by Devney Perry
“I don’t know, okay? I have no idea what I’d do. Hide behind Boone, I guess, and hope he licks the person to death. Or maybe I’ll hide in the biffy. No person in their right mind would go anywhere near that outhouse.”
At my declaration, he gave up trying to keep it in and his laughter echoed off the walls. I glared at him, my fists clenching even tighter as he bent over, belly-laughing to the floor. Finally, he got it under control and stood tall, shaking his head as he smiled.
“No guns,” he said. “I won’t make you use one. And I wouldn’t want you to get anywhere near the biffy again so I’ll bring you a can of bear spray next week.”
“Thank you.” The tension in my arms disappeared and I relaxed my hands.
“You’re welcome,” he said. “Will you at least come outside and watch while I shoot a couple rounds?”
I didn’t especially want to but since he’d given on his end, I could give a little on mine. “Fine.”
For the next hour, Beau patiently showed me how to use a handgun. He taught me to load it, where the safety was and how to squeeze the trigger to fire. Though my hands never touched the black metal, I did feel more comfortable around the weapon by the time we walked back to the outpost for dinner.
And for the rest of the night, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I would one day be grateful for his lesson.
Beau
“Mom, I’m sorry. I can’t go to your party this year.” I’d told her the same thing five times over the phone but she’d stopped by my office this morning to ask again.
“Please?” She summoned a sad and pleading look that tugged at my heart.
Fuck. She was pulling out all the stops. It was nearly impossible for me to say no to Marissa Holt’s big doe eyes. Mom had used this look for as long as I could remember, almost always getting her way.
I’d seen it before every family reunion, when she’d guilt me into manning the barbeque and cooking for fifty people. Once, that look had convinced me to volunteer for the dunk tank at her church’s annual fundraiser. The worst had been when she’d guilted me into a dinner with Annie Stevens—first date from hell.
But I wasn’t giving in this time. “No.”
My holiday plans were, for once, something I really wanted to do. Not that I minded Mom’s annual Fourth of July party, but it was more for her than me. This year, I was being selfish for my holiday. I was taking an extra day and spending it at the outpost.
“Annie Stevens is going to be there.”
Now I had another reason to stay away from the party. “Mom, I’ve told you a hundred times. Annie Stevens is a very nice girl but she’s not my type.”
“Because she’s too pretty? Too sweet?”
Too obsessed? On our one and only date, she’d brought with her a binder full of newspaper clippings that mentioned my name. I think Mom liked her because she had the matching binder. While I loved that my mom was so proud of me, Annie’s fascination bordered too close to stalking.
“I’m sorry. I know this party means a lot to you but I can’t make it.” I reached out and pulled her in for a hug. “Besides, you won’t even miss me.” Last year, I’d left after an hour and she hadn’t even noticed.
“Fine,” she sighed. “I miss the days that you kids all came to my parties. Michael can’t come now that he’s running the firework show. Maisy has plans with friends. And now you seem to always be camping these days. Maybe I should change it from an evening barbeque to a lunchtime party.”
“Good idea, but even still, I can’t make it. How about when I come back from the mountains, I take you out for a special lunch at the café to make it up to you? Just you and me.”
She hugged me tighter. “I’m ordering pie. With ice cream.”
I smiled and let her go. “Deal.”
“All right.” She collected her purse off my desk. “I’ll let you get back to work. Enjoy your weekend.”
“You too.” I waved to her as she made her way out of my office and toward the front desk. She’d probably spend the next hour gossiping with Rose, my office manager.
I ran a hand over my beard and went back to my desk. If I spent the next three hours completely focused, I’d get through the stack of papers on my desk, clear my email inbox and be out of town on time. I was finally catching up from all my time away from work but it hadn’t been easy. Now that things were back on track, I’d actually be able to relax during my long weekend at the outpost.
My long weekend with Sabrina.
This would be my first time staying the night in a month. I’d stayed strong with my decision to keep boundaries with Sabrina but I felt my resolve slipping. The last time I’d stayed—the night I’d gone to the outpost to warn her about Ivan—I’d slept on the floor alone. This time, I didn’t know if I’d be able to do the same.
Sabrina MacKenzie was completely under my skin.
Every time I drove away from her at the outpost, I fought the urge to turn back.
I wanted her. Every piece.
Maybe Maisy had been right and Sabrina could find a way to like it here after all. I was going to start doing whatever I could to make her fall in love with Montana.
If she did? I’d be one lucky man.
If she didn’t? Well, I’d still be lucky. I was coming to realize that even if I only had Sabrina for a short time, anything with her was better than nothing.
Sabrina
“Here.” Beau tossed me a plastic sack.
It had been a month since Ivan Federov had left Prescott with no clue about my whereabouts. Since that visit, Beau had gone back to his day-only trips to check on me and deliver supplies. But this weekend, he was spending the holiday with me, and from the playful gleam in his eyes, he had plans.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“A swimming suit.” He chuckled at my sideways glance. “Don’t worry, I didn’t pick it out. Felicity bought it.”
“And we’re going swimming? Where?” The only water nearby was the small creek that ran along the far edge of the meadow.
“We’re going on a hike.” He tossed me another sack. This one had a shoe box inside.
“I’m confused. Why would I need a swimming suit to hike?”
“I’ve got a cool place to show you. Just trust me. Get changed and we’ll head out.”
“Okay.” I went to the bathroom and put on the simple two-piece black bikini Felicity had sent. Thankfully, it wasn’t skimpy triangles held together by dental floss but instead a halter top with a wide strap and hipster briefs that would cover ninety percent of my butt cheeks.
The new tennis shoes were a simple charcoal gray. They looked cute with my plain white tank and frayed denim shorts. Maybe our hike wouldn’t be entirely through the trees and my pasty skin could get some sun.
Dressed and ready to go, I came out of the bathroom and nearly tripped at the sight of Beau in something other than jeans and boots. He had changed into khaki cargo shorts and navy tennis shoes. In his white T-shirt and mirrored sunglasses, he looked more like an island tourist than a mountain man.
My eyes were immediately glued to Beau’s muscled calves. When had a man’s calf muscles become sexy? Beau’s were huge, at least twice the size of mine, and perfectly sculpted. His skin had a dusting of hair that stopped mid-calf. I loved that Beau did not believe in waxing. Did they even do waxing in Montana?
“All set?” he asked, snapping me out of my daze.
I smiled and nodded, not daring to speak because the words would certainly come out squeaky. Sometimes I felt like an awkward teenage girl around Beau. I stuttered my sentences, I had no idea what to do with my hands, and my face always burned a shade too pink.
This crush was seriously damaging my mojo.
I followed him outside and climbed in Green Colossus. Beau’s scent filled my nose and I dragged in a huge breath. The natural forest smell was lovely but it paled in comparison to Beau.
After a few minutes of scratching Boone’s ears while Beau drove, my curiosity got t
he better of me. “So where are we going?”
“There is a waterfall a couple miles away. The hike up is steep but short.”
“Sounds good.” I had been seriously slacking on my exercise since arriving at the outpost. I had been taking daily walks in the meadow but they weren’t nearly as rigorous as the spinning and Pure Barre classes I had taken in the city. A hike sounded like a refreshing activity and a good way to burn a few extra calories.
Beau drove us down the two-lane road until he stopped at the base of a hill. Separating the truck from the incline was a creek gently flowing through the trees. It wasn’t wide, maybe four feet across. We both climbed out of the truck and walked to the water’s edge. He stepped over the creek with one large stride. I had to take a running leap to clear the opposite bank.
“Up we go.”
I nodded and let Beau start off first with Boone at his side.
The trail he followed wasn’t much more than a footpath and I was forced to walk behind him for the first half of our hike. But as we approached the top of the steep hill, our path leveled and I joined him at his side.
“Are you doing okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I was breathless but smiling. My lungs and legs were burning but it felt great to work up a sweat.
“The rest is pretty easy.” Beau wasn’t straining a bit. To him, this was probably like a stroll through the mall, not that I could imagine him ever setting foot inside a mall.
We walked easily for a while. I did my best to keep my footing even as I watched birds fly above us through the trees. “I’m going to miss seeing fireworks on Independence Day but at least we get to see some beautiful things today.”
“I’d take this over fireworks any day of the week.”
“Does Prescott have a big firework show?” I asked.
“They do all right for a small town. Now that Michael is the fire chief, he’ll be supervising it this year. I’m just hoping they don’t have a wreck. The guy in charge of buying the fireworks has a tendency to go a little crazy.”
“You’re not missing anything on my account, are you?” He was so dedicated to his family, I worried he’d regret missing his younger brother’s big night.
“Nope. I’m glad to be away from the madness. Michael will be fine. He doesn’t need me hovering over his shoulder.”
“What about a hot date? Are you missing watching the fireworks with someone special?” I couldn’t help asking. The words slipped out so quickly, I didn’t have a chance to think them through.
Did he have a girlfriend? We’d been around each other for months now, but maybe he’d found someone. Maybe that was the reason for the distance and boundaries he’d put between us.
“Come again?” Beau looked down at me with furrowed brows.
“You’re not missing a date, are you? Because I’m fine here on my own if you need to get back.”
He grinned and shook his head. “I’m exactly where I want to be. The only date I have is with you, the steaks I brought for dinner, the bottle of Crown Royal for dessert and the cribbage board.”
My wide smile stretched my lips to their fullest. “Okay.”
“Though I am going to miss seeing Coby watch the fireworks. Well, if he can stay up that late. Maisy thinks he’ll fall asleep before they start.”
“I hope he makes it.”
“Me too.” Beau smiled down at me and I saw mine flashing back through his mirrored shades. It wasn’t the first time I had thought how lucky Coby Holt was to have such an incredible uncle. Beau’s own children would be blessed with a wonderful dad.
“You said you wanted kids. How many do you think you and the future Mrs. Holt will have?”
Beau chuckled. “There’s the reporter. I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“She’s been taking some time off to write a couple of books. Now answer the question before she’s forced to get pushy.”
“Pushy? I don’t believe it. I bet most people tell you whatever you want to know.”
“For the most part.”
I was lucky; interviewing others had always come easy. I tended to build a quick rapport with my interview subjects, and the question-and-answer dynamic would develop naturally and without force.
Until Beau. He seemed to like making me work for my answers.
“Are you going to answer my question?” I nudged his elbow with mine.
“How many kids will I have? I don’t know. I guess I’d like at least two. What about you? Do you want kids?”
Another thing about questioning Beau was that he made me answer my own questions. I tried to remember that and pick my topics carefully.
“My career has been front and center for as long as I can remember. Kids weren’t a part of that plan and the guys I’ve dated were so far from good father material that I wasn’t ever tempted to deviate from my career path.”
“And if you found the right man?” Beau asked.
“Two kids would be nice.” My answer surprised me a bit. Up until that moment, I hadn’t thought about children in detail, but all of a sudden, the mental image of two little boys chasing one another in a park popped into my head.
I was not going to let myself analyze the fact that my imaginary sons were remarkably similar to the man at my side.
Time to deflect questions away from me.
“Have you ever been close to finding the right woman?”
“Not really. I dated a girl all through college but we broke up right after graduation. Neither of us wanted to take the next step.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “We were better friends than lovers. Things between us were always easy but the spark wasn’t there.”
I had only ever had a physical spark with the men I’d dated, never wanting anything but casual sex. None of them had ever been the kind of men I’d want as a friend.
But like many other aspects of my life, things were changing. I was ready for the relationship. The give and take. The passionate kisses and the lazy cuddles. Writing my novel had taught me that too. I was envious of the love my fictional heroine had found.
Beau and I walked in silence for the rest of the short hike until he steered us around one last clump of trees and the forest opened up. Damp rocks replaced dry dirt under my feet. Fresh mist floated in the air, clearing my nose of the forest’s musky aroma. The dull rush of the waterfall filled my ears, drowning out the quiet lull of the swaying trees.
“Wow,” I whispered.
The waterfall in front of us was breathtaking. It wasn’t all that tall or wide but it had such an intricate fall pattern it was mesmerizing. The water bounced from rock to rock as it traveled sideways nearly twenty feet until it finally dropped into a round pool.
The pond itself was completely clear, giving me a perfect view of the smooth black and gray rocks under the water’s glassy surface. Like an infinity pool, the water slipped over the pond’s far edge to travel down a rocky path where it eventually formed the small creek that descended the hill we had just climbed.
“How did you find this place?” I asked Beau. “It’s incredible.”
“Just by luck. I was up here hiking a couple of years ago and stumbled upon it.”
“Amazing find.” The place was nothing short of magical.
Boone abandoned his post by Beau’s legs to climb across the rocks and drink from the pond. Beau held out his hand and mine immediately fell into his palm. He helped me across the slick rocks to a larger one that made a platform at the edge of the pool.
“Want to go for a swim?” he asked.
“Uh, isn’t it a little cold?” The spray from the waterfall was far from lukewarm.
Beau shrugged. “It’s not that bad once you get used to it.”
“You first.”
He grinned and handed me his sunglasses. His eyes sparkled beautifully in the bright sunlight before he reached behind his head and yanked off his T-shirt. Squished together on the platform, my face was inches away from Beau’s naked chest.
<
br /> My knees started to sway and I willed myself not to fall fully clothed into the water. Shirtless Beau was incredible. Not one muscle wasn’t defined on his arms and chest. His pecs were covered in just the right amount of dark chest hair. The skin on his stomach was smooth across his—two, four, six, eight!—rippled abs.
And he had a happy trail.
Hot damn.
I desperately wanted to grab on to his chiseled hipbones while my tongue found exactly where that trail ended.
Thankfully, before I could start drooling, Beau dropped his T-shirt on my head. By the sound of his chuckle, he had definitely caught my visual perusal of his chest.
Curses.
I pulled his shirt off my face just in time to see him drop the cargo shorts and reveal his black swimming trunks. They hung low on his waist, revealing two dimples at the base of his sculpted back.
Without a backward glance, he waded into the water. My suspicions about the temperature were confirmed when he sucked in a sharp, hissing breath, but by the time he made it across the pond and to the far rock wall, he seemed to have acclimated to the cold. The water only came up to his waist but he sank down low and let the waterfall run over his face.
I toed off my shoes and sat, letting my feet and calves lazily float in the cool water. Closing my eyes and tipping my head to the sky, I let the sunshine heat my face.
“This is so wonderful,” I told the air.
When my own words hit my ears, I sat up straight as my eyes flew open wide.
Wonderful? I’d just said that spending an afternoon in nature was wonderful? What was happening to me? Old Sabrina would never have enjoyed this. There were bugs out here. And dirt. The water was crystal clear but certainly there were microscopic bacteria swimming between my toes. Old Sabrina would have found this akin to torture. Her only acceptable outdoor excursions required a sandy beach and a cabana boy.
But the Montana wilderness really was wonderful. At some point during my three months at the outpost, new Sabrina had started to appreciate the woods.
I laughed to myself and went back to lounging, enjoying my new appreciation for this beautiful part of the world.