Lead Him Not Into Temptation (Redemption Book 2) (9 page)

All night I’ve wandered into the bedroom to watch her sleep, to smooth her hair when her sleep talking and rambles turn into frightened night terrors. My Great Dane, Hendrix, hasn’t left her side, alerting me of her terrors with whimpering. I think they upset him as much as they upset me to witness.

When I can’t handle the restlessness and useless feelings I have any longer, I lay out a pair of sweats and a T-shirt on the bed for when she wakes up. I write her a note and leave her in the care of Hendrix. I hop into Nelly and head toward Woodland Park. It’s the nearest town to the campsite with a Walmart where I can at least pick her up a few toiletry items, some clothes, and medical supplies to clean up my knuckles and her scraped-up knees. Also, I have some food in the camper, but definitely not enough to serve her a proper breakfast and sustain us both for the entire weekend. She may not intend to stay with me longer than the hour to travel back to Colorado Springs where her car is parked, but if I have my way, she will stay the weekend.

It’s still early by the time I return, and she’s still asleep. I don’t want to wake her by continuing my restless hovering, so I busy myself outside by bandaging my knuckles. I then set to work making a campfire and preparing bacon and eggs to make over the open flame. It isn’t long after getting everything on the griddle when a bloodcurdling scream from the inside of the camper pierces the morning silence.

I move as quickly as I can, bursting through the front door and down the small hallway to the bedroom. The screams continue, and I prepare for the worst as I turn the door handle to enter the bedroom. The scene before me is not what I expect and I barely contain my laughter.

“Get it off me!” Jen shouts. “I’m covered in slobber!” she continues as she struggles to find her way out of the blankets. Somehow, Hendrix has made his way under the covers with her, to snuggle no doubt…he never got the memo he’s too big to be a lap dog. Together they are rolling around, tangled in sheets, Jen frantically trying to get away, and Hendrix trying to lick her. When Jen finally falls out of the bed onto the floor and out of the grips of the flannel sheets, Hendrix halts his slobber attack and barks at her.

“Henri, enough, boy. Outside,” I warn. He immediately jumps off the bed and trots past me to go outside by the fire. “Sorry, about that. He’s a snuggler; he was trying to tell you he likes you,” I explain.

“Likes me? Are you stoned? That giant horse dog was trying to attack me. My hair is matted with dog drool. If I had exposed my neck, he probably would have punctured my jugular.” She’s being a tad overdramatic. I absolutely want to continue to laugh at her, but considering the events of the previous evening, I would prefer to not upset her.

“He really is harmless. I left clothes on the bed for you. Go ahead and get dressed and come outside, I have breakfast cooking for us,” I say before leaving the room, closing the door behind me. Her morning wake-up call was a little unorthodox, and more than likely a little inappropriate considering the circumstances, but at least it broke up any awkwardness I thought there might be between us this morning.

I’m taking everything off the fire and pouring her a cup of coffee when she finally emerges from the camper. My clothes completely swallow her; she has to hold up the sweats with one of her hands to prevent them from falling off. I’ve never seen Jen so tattered. She’s a person who prides herself on her appearance, and right now she is a matted mess. Besides the ridiculously large clothes, her makeup is smeared across her face from crying and sleeping, a bruised cheek matches the smudged makeup, and her hair looks similar to a nest we may find on a hike later today. She would find her appearance unacceptable, but to be honest, I rather like it. It makes her human…imperfectly perfect.

Hendrix immediately perks up when he hears her, but she shoots him a crusty look. “I’m not speaking to you, Goliath,” she hisses. Henri whines and settles back down next to my chair.

“I’m glad you’ve been introduced to Hendrix, he goes by Henri for short.” That earns me the crusty look she had reserved for Henri. “Here, I made you a cup,” I say, handing her a mug filled with enough caffeine to kill a small horse. “Take a seat and I’ll make you some breakfast.”

She accepts the mug with her empty hand and slides into the nearest chair. “Thank you,” she says meekly with her eyes downcast, refusing to meet mine. The awkwardness I was worried about has invaded our campsite. She closes her eyes and takes a deep inhale of the coffee, letting the warmth of the steam filter around her cheeks. Bringing her knees up under her in the chair, she settles in and begins to stare into the hypnotizing flames of the campfire. I know her mind is everywhere except here, so I hastily fix her plate to provide a distraction from the thoughts overshadowing her.

“Eat up,” I tell her as I hand her a plate filled with fried eggs and bacon. “You’re going to need energy for what we are doing today,” I add, taking a seat in the chair across the fire from her.

She gives me a confused, suspicious look and then laughs, sitting up straight in her chair. “Look, I appreciate what you did for me and giving me the night to regroup, but I’m not going to spend the day doing some counseling session with you filled with outdoorsy activities. If I need a little cardio, I have a gym for that. If I need a group pity party, I have friends for that. All I need right now from you is a ride back to the Springs to get my car so I can drive home.”

I pretend to ignore her, taking a large bite of food, and throwing a piece of bacon to Henri. “No can do, Jen,” I tell her, focusing my attention on my dog and not her. “I have some things I need to do up here this weekend which you could help with. Besides, your phone has been blowing up since we left last night. I wouldn’t think you would be in any hurry to get back to be hit with a million questions.” I finally look at her as I shove another mouthful in and talk around the massive amount of food. “I figure, by you staying, you’re helping us both out.”

Jen sits quietly, contemplating my proposition and what is waiting for her back home. “Fine,” she relents. “But I need to call the girls and let them know where I am and that I’m okay. Fuck, I would never hear the end of it, or worse, they’ll show up here.”

“I took care of it,” I say, throwing another piece of bacon to Henri.

“What do you mean, you took care of it?” she asks. “Jesus, quit feeding that dog bacon, he’s already the size of a fucking elephant. I thought you weren’t supposed to feed animals human food anyways.”

“I called Campbell this morning while you were sleeping and filled her in on how you were okay and with me. Told her we would be back Sunday and everyone needed to give you a little space until then. And no, you aren’t supposed to feed animals human food. But Hendrix isn’t like other dogs; he’s a part-human part-elephant, gorilla dog with super strength. He can have something special every now and then.”

“Yeah, well, you’re going to give him a heart attack,” she adds, taking another bite of her food. “So, Campbell was okay with your little plan?”

“She seemed to be. The other women in the background, not so much. There was a lot of shouting and demands to see you, but Campbell smoothed it out.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me about Vivian and Carly. They were probably already packed and in the car. I’ll be sure to call or text them.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re camped out at your apartment when you get back to Denver on Sunday night,” I laugh. I can only imagine what Campbell had to do or say to calm those women down, but I knew it was a bag full of drama Jen didn’t need right now. The air needed to settle before the mother hens were allowed to hover.

“Well, they care about me, even if it can be a little smothering. We’re each other’s family. I wouldn’t trade them for the world. Besides, did I hear you say Sunday night? What in the hell do you need help with that we can’t take care of this morning and be back by tonight?” Jen places her mug and plate on the ground and settles in for an argument. I stuff the remainder of my breakfast in my mouth and stand to gather the dishes, ignoring her confrontational posture. “I have things I need to get back to, and I have no clothes. I can’t exactly wear your nasty sweats for the next day and a half,” she huffs.

She watches as I pick up her dishes and move toward the camper. “It’s taken care of, Jen. I went to Walmart this morning and picked you up some things,” I say over my shoulder and then whistle for Henri to follow me.

“What?” she shouts.

I hear her stumbling out of her chair in an attempt to chase after me, and Henri immediately begins to bark at her. I struggle to maintain a straight face, picturing the scene unfolding behind my back. When I look back, she’s picking herself off the ground and attempting to hold onto the sweats which are falling off her while at the same time ward off Henri who is trying to lick her.

“Do I look like the type of girl who has ever stepped foot in a Walmart? Do they even have clothes?” she asks, as she bats Henri away and finds her footing to stand up.

“Hendrix, come here,” I command. He whimpers, but reluctantly leaves her side and goes inside the camper. “No, princess, you certainly don’t look like someone who would ever step foot in a Walmart. Maybe you should spend a little more time learning how the other half lives so the fall off your high horse wouldn’t hurt so badly.”

I immediately turn and enter the camper, closing the door behind me. I know I’m provoking her a tad, but I figure feisty Jen needs to return. If I take the white gloves off and treat her like I always do, maybe her fire will ignite once again. My guess is spot on when I hear the camper door slam as I’m placing the dishes in the sink.

“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?” she shouts. “I’m a completely down to Earth person. Dammit, I go through my closet every year and send things to Goodwill for fuck’s sake. Just because I don’t like to prance my ass around Wally World so I can have my picture taken and put on those stupid people of Walmart Facebook collages which everyone laughs at doesn’t make me a snob. Excuse me for not wanting to be featured on Tosh.0.”

With that, I burst into laughter. Hendrix is caught off guard and begins to howl. I’m glad Jen’s found her spunk, even if it’s to tell me off. Damn that was funny.

“What? What’s so funny?” she asks in an agitated tone. “It’s pretty rude to laugh at people, you know.”

“Oh, sparky, believe me there is nothing funny about this. I try to help you by bringing you here. I try to be considerate by getting you things I think you’ll need during your stay at the only place available to me, and you find it’s not good enough. I find that rude.”

“Ugh! You’re infuriating,” she announces after letting my words sink in a bit. “I do appreciate what you’re doing and I know I can act like a brat at times. I’m sorry, I’m a little out of my element here. I’ve never done a lot of things, including camping.”

“Now that is funny. You’ve never been camping?” I laugh, but I almost find her confession somewhat sad. What person has never camped out under the stars? There were times as a kid I had no choice but to sleep outside to get away from what was happening at home. The drugs, the fights, the strangers coming in and out of the house; the outdoors was the only safe haven for my siblings and me. Sometimes, getting them to our secret campsite was the only way to keep them safe.

“Spoiled rich kid, remember?” she jests as she plops down onto the seat next to the small kitchen table and uses her finger to circle her face. “Really, though, my father never had time for things like that, and my mother wouldn’t be caught dead sleeping in a tent.”

“Well then why don’t you simmer a little and take this weekend as a time to not only regroup but have a new experience?”

She takes a moment to consider my offer, and I know she’ll cave. For all of the tough attitude Jen presents to the world, I know underneath all of the gruffness, is something fragile, something soft which needs nurturing. More and more I find myself wanting to be the man who protects that glass heart of hers…the one who glues her pieces back together.

“Okay, truce,” she says, holding her hand out to me. Leaning against the counter I try to act nonchalant about the fact she is willingly staying with me and will be a good sport about all of the outdoor activities she’ll be involved in today, but really I’m shaking with excitement. I want to make today unforgettable, help to erase the events of last night. When she closes her eyes tonight, I want her to see me and only me, not that piece of shit security guard.

I push off the counter and reach for her hand to accept the armistice. When she places her hand in mine, instead of shaking it, I pull her from the chair and to my body.

“I promise we will have a good weekend together, Jen,” I say, placing my hand on her back and pulling her even closer. “I plan to erase every memory of the nightmare of last night,” I whisper in her ear. Her breathing catches as my breath hits her neck, and I know I have her. I move away and slap her ass playfully. “So, get dressed in your damn Walmart camping clothes and get ready for an adventure!”

She squeals and lets out a huff, but then does what I ask, moving past me to the back bedroom. Just before reaching the door, she turns around to face me with a smile to match my own. “You’re an asshole, Casen Thompson, don’t forget that, but I do appreciate this.”

“I do my best, sparkplug,” I tell her with a nod before she turns and enters the bedroom, closing the door behind her.