Rose’s smile faded. “Truth.”
Rock paused, then smiled. “Gotcha. You drink.”
Rose laughed heartily, drank along with everyone else, then hauled Rock back down and laid her lips on his.
Lily looked into her drink. All around her…romance, love-
Jared turned to her. “Should I go next?”
“Sure,” she said as casually as she could, but still her heart began to race.
He stood, then looked down at her. “I’m having the time of my life.”
Lily found her lips curving. “Even with diving over cliffs and climbing other cliffs and-”
“Even with,” he said. “Maybe especially with.”
“Well, that’s just crazy enough to be the truth,” she said, and because he hadn’t fooled her, he took a long swig of his laced hot chocolate.
Lily drew a deep breath and stood up. “Okay, here goes. I’m adventurous on the outside-”
“Well, duh,” Michelle said with a smile. “You’re not fooling anyone, Lily.”
“-but on the inside,” she said, “on the inside, especially with my own heart, I’m far too careful.”
Jared tipped his head up and looked at her, his indescribable eyes clear and open on hers. “Things can change, Lily. People can change.”
“You’re supposed to say truth or lie,” she whispered.
Jared shook his head. “You know you can change it.”
“Jared.”
“Damn it, truth. Your truth.”
She lifted her mug and drank. Hell, everyone lifted their mugs and drank. People were starting to get some damn silly grins on their faces. Rose topped off her mug, drank it down, then staggered to her feet. Reaching a hand out to Rock, she tried to wink at him, but ended up just opening and shutting both eyes, which cracked her up. “Stick a fork in me, I’m done. Take me to bed, cowboy.”
Rock surged to his feet so fast, Lily’s head spun. Slipping an arm around Rose, he led her toward her tent, chuckling as she walked with the care of the very cautious, or the very inebriated.
Jack pulled Michelle to her feet then, too, and pushed her hair out of her eyes. “If I wasn’t drunk, I’d carry you to bed.”
Oh, Lily thought, watching Michelle smile, a real smile, they were going to work it out. They were going to get their happily ever after. It made her sigh with happiness for them.
“If I was drunker,” Michelle whispered to Jack. “I’d actually believe there was a bed in our tent.”
He smiled. “We don’t need a bed.”
She grinned dreamily, and hugged him. “Oh, Jack.”
Lily watched them go, an unnameable yearning welling within her. She’d never really longed for a husband. She’d liked being on her own, strong and independent.
But…but then she’d sort of lost her footing. She thought maybe she’d found it, or she was beginning to, and now…now she felt different. Not as strong on the outside, no doubt. But on the inside…maybe stronger. At least strong enough to admit that there was no denying she was longing for a partner, for someone to complement her life in the best possible way.
Jared took her hand. “How about it? Can I convince you I have a bed in my tent?”
She tried to laugh but it was hard with the odd lump in her throat.
Jared tipped up her chin, studying her face in that way he had of seeing all the way into her. But she felt just a little too raw, a little too exposed at that moment, so she turned away, and then to her surprise tripped over her own toes. “Whoops,” she said, and would have landed flat on her face if Jared hadn’t slipped an arm around her, catching her up against him.
“Whoa,” he said, and turned her in his arms to face him. “Hello.”
“I’m not drunk, I barely had any of the whiskey.”
“Then maybe you just like being against me.”
“Maybe I do,” she admitted. “Good thing you have fast reflexes.”
He ran his hands down her back. “I have a feeling fast reflexes are required with you.”
She smiled, then found it clogged with that lump in her throat as her eyes unexpectedly filled.
“Ah, Lily,” he said softly, and cupped her cheek. “What is it?”
“I need to put out the campfire.”
“Lily.”
“Truth?”
“Please.”
“We only have one night left.”
“Doesn’t have to be only one night left.”
She looked up into his eyes and saw so many things; lovely, terrifying things. “I don’t want you to get hurt,” she whispered.
“I’m a big boy. I can handle whatever comes.”
“And you have. I know.”
“So what’s the problem?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. What was the problem? Was it having such a warm, smart and sexy man want to be with her? Was she that big an idiot?
“I want to spend time with you in the real world, Lily.”
She lifted her hands, gestured all around them. “This is the real world. My world.”
“Okay, let me clarify. I want to spend time with you in any world: yours, mine…doesn’t matter. Let’s go out.”
“On a date?”
“Yeah.”
“Define date.”
“I pick you up, we laugh and have fun, maybe make-out…and then we do it all over again another night.”
“Sounds simple.”
“Sounds good.”
Oh, God, it did. “We’ve only known each other a few days.”
“Days. Years. Seconds. You can’t put a time line on these things, Lily.”
She stared at him. “If I keep guiding, I’ll be gone a lot. I won’t have time…”
“Then we see each other when you are around.”
“There might be weeks in between.”
“Yes, but see, there’s these newfangled contraptions called phones, e-mail, text messaging-In fact, I know a guy who has everything you could ever need.” He grinned. “I’ll hook you up.”
He looked so earnest, so sincere, her breath caught. “Jared.”
He smiled. “Admit it. You like me.”
Yeah, she did. Way too much. “Look, here’s the truth.”
“Finally.”
“I’ve never been too successful at this dating thing. I don’t know why really, except I’ve never been too fond of ties. They…choke me.”
“Me too. It’s why I don’t wear suits to the office anymore.”
“Jared.”
“Lily.”
She could only shake her head. “You’re not listening…”
“Yes, I am. You’re trying to dump me.”
“I’m trying to be honest with you. I’ve never had much time for doing the long-term dating thing, and I’m trying to tell you that while this has been nice-”
“Great,” he corrected. “It’s been great.”
She stared at him, then had to concede. “Okay, yeah. Great. While this has been great-” She broke off when he smiled, rather full of himself, and she had to laugh. “You’re awfully hard to dump.”
