by Jennie Marts
She arched an eyebrow at him.
“Maybe that’s just me,” he said, laughing as he leaned back on his elbows. “Thanks for bringing me up here.”
They spent the next half hour exploring the area around the mine. Adam even found a fossil. He tucked it in his pocket and pulled out his phone to snap a few pictures of the mine and the scenery around it. Might as well use the stupid cell phone for something—he didn’t get any better reception up here than he had down at the lodge.
He grabbed Skye around the waist, holding the phone out at arm’s length and snapped a selfie of the two of them grinning into the camera, with the mine in the background. Nuzzling her ear, he whispered, “I feel like I struck it rich when I met you.”
“You are such a nerd,” she teased, then kissed him.
A silly grin covered his face as he climbed onto the four-wheeler with her. He was a nerd. He’d been called one his whole life. But something about the way she said it, especially when she followed it with a kiss hot enough to melt steel, made it sound like a very good thing.
She steered them back through the trees but took a new turn-off. Within minutes, they drove into another clearing, this one with a crystal-blue lake in its center.
The lake was gorgeous, set against the backdrop of another ridge, and it sparkled in the bright summer sun.
Skye pulled up in front of a small outcropping of rocks and unloaded the blanket and small cooler that had been strapped to the back of the quad. Several tall trees sat next to the rocks, and she spread the blanket on the ground under one of them, then laid out a picnic of fried chicken, potato salad, and fluffy biscuits.
He was going to gain ten pounds this week with all this food. But it will be worth it, he thought as he bit into the crispy piece of chicken.
They talked and laughed as they devoured the meal and watched small waves lap onto the beach in front of them.
Skye packed up the remains of their picnic, then stood and pulled off her T-shirt, revealing a bright red bikini top underneath. “It’s hot. Let’s go for a swim.”
He glanced at the lake with skepticism. “I’m not much of a swimmer.”
“You don’t have to swim across it. We can just jump in and cool off.” She had already pulled off her boots and shimmied out of her jeans and was walking toward the water.
Still unsure, Adam stood and tugged off his shirt. He was pretty sure the water would be ice-cold.
But the allure of following that tiny set of bikini bottoms into the water was too much, so he stripped down to his underwear and went after her.
The rocky shore scraped at his bare feet, but that pain was nothing compared to the lung-squeezing, heart-stopping chill of the lake.
Skye had already waded in and dove underwater. She came up splashing and whooping. “Come on. The water’s great. And it’s better once you get your head wet.”
He was already in above his waist, and the water didn’t seem great at all. It seemed freezing, and he was pretty sure that a fish had just brushed past his leg. Still, he’d already come this far, might as well go for broke.
He dove into the water, and the cold stole the breath from his lungs. “Holy shit, it’s like ice,” he yelled as his head popped above the surface.
She laughed and swam toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck. The heat of her body helped a little.
“I’d kiss you, but my lips are shiv-v-vering,” he said, pulling her tighter against him. He glanced down at her bikini top and noted he wasn’t the only one feeling the effects of the cold. He liked her side effects a lot better than his.
She kissed him anyway, and the contrast of her warm lips against his mouth, the hot sun on his shoulders, and the cold water surrounding them sent a shiver down his back. But he’d never felt more alive in his life.
She pulled back, offering him a grin and a splash, then swam farther into the lake. He had no choice but to follow.
They played and splashed in the water, then lay on the warm rocks and let the sun dry them.
Feeling happy, he sat up, stretched, and smiled down at her curvy, bikini-clad body. “I have to tell you, Ms. Hawkins, you’ve certainly done an amazing job of swaying my opinion of the great outdoors. I had no idea what I was missing.”
She chuckled. “I’ve only begun to show you all the wonderful things there are to see.”
He knew she was talking about nature, but he heard the double meaning and knew that just being around her was pretty wonderful in itself. “Seriously, thanks for bringing me up here. This place is awesome. I’ll bet the guests really love it.”
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t usually bring anyone up here, except Cody. Some of the locals know about it, too. I do offer the excursion of having a picnic by the mine, but I thought it would be fun to eat by the lake today and take a swim. I know it’s not as big as the ocean, but it has its merits.”
“It’s beautiful. And even more special because you don’t share it with a lot of people.” He teasingly nudged her leg. “I figured you brought all of your engineer boyfriends up here.”
She sat up next to him, grinning as she shaded her eyes against the sun. “You’re the only engineer boyfriend I’ve ever had.”
“I guess I set myself up for that one.” He chuckled, then tore a piece of grass from a crack in the rocks and twisted it between his fingers. “So, how do you feel about the idea of having a boyfriend, the engineering kind, or otherwise?”
He threw the question out there, trying to appear nonchalant, but his heart was pounding as he waited for her answer.
“I’m not sure.”
Hmm. Not exactly the wildly enthusiastic answer he was hoping for.
“I haven’t had a boyfriend in so long I don’t really remember what it’s like. Why? Are you applying for the job?”
He offered her a grin. “I think I’ve already submitted a pretty thorough resume, but I can offer to show you more of my ‘hands-on’ qualifications during the next interview.”
She laughed, but then her features sobered. “You know, this job isn’t just a two-man team. I come as a package deal.”
He nodded, matching the seriousness of her tone. “I know. And I’m good with that. I’m good with everything right now. I don’t know what the hell happened this week, whether it was the mountain air, or the step away from technology, but I’ve felt amazing the past several days.”
She peered out over the lake. “The mountains will do that to you.”
He turned to her, took her chin in his hands, and turned her face toward his. “It’s not just the mountains, Skye. I do love it here. I like your ranch, I really like your kid, but you’re the one that’s changed me this week—changed my outlook, changed my heart. I’ve fallen for you. Hard. And I don’t want to let you go.”
She rested her hand on his. “I feel the same way. But I’ve been down this road before. With Cody’s dad. He blew into town on the rodeo circuit, swept me off my feet, and then left me behind. Just like this, it was a whirlwind romance, but then he went back to his life, to the rodeo, and he didn’t look back. Especially after he found out I was pregnant. Sure, he called a few times after Cody was born, but then he got it in his head that he wasn’t actually his father, that I must have been with someone else, and I never heard from him again.”
His ego flared. He hated being compared in any way to this jerk. “That’s bullshit. Why didn’t you have a paternity test? Or sue him for child support?”
“Because it didn’t matter. I knew he was the father. But if he didn’t want to be, then it was his loss. Plus, I was young and stupid, and honestly, I was embarrassed and ashamed. Ashamed that I had let myself be fooled by this dumb cowboy with movie-star good looks who turned out to be an A+ asshole. I dropped out of college and came back to the ranch, vowing never to let myself be taken in by a man like that again. I put all of my focus on raising my son and making the ranch a success. And that’s what I’ve done. Up until a few days ago, when you arrived and all of a sudden,
my heart, which I’d thought had been broken beyond repair, started beating again.”
He swallowed, her words touching a chord inside of him. “First of all, although I agree that this seems like a whirlwind romance, I am in no way, shape, or form like that guy. Besides the fact that I’m neither a cowboy nor an asshole, I also don’t have movie-star good looks. But I do have above-average intelligence. So, I know that having the attention and affection of a woman like you is something to be treasured, not thrown away or discarded.”
Tears formed on her eyelashes, but they didn’t fall. She tilted her chin and pressed a soft kiss on his hand. “You’re right. You’re not like him. In fact, I’ve never met anyone like you before. And I’ve never felt like this before. That’s what scares the hell out of me. I’m afraid to let myself care too much about you, because I’m afraid you’re just going to leave.”
“Skye, that is going to happen. I am going to leave.”
…
Skye inhaled a sharp gasp of breath.
She knew it. Knew this guy was too good to be true. Knew that despite his fancy words and emotional declarations, Adam would leave, too. Just like Cody’s father had done.
Pushing up from the rocks, she strode toward their blanket and grabbed her shirt.
“Skye, wait.” Adam scrambled off the boulders and followed her. He grabbed the shirt from her and tossed it to the blanket, then took her hand in his and held it against his chest. “You didn’t let me finish.”
She tried to pull her hand away, feeling foolish in only her tiny bikini. She hadn’t even worn the thing in years, usually preferring to wear her more modest tankini, but she’d taken the little red swimsuit from her drawer this morning, with Adam’s reaction in mind.
Now she just felt stupid, like a young girl who was trying too hard to impress a guy that didn’t want anything real with her. “You said you were going to leave. That’s all I needed to hear.”
“No, that’s not all. Because, of course I’m going to leave. I have to leave. I don’t live here. I live in California. I have a life there that I have to go back to.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. “Nothing like this has ever happened to me before, and I can’t explain it, or begin to understand it, but I’ve fallen for you. Fallen hard. And even though I have to go back, I’m leaving my heart here, with you. So you have to believe me, you have to trust that even if I leave, I’ll come back. Come back to you.”
Her chest tightened, and she couldn’t breathe. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed into a knot.
Could she trust him? Could she trust any man?
Her mind struggled to think, to analyze what he’d said, then he kissed her, and she lost all ability to reason. Because it wasn’t just a kiss—he captured her mouth in a full-on assault. He held her to him, tight against his bare chest, and she felt not just his passion, but his emotion, as he dug his hands into her still-damp hair and growled a moan against her lips.
His movements were fast and hard—yanking the ties of her bikini loose and freeing her breasts as he ripped the tiny top from her body and tossed it to the ground.
Her nipples puckered in anticipation as he filled his palms with her breasts. He bent his knees, dipping his head to take one of the tight hard tips into his mouth.
But this was no slow seduction.
His mouth feasted on her body while his fingers fondled and touched. He fell to his knees, nuzzling his head against her waist and nipping at her hip, then stripped her bikini bottoms down her legs. His strong hands were everywhere, touching, stroking, teasing.
She gripped handfuls of his hair when he pushed her legs apart and pressed his lips to her soft flesh.
He pulled her down onto the blanket with him, continuing his passionate assault, and feasting on her body with the appetite of a starving man.
Her arms pressed out, pushing against the ground. She writhed in pleasure, grasping the blanket in her fists, arching her back to give him more.
Nothing else mattered, only this moment, with this man.
She let out a moan, a husky sound from deep in her throat, as she surrendered to him, body and soul.
…
An hour later, they were packed up and headed back to the ranch, Adam’s arms comfortably wrapped around Skye’s waist while they bounced along the trail.
The newlyweds had booked their own excursion for the afternoon, and Skye was scheduled to take them on a hike at two. She needed a few minutes to change clothes and check on Cody before she met Brittany and Josh.
Except for the hum of the quad’s motor, the ride back was quiet, and she used the time to think about everything Adam had said that morning.
He’d told her that he was falling for her, but had he ever really said that he wanted to have a future with her? He’d said for her to trust that he was coming back, but how could she put all of her trust in a guy she’d only met a few days ago?
She knew she was in deep. Heck, she’d just spent the last hour rolling around naked on a blanket with him—something she could never have imagined herself doing.
But she’d done several things the past few days that she couldn’t have imagined herself doing—and one of them was falling in love.
Chapter Fourteen
Adam turned to his laptop, thankful to have a few hours with the internet to get some work done. Skye had just left to take the newlyweds on a guided hike, but she’d told him to stay and use her office—and the internet connection—while she was gone.
He had just opened his email when Cody rushed through the apartment and into his bedroom. He emerged a few seconds later, a jacket in his hands. “Where’s my mom?”
“She’s doing a hike with Josh and Brittany.”
“Shit. Er…I mean, crap.” The kid’s cheeks colored. “Sorry. I just needed to talk to her. When will she be back?”
“Not sure,” Adam muttered, his attention focused on the long list of new emails filling his inbox.
“Shit.”
This time, he tore his concentration from his work and looked up as the boy flung himself onto the sofa. “That’s two shits in a row. Anything I can do to help?”
Cody sat up. “Yeah, actually there is. We get a grocery delivery on Thursdays, and I told my mom that I’d stick around to let the delivery guy in and put all of the groceries away. But Haylee wants me to take her on a hike up to the ridge. Are you gonna be around? Can you let the guy in? And just put the cold stuff away? I can do the rest when I get back.”
Adam shrugged. “Sure. I’ll be here for another few hours. But are you sure your mom will be okay with it?” Something about the way Cody was fidgeting gave Adam the sense that something was not quite right. He tried to think of something parental to ask. “Are her parents going with you?” Yeah, that was a good one.
“Uh, yeah. Of course. And we’ll only be gone like an hour. Just tell my mom I’ll be back, and make sure you let those guys in to deliver the food. And don’t forget to put the cold stuff in the fridge and the frozen stuff in the freezer. I’ll leave the door open so you can hear them come in.” Then Cody was up and out the door.
Something felt a little off about this situation. But surely Cody knew his mom and what she allowed better than Adam did.
A semi-urgent email caught Adam’s attention, and his mind switched back into work-mode as his fingers flew across the keyboard.
He dealt with that email then moved through the rest, answering, discarding, and dealing with issues happening at the company.
A door slammed, startling Adam, and Skye’s voice yelled down the hallway. “Cody Hawkins!”
Adam stood and stretched his arms over his head, his back aching from bending over the laptop. He missed his ergonomic chair and keyboard that he had set up in his own office.
He stepped out of the room as Skye stomped into the apartment. “Have you seen Cody? He was supposed to meet the delivery guy and let him into the kitchen. I just walked into the lodge and there’s melte
d ice cream and three bags of steaks bleeding out on the dining room table.”
“Oh shit.”
“‘Oh shit’ what?”
“That’s my fault. I was supposed to meet him.”
“You? Why? What happened to Cody?”
“I told him I would. He said he wanted to do something, and I told him I’d take care of the delivery guy, but I must not have heard him.”
“Why would you do that? The Thursday grocery delivery is part of Cody’s job. I pay him to meet the guy and get all of the food put up.”
“I-I didn’t know,” he stammered.
“Of course you didn’t. Because you don’t have mounting bills that are threatening to ruin you. I can’t afford to lose five-hundred-dollars’ worth of groceries. And you don’t have a kid that you already spent thirty minutes arguing with this morning. You have no idea what it’s like to try to raise a kid on your own. But I do.”
Whoa. She was really mad.
He held up his hands in surrender. “You’re right. And this is my fault. But I can fix it. I’ll pay for another grocery delivery.”
She rolled her eyes and planted her fists on her hips. “You can’t fix everything with money. Or maybe you can. I wouldn’t know. But that’s not what I’m trying to teach my son. I’m trying to teach him some responsibility, that if you’re given a job, you’re expected to do it.”
“I totally agree.”
“So what was so freaking important that he bailed out on his obligations?”
“He said he was going on a hike with the Hendersons.”
“Well, that’s a load of crap. The Hendersons were on the hike with me.”
A feeling of dread started at the pit of his stomach. “All of them?”
“No, just Mr. and Mrs. Henderson. They said that Haylee had a headache and was staying in the cabin to read or sleep or whatever it is that teenage girls do.”
It seemed that what teenage girls “did” was lie to their parents and sneak off with the cute boy whose mother was about to be even more royally pissed off.
“Well, about that. All I know is that Cody came through here an hour or so ago and said he was going on a hike with Haylee and her family. He asked me to watch for the delivery guy. And I said I would.”