“I love when you do that.”
“Say I’ll go fishing?” She tilted her head to the side.
“Touch me.”
Her cheeks flushed.
“I’ll never tire of seeing you blush. Come on. Let’s get you a rod.”
“I like your rod,” she said just above a whisper.
He shot a look at her in complete disbelief.
“Oh, boy. I said that out loud, didn’t I?” She batted her lashes at him.
“Jesus. You sure know how to surprise me.” He grabbed her by the ribs and spun her around. Callie squealed in delight, and he kissed her again.
“Sheesh, you two. You make me want to run home and jump into my hubby’s arms.” Bonnie lowered her camera as Wes set Callie’s feet back on the ground.
“And that’s bad because?” Wes said as he prepared a fishing rod for Callie. When Bonnie didn’t answer, he shook his head. “Your husband will probably send us a thank-you card. Can you get a few pics of Callie fishing for me?”
“I’d love to.” She pulled her hair back and tied it with an elastic band she had on her wrist.
“Babe, why don’t you take off your boots so you don’t slip?” He watched Callie draw in a breath and eye the rushing water.
Callie removed her boots. “I would have brought sneakers if they’d told me the truth about where we were going.”
“I would have bought you a pair of sneakers if I’d known you didn’t have them, but I’m right here and I won’t let you fall in. You know, I just realized that we’ll be testing your fear of heights on the hike later. Are you sure you can handle both in one day?”
She shrugged. “I won’t know unless I try. Just don’t let me fall in.” Callie reached for his hand as she stepped onto the rock. “If there’s ever going to be a day when I feel brave, it’s today. Trust me on that.”
“Today breathed new life into me, too.” Their eyes held for a silent second full of emotion that only the two of them could hear. Callie had a dreamy look in her eyes, and he feared she might take a step in the wrong direction. As much as he hated to break the strand of emotion that tethered their thoughts together, he needed to bring her focus back to where she stood.
“Stay back from the edge of the rock and know where your feet are at all times, okay?”
She looked down and planted her bare feet firmly on the rock, hip distance apart. “Feet. Got it.”
He released her hand and gripped her arm instead. Just in case. “I’m going to come around behind you and show you how to cast, okay? Don’t move. Don’t slip. Don’t freak out and take us both into the water.” With Callie safely tucked between his arms, he said, “I’m proud of you. I know this is scary, and you’re doing great. I won’t let anything happen to you. Ever.”
“I believe you.” She leaned back against him, and he knew she did.
He helped her pull the rod back, then pitched it forward.
“Wow, look how far it went.” Callie held the rod so tightly her knuckles turned white. “It’s heavier than I thought it would be.”
“Jillian Michaels has got nothing on you, babe. You can do this.”
Kathie reeled her line in and joined Bonnie by Wes and Callie. “Look at you, Cal. This is so much better than a spa, isn’t it?”
“Only about a hundred times better,” Callie called over her shoulder. “Although I might need a little pampering after playing Davy Crockett.”
“You’re so damn cute that it’s hard for me to keep my hands off of you. I’ll be sure you get pampered. Don’t worry.”
“Hey, none of that dirty talk.” Christine set her fishing rod on the ground and sat beside Sweets.
Wes laughed to himself. “You okay?” he asked Callie.
“Yeah. As long as I don’t look down and if I pretend the sound of the rushing water is really a giant bathtub filling up, I’m fine.”
She held her body so rigid that Wes knew she was struggling to remain brave. He debated giving Callie an out by saying it was time to head back to camp, but he had a feeling that as much as he loved taking care of her, she needed to do this for herself.
She fished for another thirty or forty minutes without catching a single fish. The afternoon sun glistened off the river. Bonnie and Kathie were sprawled on the rocks, soaking up the rays, and Christine and Sweets sat in the shade on the grass at the edge of the forest.
“My arms are getting tired.” Callie shook her right hand.
Wes hadn’t moved from his post behind her. He lifted the rod from her hands and held on to her as she moved from the rock to the grass.
“You did great. How do you feel?”
She stretched her arms above her head, and her shirt lifted up, exposing a strip of bare skin. Wes couldn’t wait to kiss that sweet belly again and to feel her beneath him.
“Stiff. But happy.”
Stiff. Christ, he had to stop thinking like that. She was so much more to him than a luscious body, but there was no denying the heat that flamed every time they were close. He wanted so much more with her—everyday things that he’d never even thought of doing with a woman before. He wanted to see where she grew up and the park she’d told him about. He wanted to sit and read with her, introduce her to his family and meet hers. He wanted to show her places she’d never seen. Hell, he wanted to make her dreams come true and he had no idea what they were.
AFTER EATING LUNCH, the girls changed into jeans for the hike, and they gathered around the picnic table to look at the map with Wes. Even after being out in the warm sun all day, he still smelled delicious. Like pine and musk and sheer masculinity.
Wes pointed to a line on the map. “We’re hiking the Homestead Trail. It runs along the mountain. Then we’ll take a break at the crest here.” He moved his finger to another spot.
“We’re going up the side of the mountain?” Callie cringed at the shakiness of her voice.
“Well, it looks like it, but not really. There’s a wide trail that runs up this side. You’ll probably feel like you’re walking on a dirt road with a forest on one side and incredible views on the other. We’re winding around the mountain, not scaling it.” He covered Callie’s hand with his. “As long as you walk on the inside of the trail, you will barely know you’re up high.”
“Except your ears will pop, and if you look to your right, you’ll feel like you’re falling off the edge of the earth.” Christine’s eyes remained trained on the map.
“Christine,” Kathie hissed.
Christine lifted her eyes. “Callie, you know I’m kidding, right?”
No. “Yeah, sure.”
“You don’t have to come on the hike. If you want to stay here and read, no one is going to think badly of you.” He brushed her hair from her forehead and smiled. “You’ve done so much that was outside of your comfort zone already, babe. We know how brave you are.”
At first Callie had thought she was trying to push past her fears just for Wes, and for their relationship, but what she realized was that she was doing this as much for herself as she was for them. She wanted to try the things he enjoyed, and she was enjoying herself. She knew damn well she wouldn’t go in deep water anytime soon, but she still felt like she was making strides, and she felt more alive than she ever had.
“I want to do this. If it gets to be too much, I can stop, or come back. I have to admit, I’m having fun.”
Wes pulled her on to his lap, gathered her hair over one shoulder, and kissed her cheek. “I think that’s all any of us wanted.”
“I have a feeling that you wanted a little something more, Mr. Braden.” Christine arched a brow.
“Do you blame me?” Wes asked with an arched brow of his own.
He tightened his grip on Callie’s hip, and the memory of making love heated her cheeks.
“Actually, I couldn’t think of a nicer guy for one of my best friends.” Christine took off her visor and leaned across the picnic table.
Callie held her breath and covered Wes’s hand with he
rs. He slid his fingers out from beneath and placed them over the top of hers. Each of those intimate, protective gestures endeared her to him even more.
Christine spoke in a low, threatening voice. “Just don’t hurt her, because I studied martial arts, and I’ll go Jackie Chan on your ass.”
Wes met her gaze. “I’d say that’s enough to keep even the worst offenders in line. Callie’s lucky to have you.”
Christine smiled. “So you bought that, huh?” She put her visor back on. “Did I sound tough? I’ve been working on that for an act.”
“I was shaking in my boots,” Wes said with a nod.
“Yeah, I’m good like that.” Christine stretched her arms out to the sides. “Ready to blow this taco joint?”
“Sure.” Wes folded the map. “Be sure to bring your water and put on bug spray. You may want to tie your hair back, too. Use the bathroom if you don’t like using leaves, and then we’ll hit the trail.”
Callie sat on the picnic table watching Wes check his gear as she pulled her hair back and secured it with an elastic band. His backpack was enormous and chock-full of gear. She tried to peer around him to check out the contents.
He lifted his eyes to hers and smiled. “Curious? Water, first aid supplies, flashlights, sweatshirt, radio in case of emergency.” He came to her and stood between her legs, then leaned one palm on either side of her, bringing them eye to eye.
Her pulse quickened.
“Hello, gorgeous. Big day for us, huh?”
“Huge.”
His mouth quirked up at the corners. “Huge.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “I’ve always been this regular guy, you know?” He gazed into her eyes. “A guy’s guy. I never knew I was capable of feeling so much, or of wanting to put someone else ahead of everything in my life.”
Everything around them fell away. All that existed was the two of them, and his words wrapped around them, binding them together like his powerful arms.
He sat beside her and held her hand.
“I want to know your hopes, Cal, your dreams. I want to go to the park where you used to read for hours, and I want to find a place that you love equally as much that can be ours, where we can sit together and read for hours. I want to take you with me on horseback rides and do silly things like lie beneath the stars and figure out which one we want to call our own.” His eyes searched hers.
She laced her fingers with his just to feel closer to him. She never wanted to forget a single word he said.
“I never knew I could want any of those things until you.”
She opened her mouth, wanting to tell him she felt the same way, but me too felt cheap, and I love you wasn’t enough.
He searched her eyes again and asked with the most serious and thoughtful voice, “What’s your favorite thing in the world?”
Sweets set her front paws on the picnic bench beside her.
He smiled at the pup. “Sweets wants to know, too.”
“Do you mean besides you?” she asked.
He narrowed his eyes. “Yes, besides me. Before me.”
Had she even had a life before him? Before the trip to The Woodlands? It seemed like a lifetime ago.
“High tea and happily ever afters. High tea is just so romantic, and happily ever afters, well…”
“I want to be your happily ever after.”
The moment their lips touched, she knew what she wanted to say to him and wasn’t brave enough to share.
You already are.
Chapter Seventeen
THEY’D BEEN HIKING for more than an hour, walking along a dirt trail, stepping through tall grass and over the occasional rock. The incline didn’t feel as steep as Callie had feared it might, and she was sure to walk on the inside of the trail, close to the forest. But in her peripheral vision, she saw the way the trail fell away. She gripped Kathie’s arm and braved a glance in that direction.
“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” Kathie drew in a deep breath.
The edge of the trail gave birth to miles of forest below and a vast expanse of mountainous terrain in the distance. There were a variety of trees, some spiky and full in vibrant and deep shades of green, others bare, with branches that reached out like arthritic fingers. Brush bordered the edge of the trail, lush and plentiful, separated in spots with large rocks and set against a sky as clear and blue as a freshly cleaned swimming pool.
“It’s staggering to think that we live so close to all of this beauty and that I almost missed it by going home.” Callie sighed. “Thank you. You guys really changed my life. I never would have come here.” She lowered her voice. “And I probably would have ogled Wes forever and never gotten any further.”
“You are kidding, right?” Kathie looked her in the eye. “That man could no easier stay away from you than I could stop writing. That’s love in his eyes, Cal. True, honest, no-two-ways-about-it love. If we hadn’t come here, it might have taken him some time, but he couldn’t have ignored it for long.”
“I know,” Callie whispered. “I feel so lucky I can barely stand it.”
“Yeah, well, stand it, because he’s just as lucky to have you, and you deserve to be happy and loved by a man who treasures you as much as we do.”
Callie pulled Kathie down so she could whisper to her. “I can’t believe I’m in love. Love, Kathie. Me! And it’s kind of scary, but not scary like that.” She pointed toward the edge of the mountain. “More like…God, I don’t know…my heart feels like it might burst scary. I know I don’t know him very well, but…” She rolled her eyes up toward the sky and tightened her grip on Kathie’s arm. “I trust him, and it feels right. And, Kathie, oh my God, making love to Wes is like…heaven.”
“Smile,” Bonnie said.
They lifted their heads and Bonnie clicked a picture. She turned the camera on Wes, and he grabbed Christine, who happened to be closest to him, and held up bunny ears behind her head for the next shot. Kathie jumped in front of them with her arms outstretched and a loud, “Tada!” Christine pulled off her visor and put it on Sweets’s head, and Wes pulled Callie into his arms and kissed her—all of which Callie was sure Bonnie caught on film. She reached for the camera and shoved Bonnie into the group, taking several shots of Bonnie and the others. Then she drew the camera lens in tight on Wes’s profile. She caught him midlaugh, head back, eyes to the sky. She lowered the camera, mesmerized by everything unfolding before her. Her friends and the man she loved coming together.
Kathie climbed to the top of a boulder at the edge of the trail and stood on top of it with her arms spread wide. “Take a picture, Cal.” She thrust one leg straight out behind her.
“Oh my God. Kathie, don’t fall. Please don’t fall.” Callie shoved the camera into Bonnie’s hands and backed up against the forest. Sweets looked from her to Kathie and barked. “Wes, don’t let her fall.”
“I’m not going to fall, Cal. There’s, like, two feet of rock on that side of me. Take a pic, Bon.”
THE LOOK ON Callie’s face brought Wes to her side. He slid his arm around her waist. “Hey, you okay?”
“Yeah. She just freaked me out a little. It’s the whole heights thing. If I pretend there’s no edge to the trail, I’m fine, but I can’t really look over it.” She turned and faced the forest, drawing in several deep breaths. “That’s better.”
“Do you want to sit down, babe?” He placed his hands on her shoulders and felt her trembling.
“No. I’m fine. Is she still up there?”
“Yeah, but Christine’s with her. Guests do that all the time. I wouldn’t let her up there if I thought she might fall. You need to trust me, Cal.”
“I do. I trust you, and I trust her. It’s my own issue, not hers. I’m sorry.” She took another deep breath.
“It’s okay. I just want to make sure you’re all right. There’s a grassy area just around the bend. Why don’t we go chill for a while before hiking the rest of the way up?” He reached for her hand.
Around the bend there was no brush at the
end of the trail and no large outcroppings of rocks. They sat far from where the land fell away. Wes knew that without the sharp divide of the trees and rocks, from Callie’s vantage point on the thick grass, she would feel as though she were sitting by a hillside rather than the edge of a mountain.
“Better?” He covered her hand with his.
“Much. This isn’t nearly as scary.”
“It’s an optical illusion. The slope is very close to the same, but the rocks and brush make it appear more drastic.” He pulled her closer, and Sweets put her head on Callie’s lap. “Looks like Sweets found a new pillow. I’m a little jealous.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry I freaked out. I don’t want to ruin the hike for you. My friends are probably used to me, but this is what you do, Wes.” She shook her head. “I wish I wasn’t such a chicken.”
“Hey, look where you are.” He lifted her chin with his finger. “Babe, you were feet from that river down there.”
“The river’s down there?”
“Yeah, of course. You can’t see it because you haven’t come close enough to the edge, but it’s there.”
She gripped his thigh.
“Callie, think about everything you’ve done. You shot a gun, and you were the only one to hit a target. You fished, you hiked, and you slept in a tent.”
The way her eyes darkened, he knew just what she was thinking.
“Okay, well, maybe we didn’t sleep much, but you know what I mean. Those are all things you weren’t prepared for when your friends picked you up on Thursday. The truth is that if you never went hiking or fishing, I’d still love you. I know that here.” He patted his heart. “Where it counts. I love who you are, fears and all.”
“I do want to hike and I didn’t mind fishing. The water scared me, but I enjoyed the fishing part. I want to do these things with you, but…” She dropped her eyes, and he could tell she was holding something back. He could feel it as she swallowed hard and refused to look at him.
“Hey.” He rested his forehead against hers. “But what?”
Fated for Love Page 16