“I feel like…” Lily huffed. “It’s a step toward something I can’t see or understand very well, and I don’t want to misstep.”

“I understand,” Chase said, more seriously than Lily had heard her before. “But what I said earlier still goes. It doesn’t have to be complicated. And one night will not obligate you to anything else.”

Lily knew Chase meant it, and that fueled her reluctance. What she wasn’t going to tell Chase was that she wasn’t certain that one night would be enough for her. And that was somewhere she didn’t want to go. She’d already had more emotional hits than she could take, and she wasn’t about to let herself in for another one.

“I’ve never actually had a one-night…thing.”

“I’m not surprised. But the thing is, Lily,” Chase said, running her index finger down the top of Lily’s bare arm and leaving goose bumps behind when the warmth of that small, solitary touch drifted away, “it’s not a one-night stand, not between you and me. Because I won’t disappear in the morning, and neither will you. And it won’t be just sex.”

Lily’s chest tightened again. No, it wouldn’t be just sex, and she only wished she knew what it would be.

“I’m sorry I’m probably overthinking this,” Lily said, “and that’s totally the antithesis of sexy.”

Chase threw back her head and laughed. Her laughter always drove away Lily’s uncertainty and strengthened her resolve to say what she felt, even when she couldn’t completely define it. Chase’s acceptance set her free.

“Lily, baby,” Chase said with that rumble in her voice again that spoke to the part of Lily that had nothing to do with reason or sensibility, “everything about you is sexy. And if we’re going back to camp, we should go, because I can’t promise not to keep trying.”

Wordlessly, Lily slid into the Jeep before she could change her mind. Again.

The ride back from town was quiet and oddly restful. They talked sometimes, were quiet others, and when they stood in the moonlight in front of the lodge, Lily pressed her hand to Chase’s chest and kissed her gently. “Thank you for a wonderful night.”

Chase’s heart thundered beneath Lily’s palm, and her breath was warm against Lily’s mouth.

“You’re welcome, Lily. Pleasant dreams.”

Lily smiled to herself as she climbed the stairs to her room. She didn’t need pleasant dreams when the evening had already been one.

Chapter Twelve