Maybe she was just stunned he’d done something so thoughtful.
“Sugar, come on and see the inside. You’re gonna flip. It’s got everything.”
His ears must’ve been playing tricks on him because he swore he heard her mumble, “Including a maid?”
He pointed out the front area. “The seats are plush. Like sittin’ in my easy chair drivin’ down the road. And above us? We just slip a piece of padded wood across and it becomes an oversized bunk.” He led her to the kitchen. “I figured you’d love the full sized stove and oven. And the table folds down so it can be a living area or an extra bed.”
“Handy. I can make whoever is sleeping there breakfast in bed.”
“Exactly.” He paused. Wait a second. Was that…sarcasm?
Nah. He had to’ve misheard her.
“Down here you’ll find the bathroom.” He led her down the short hallway and pulled the folding door open. “With a corner shower it’s bigger than standard. Same with the toilet.” He gestured to the cabinet beside the door. “There’s a compact washing machine and dryer in there.”
She didn’t seem too impressed.
“Check this out.” Carson opened the door to the bedroom. “A king-sized bed. And look at all the storage.”
“For laundry, cleaning and cooking supplies no doubt.”
“No, I think it’s mostly closet space. But you can put whatever you want back here.” He perched on the edge of the bed and patted the mattress. “Shall we break it in?”
“Right now?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “You busy doin’ something else?”
“Actually, yes. I was about to bake brownies and I’m starting supper. But maybe later?”
He stood and kissed her forehead. “Sure. But do you like it?”
“It’s…something all right.”
Later that night Carson convinced her to return to the camper, expecting she’d want to explore on her own. He was pretty damn proud of himself for figuring out how to hook up the satellite TV without pestering his kids for help.
After being married for so many years, he was all-pro at seducing his wife. But the whole time he was making love to her—or trying to—she didn’t seem that into it.
He stopped moving and looked down at her. “Am I boring you or something?”
Carolyn opened her eyes. “No, it’s fine.”
Fine? That less than enthusiastic response made him more determined to feel her clinging to him and moaning in his ear as she came undone. He nuzzled her throat, scattering those little sucking love bites she loved so much down the arch of her neck. When even that didn’t create the shivering and moaning effect, once again he stopped moving. “What’s goin’ on with you?”
“I can’t relax.”
“This is supposed to relax you.”
“Well, it’s not, it’s just making me more tense so can we just get it over with please?”
“Over with?” That stung. He eased out of her body and pushed to the end of the bed, waiting for the soft caress of her hand assuring him she didn’t mean it. Waiting for her to ask if they could start over. Because in all the years they’d been married, she’d only left him hanging like this a few times.
Carson felt the bed shift and glanced over to see her…grabbing her clothing.
What the hell?
Carolyn wouldn’t meet his gaze as she slipped on her bra and hooked it behind her. “Look, I’ll catch you later before we go to bed. I’m just really not in the mood right now.”
No kidding.
She didn’t stop and kiss him or touch him at all. She just breezed past him, leaving him nekkid and alone with a flagging erection and a sense of unease.
That night in their bed she’d kept to her word and more than made up for her odd behavior in the camper bedroom earlier.
Still, he knew something was going on with her.
A dose of the grandkids always cheered her up. He asked Colby and Channing if they could take their four boys to the lake for the weekend.
Gib, Braxton, Miles and Austin were highly impressed with the RV. Carolyn had just closed the garden gate when he pulled up and honked. Was she ever speechless when the grandsons spilled out, chattering a mile a minute about their surprise weekend camping adventure with Grandpa and Gran-gran.
Carolyn scooped Austin up and perched him on her hip, smooching his chubby cheek. “You boys ready to go camping?”
They all shouted, “Yes!”
Then his wife smiled at him—and it wasn’t a nice smile. “Let’s go.”
“Right now?”
“You busy doin’ something else?”
Why was she tossing his words from yesterday afternoon at him? “No.”
“Good. I’ll just grab my purse and lock the front door and we’ll hit the road.”
“But…”
She whirled on him. “But what? Isn’t this the appeal of having a camper? We can just take off whenever the mood strikes us?”
“Yeah, but sugar, we don’t have any food or supplies.”
She flapped her hand at him. “Minor details.”
Maybe she planned to stop at the grocery store on the way to the lake.
But she insisted they check into the campground to secure a good spot. Once they’d paid the fees and parked, everyone was hungry and there wasn’t so much as a breath mint in the camper to feed four hungry boys and two adults. So they trekked to the marina convenience store and bought thirty bucks worth of food.