, then unrolled his sleeping bag. “Going to be tight in here.”

Extremely.

He looked at her and cocked his head slightly, clearly taking in her lingering tension. “Seriously. Say the word, and I go.

I’ll be fine out there.”

She shook her head. “I want you to stay.” True story.

“Okay, but you should know, I like to be the small spoon.”

She snickered as he kicked off his shoes and stretched that delectable body out on his back as much as he could, his long

legs bending at the knees to fit. At ease as always, he laced his hands behind his head and stared up at the night sky through

the decent-size hole in the canvas above them. “Hope it doesn’t rain.”

“Do you want to adjust your sleeping bag so you’re going corner to corner?” she asked. “It’d give you more legroom.”

“Aw, you worry about me.”

“I’m worried you’ll get a leg cramp in the middle of the night and wake me up.”

A pleased laugh escaped him. His smile was pure bad boy. “Liar.”

“Just... stay on your side.”

“Of course.”

She was stuffed into her sleeping bag, but he was still on top of his. “Aren’t you going to be cold?”

“Nah. I run hot.”

No kidding... She shivered at the thoughts flitting through her brain, thoughts that had nothing to do with survival and

everything to do with scooting close enough to climb him like a tree. Or better yet, ride him like a bronco.

And kissing him. Again. Because... and this was no news flash... no matter what she’d said about him being a bad kisser,

he was the absolute best kisser on the planet.

He laughed softly and her gaze flew to his, horrified as she wondered if he could read her dirty mind. “What?”

Still smiling, he shook his head.

“Tell me.”

“Do you have any idea how expressive you are?”

“I am not.”

“Hey, that wasn’t a diss. I like it.” He met her gaze, his tone teasing as he murmured, “You want me. You want me bad.”

Stomach flipping over itself in anticipation, she threw the sole pillow at him, nailing him in the face. “You wish!”

He slid the pillow beneath his head. “I do.”

This shut her up, because there was nothing teasing in his gaze now, only a barely banked fire, scorching and direct. The

kind that ignited white-hot flames deep inside. Too chicken to face it, she closed her eyes and pretended to settle in. Pretended,

because her heartbeat thundered in her ears, the opposite of settling in. Same with her thoughts. She tossed and turned for

a few minutes, but couldn’t get comfortable.

Silently, he pushed the pillow back over to her. Gratefully, she tucked it beneath her head. After a few minutes, she whispered,

“I have no idea what to do with you.”

It took him almost as long to respond. “If you ever figure it out, let me know.”

Would he be shocked to know how much that appealed? Giving in to this crazy attraction? Appealed and... terrified. She could hear crickets and a hoot of an owl. And some sort of rustling that she didn’t think was wind this time. Maybe a coyote. Maybe a whole band of coyotes.

“Breathe, Lex.”

She sucked in some air and turned on her side to face him. He was already facing her, and suddenly she realized how close

they actually were. How... intimate the space suddenly felt.

“You’re shivering,” he murmured, and zipped her sleeping bag up for her. “And still holding your breath.”

Dammit.

He took a steady but deep inhale through his nose, and then slowly let it out through his mouth. Then again.

And she found herself mimicking the cadence, until her heart slowed down and her shoulders lowered from her ears. He kept

at it, a quiet, calm presence, never indicating any impatience as he waited for her to get it together, no snark to be found.

His quiet attentiveness unnerved her, mostly because it felt... comfortable. Easy. She hadn’t felt pressure to plaster

on a smile, or pretend to be anything other than who she was—contrary, and also maybe a little angry.