Lucy stopped reading. She shuffled around and knelt up inside the tent. "I'm cold," she said.
Brendan watched as she yanked one side of the sleeping bag from beneath her knees. She lay down again -- this time a little closer so her legs touched his along their full length. She flung the sleeping bag over the two of them. Brendan pulled on it as she wriggled to free enough to cover the two of them.
Her left arm was now against his chest. She propped the book up on his right hand. She turned her head and rested her cheek on the open pages of the book. "Isn't that better," she said. Their faces were so close he could feel the her breath when she spoke.
"Well, I'm definitely not as cold," he said. "How about you?"
"Much warmer, thanks," she wriggled around in the sleeping bag so she was on her side. Her cheek stayed resting on the book that was propped up on Brendan's left hand. Her hands were now just below his chin. With his right hand he reached up and held both of Lucy's hands in his. She straightened her left index finger and traced a short slow line along the bottom of his jaw.
As her finger left his skin, Brendan tilted his head down to follow it. He pulled Lucy's hands up to his mouth and kissed the finger that had grazed his chin. He looked into her eyes for the first time since they entered the tent. He rolled forward and kissed her on the mouth.
It was a brief kiss, a careful kiss. Lucy smiled. She moved forward slightly and they kissed again. Their kisses became less brief and less careful. They paused once to close Kathy's book and toss it in a corner of the tent. And paused again to rearrange the sleeping bag and pillow and put out the light.
They were now completely intertwined. Limbs, lips and hair were all mixed up in the close confines of the sleeping bag. A strand of Lucy's hair found its way into Brendan's nose. It tickled him and he yanked his head back and sneezed. Lucy laughed.
He rolled onto his back. "That's it," he said. "From now on I'm only going to bed with bald women."
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