by Dover, L. P.
She fanned herself and I smiled. “Afraid I might get other women’s attention?”
Rolling her eyes, she pushed me away. “Don’t get a big head on me now.”
The voices sounded closer, and I could see the two men approaching us. Meghan froze and blew out a nervous breath. “Oh, shit. I know them. Grant’s one of my friends, and that’s his boyfriend, Cameron. I graduated with Grant.”
“What’s the problem then?” I asked curiously.
“I never called him to let him know I was back in town. He’s my hiking buddy. I’ve been so distracted with you that I’ve neglected him.”
Chuckling, I bumped her with my shoulder. “You’re a bad friend.”
Grant and Cameron were so busy in conversation that it took a while for them to realize we were right in their path. When Grant noticed Meghan, his eyes lit up, and he held out his arms. He had floppy dark hair, and his shorts were a little snug. It wasn’t until he spoke when it all became apparent. “Girl, what are you doing here?” His voice was very feminine and high-pitched.
Meghan rushed up to him and squeezed him, then wrapped her arms around his companion. “My nephew was supposed to work on my fence this summer, but he got the chance to study abroad. I came home to find someone else.”
Grant rested his hands on his hips. “And you failed to let me know you were back in town? Where’s Ellie?”
She clutched his arm. “I’m so sorry about that. Ellie’s still in Nags Head with my family. I’ve been so busy since I came back.”
Grant’s focus landed on me. “I see that. Who’s your friend?”
I held out my hand, giving my best Southern accent. “Justin. I’m Meghan’s cousin from Tennessee.”
Meghan tried her best not to laugh and ended up looking away from me. The accent sounded ridiculous coming from my mouth. I might’ve laid it on a little too thick. Grant shook my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Justin. I’m Grant, and this is my boyfriend, Cameron.” I shook Cameron’s hand and smiled at them both. Grant turned to Meghan and hugged her again. “Now that you’re back, we need to get together for dinner.”
“Definitely,” Meghan replied. “I’ll call you.”
Grant nodded at me, and they started on their way. “Talk to you soon.”
Once they were out of ear shot, Meghan burst out laughing and grabbed my arm. “That was too funny. You sounded so country.”
I beamed. “What can I say? I’m a natural.”
Over the next hour or so, we bypassed a couple other hikers as they walked down the trail, but none of them paid attention to us. A bridge lay up ahead, and I could hear the massive waterfall in the distance. Meghan bounced on her feet and pointed toward the sound. “We’re almost there. You’re going to love it.”
We crossed over the bridge and hiked up the hill. The waterfall got louder, and when we reached the top, there it was. It was massive. Sprays of water hit us from where we stood, and it felt amazing. Meghan held out her arms with the biggest smile on her face. “So … what do you think? Was it worth the hike?”
I pulled out my phone and took her picture. “You have no idea.”
Chapter Eleven
Meghan
No matter how many times I hiked to Hidden Falls, it never got old. I could sit and stare at the waterfall for hours, and that’s just what Justin and I did. We had the place all to ourselves. There was a huge boulder I always rested on when visiting, so we had our picnic on top of it and spent the rest of the time lying in the sun.
“What made you want to be a teacher?” he asked.
I looked over at him, and he was leaned up on his elbow, staring at me. I turned my body toward him and mirrored his stance. “I love kids, and I love teaching. It runs in my family. Both my mom and my sister are teachers, but my mom retired a few years ago.”
His smile faded. “Did you and Trey want a big family?”
My chest tightened, and I fought back the burn behind my eyes. “We did. The plan was that Trey was going to go on that last mission and be done. What about you?” I asked, changing the subject. “I bet you wanted to have a dozen kids with Miranda.”
He burst out laughing and leaned back on the rock. “Are you kidding? I wanted to have a hundred.” I laughed along with him until he stopped and turned back to me. He stared at me and took a deep breath, his expression serious. “Want to know something?”
“Of course,” I said, sliding closer to him.
He took another deep breath and released it slowly. “Before I came out here, a harsh realization pretty much smacked me across the face.”
“What?” I’d never seen him look so vulnerable. It was almost as if he was a different person. Or maybe he was just letting me see a whole new part of him that the world didn’t know.
His attention averted to the waterfall. “After we won the Stanley Cup, our team had a celebration party. It hit me that all of my friends and family were on a different level than me. They were happy. My sister’s married to one of my teammates and pregnant with his baby. My oldest brother, Brant, is married with a family. Corey is engaged to my sister’s best friend. And my cousin, Maddox, just had a baby with his wife.”
Little did he know that I had the same feelings. Yes, I was married eight years ago, but it was only for two glorious months. Trey was overseas for a month of it. “You’re not the only one who thinks that way, Justin.” His eyes met mine, and he looked surprised. “All of my friends are happily married or in serious relationships right now. I’m thirty years old. I should be that way too, and I’m not.”
“Do you want to be?” he asked.
“Who doesn’t? It’s only natural. You can only be the sexy bachelor for so long before you want more. Just like I don’t want to be a single mother forever. I love my daughter more than anything, and she makes me happy, but there are times I just feel … alone.”
He sat up and pulled me with him. “Looks like we have more in common than we thought.”
Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, and I wanted them to go away, but they kept coming back with a vengeance every time Justin said something that pulled at my heart. Even when he kissed me, I wanted more. I needed to keep my wits about me, but it was so hard. Being around him made me want things I couldn’t have with him. Yes, I could for the time being, but could I honestly forget about him when he left? No. Was it a risk I was willing to take? My body said yes, but my mind said no.
I looked up at the sky and my heart raced. Time had gone by way too quickly. Pulling out my phone, I gasped when I saw what time it was. “Holy shit, we have to go. It’s getting late.” I jumped up, and Justin handed me my bag.
He glanced down at his phone. “Think we can make it back before dark?”
“I sure as hell hope so.” Justin jumped down off the boulder and helped me off. I took one last look at the waterfall, and we were on our way. “I can’t believe we lost track of time.”
Justin chuckled. “Time flies when you’re having fun. At least we have tons of food if we get stuck out here overnight.”
I picked up my pace. “As long as the bears don’t come after us. It’s a good thing I always carry bear spray and a gun when I hike.” I’d heard so many stories of bear attacks, and I didn’t want to be another statistic. Ellie was often with me, and I wanted to make sure we were protected as much as could be.
Justin opened his bag and pulled out his own can of bear spray. “I came prepared too.”
“Nice. I’m impressed.”
He shrugged. “I’m smart when I want to be.” The sky had started to dim, and with us being beneath the canopy of the trees, it appeared even darker. I could see our crossroads up ahead, right across from the two big boulders that looked two giant butt cheeks. Justin pointed at it. “That’s where we turn off, right?”
I nodded. “Yep. Now we’ll need the map.” I grabbed it out of my bag, and we continued on our way. “Speaking of being smart, why didn’t you ever go to college?”
Justin followed along be
hind me since the trail had narrowed. I glanced back at him and he shrugged. “School was never really my thing. I did take some acting classes. Hockey is my life right now. I’d hoped to be able to transition to acting after I retired, but I doubt that’ll happen now. Miranda’s father has too many ties in Hollywood.”
I stopped and faced him. “Then you make it happen. Karma’s a bitch, and I have no doubt Miranda’s going to get her comeuppance, but you have to go after what you want. If you want to be in movies after you retire, then do it. She can’t stop you.”
Grinning devilishly, he closed the distance between us. “You have that kind of faith in me?”
I lifted up on my toes and kissed him gently. “Of course. I’ve seen you on the ice, Justin Davis. You don’t take me as the kind of guy to give in or let anyone stop you, even if they do have a reputation.”
Justin smiled down at me. “I wish I’d known you before.”
Taking his hand, I pulled him through the woods. “At least you know me now.” Panic settled in my gut. It was getting late, and there was no way we could get through the woods in the dark. We had another mile and a half, but without adequate lighting, I could easily get us lost. Heart racing, I stopped and looked around. “I hate to say this, but I think we’re screwed.” There was a small clearing beside the stream, but there was no shelter. It was a good thing it was summertime. The night temperatures could get down into the thirties, even in June, but I prayed that wasn’t the case tonight.
Justin dropped his bag to the ground and pulled out a flashlight. “We’ll be fine.”
I shook my head. “I’m not navigating through the forest with just a flashlight.”
“I wasn’t saying we should,” he said, winking at me. “Maybe we should camp out, to be on the safe side.”
“Have you lost your mind?” I flourished my hand around us. “We can’t sleep out here in the open. You do realize there are a shit-ton of bears and what not out here, right?”
He shrugged. “You have your gun and we both have bear spray.”
I looked at him like he’d lost his mind; he was insane. Plus, it was almost time for Ellie to video call me, and I wasn’t alone at home. I peered around at our surroundings and found a tree that had fallen over. Right on time, my phone started to ring. Justin dropped his bag to the ground and started rummaging through it.
“Hey,” I called out. He smiled up at me, and it was like every fear vanished. “Ellie’s calling me, so mum’s the word.”
Hands in the air, he sat down on the ground. “Not a peep.”
I swiped a finger across my phone and Ellie appeared, her hair in curls down her back. “Look at you,” I gushed. “Is Maw Maw and Paw Paw taking you out tonight?”
She nodded. “We’re going to eat steak. Paw Paw said I could get dessert if I eat all my food.”
My stomach growled, and all I could think about was how my dinner was going to be leftovers from our picnic. “That sounds yummy, Ellie-Bear. I can’t wait to come back out there.”
Her lower lip trembled slightly. “I miss you, Mommy. Is the fence getting done?”
My eyes burned, and I could tell that Justin was watching me. “Almost. There’s still a lot left. At least, when you come back home, it’ll be finished, and so will the barn. You’ll be surprised.”
In the background, my mother appeared and waved. “Hey, baby. What are you doing out in the woods?”
Ellie’s eyes narrowed as if she just realized it. “Yeah, Mommy. Why are you out there?”
I shrugged, trying my best to think up something off the top of my head. “Thought I saw a baby deer. I didn’t want it to be alone without its mother.” I looked around as if searching for it. “But I can’t see it anymore.”
My mother waved again. “It was good seeing you, honey.” She squeezed Ellie’s shoulders. “It’s time for us to go, before the restaurant gets crowded.”
I blew a kiss to Ellie. “Sweet dreams tonight, baby girl. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you.”
She blew a kiss back. “I love you too.” As always, I waited for her to hang up first. If it was up to me, I’d never be able to do it.
“She sounds so sweet,” Justin said, smiling sadly at me. “I can tell you miss her.”
My chest tightened. “I do.”
Rummaging through his bag again, he pulled out a black pouch. “I’ll work extra hard to get the fence and barn done so you can get back to her.” I was dying to see her and hold her in my arms again, but the second I left, I’d never see him again. A part of me felt guilty for wanting that extra time with him when I knew I’d never have it again once my life went back to normal.
“What’s that?” I asked, nodding at the pouch.
A smug smile spread across his face. “While you were freaking out about us being stuck out here, you failed to let me elaborate on how prepared I was.” He opened the pouch, and out popped one of those ready-made tents. Surprisingly enough it was moderately sized and could probably fit four people. The top had a mesh area where you could see out. There was a whole area of soft, green grass by the stream, and he set it there.
Mouth gaping, I walked over to it and looked inside. “I’m really impressed now.”
He searched through his bag again and pulled out a blanket. “We won’t freeze, either.” Before crawling inside, I took off my boots and set them outside the tent. Justin did the same and climbed in with me. “The flashlight has fresh batteries, so we should be good there too.”
Once inside, Justin zipped us up, and I lay down with my hands behind my neck. All I could see through the mesh top were the trees and a small amount of sky that would soon be pitch black. Now that we weren’t moving on the trail, the cold had started to register. Even if it was officially summer, the nighttime temperatures dropped drastically from the days.
Justin wrapped the blanket around us and pulled me into his arms. It felt good lying against his chest and hearing his heart beat. “This isn’t so bad, is it?”
I rolled my eyes. “Actually, no. But it would’ve been if we didn’t have the tent.”
His fingers brushed across my neck to move my hair away. “I had fun today. Then again, every day with you has been exactly what I needed.”
He placed a hand over mine, and I squeezed it. “If you want to take tomorrow off from the fence, that’s fine. I don’t want you feeling like you have to work on it every day. You have a life besides helping me out.”
Leaning his body away, he lowered me down to my back and rested on his side next me, his head propped on his hand as he looked down at me. “There’s nowhere else I want to be.”
The way he looked at me, with those green eyes full of raw passion, I couldn’t help but wonder how many women he’d looked at the same way. I wanted to believe I was special, that what we were doing was something completely different than what he’d ever done with anyone else.
“How many women have you been in love with?” I asked, murmuring the words.
A sigh escaped his lips and he moved closer. The warmth of his body seeped into mine, and I shivered. I wanted him closer. “To be honest, I don’t know if I ever have been.” He traced my lips with his thumb. “The way I feel when I’m around you is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt with anyone else.”
Heart racing, I knew exactly how he felt. “Why is that, you think?”
His gaze drifted to my lips, but then slowly moved back to my eyes. “I have a theory, but I don’t think you’re ready to hear it.” My stomach fluttered, and a part of me wanted desperately to hear him say he was falling for me, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. In the end, it’d only hurt me more. There could never be anything serious between us. I opened my mouth to speak, but he pressed his finger to my lips. “Let’s not get into that right now. I have a question for you.”
“What?” I whispered.
“How many men have you been in love with?”
A number popped into my head, but I stored it away. It was too soon to feel like
that for him … or was it? Why did people want what they couldn’t have? “One,” I answered. “It was a good love, too, while it lasted.”
Justin nodded, clearly understanding I was referring to my late husband. “Was he the only man you’d ever been intimate with?”
“Yes,” I replied. “I’d never had anyone spark that kind of interest in me after he died. Well, except for …”
His eyes flashed, and it made everything inside of me tighten. He moved closer and slid his hands over my stomach. “Except for who?” he said, brushing his stubbly cheek against my neck. The second his warm lips touched my skin, my eyes rolled back into my head. Chill bumps fanned out across my body, and my breath hitched.
“You already know.”
Ever so gently, he rolled on top of me and settled between my legs. His hips moved against mine, and a moan escaped my lips. He smiled and kissed me harder, earning another strangled moan. “I like the sound of that.”
“Unfortunately, there’s something we need to talk about.”
His lips stilled against mine, and he lifted up on his elbows. With a sigh, he nodded. “You want to know if I’m safe.”
He stared right into my eyes, and I blew out a nervous breath. “I do. Surely, you know why.” There was no telling how many women he’d been with. I didn’t want to think about it, but I had to protect myself.
A sad expression passed across his face. “I was tested for everything under the sun a few months back. I haven’t been with anyone since. But if you want to wait until I can show you proof, we can.”
Relief washed through me. Taking his face in my hands, I pulled him closer. “I trust you, Justin. And since we’re on this kind of subject, you should know I’m protected as well. I’ve been on the pill for years.” Not that I needed protection from pregnancy. It was to keep me regular.
Justin grinned wide. “I like the sound of that even better.” His lips descended on me again, and he pushed his hips against mine, even more feverishly than before. I thought I was going to lose my mind.