Nothing But Trouble by Lisa Mondello

with a heavy load of wood filling his arms and immediately noticed that the quiet routine he’d come to rely on had been broken.  Everything was the same as it was when he’d gone off into the pines.  The tents were still rolled and packed away, along with the camp stove, and all the gear needed for cooking their supper.  And Melanie was nowhere to be found.
    “What now?” he moaned, searching the area for Melanie.
    He dropped the stack of pine logs he’d spent the last twenty minutes hacking away at and scanned the area until his eyes zeroed in on her. 
    Melanie was crouched down on the other side of a large boulder, the tips of her boots touching the edge of the stream, her face lifted slightly like a woman would when she was anticipating her lover’s kiss.  She dipped her fingers into the stream and splashed a small bit of water on her face before feathering her wet fingers through her dark hair.  She’d taken her ponytail down and the crease her hairband had made in her hair was clearly visible in the dying light.  And she was talking softly. 
    Stoney moved closer, but far enough away on the other side of the boulder for her not to hear his approach.  She was beautiful, and every bit of that beauty caused his blood pressure to creep higher and higher.  The backdrop of her soft voice seemed out of place with the thunderous sound of his heartbeat in his ear. 
    He listened, knowing he shouldn’t.  He could scare her if she suddenly turned to find him there.  But he liked the sexy sound of her voice, and he was just masochistic enough to want to torture himself.  What the hell was wrong with him?  He’d had beautiful women before, but he'd never been drawn to a woman this way.
    “So what do you think, Dolly?” he heard Melanie say.  “Maybe we could head out alone tomorrow and find a nice hot spring to take a bath in.  I could sure use one to ease the aches out of my bones.  We can even leave old grumpy Stoney behind for the day.  Wouldn’t that be heavenly?”
    “No, it wouldn’t,” Stoney ground out, realizing for the first time she’d been talking to the horse—a damned horse!—about taking off alone.
    The sharp edge of his voice apparently startled her.  Melanie snapped her head in his direction, eyes wide like a rabbit caught in a snare, before she fell on her backside on the muddy bank of the stream.
    “How long have you been standing there?”
    “How long have you been talking to horses?”
    She made a face.  “They’re nicer than people sometimes. They don’t talk back but at least they don’t ignore me, either.”
     “Is that what you feel I’ve been doing?”
    “As a matter of fact, yes.”  She was standing now, brushing her hand across her derriere in a way that made his body tighten.  Fleeting thoughts of his hands massaging the soft swells of her bare behind invaded his mind.  Lord, he couldn’t stand it anymore.
    “The gear hasn’t been unloaded,” he said accusingly, hearing the clipped tone of his voice.  Anger.  That was the only way to keep these feelings at bay.  It was a strong as his desire, but much more productive in this situation. “There isn’t going to be any supper unless you pull your share of the load.  I don’t care how tired you are.  We don’t get to relax until the work is done.”
    Her expression was one of shock, and he immediately regretted the harshness of his words.  He wasn’t being fair to her.  He hadn’t had to say anything twice.  No, she hadn’t been knowledgeable about the ways of camping and trailing when they’d first set out, but she’d met the challenge head on, and he had nothing but admiration for her for that.
    Melanie didn’t say anything.  She didn’t have to.  Her face said it all.  She hated him.  And at that moment he didn’t much blame her.
    She stalked past him, glaring at him with her full lips pouting and her movements stiff.  She ripped the tent out of the vinyl bag and began