To go fishing
Are you serious right now?
Yup, fishing is definitely not a date. It’s got blood, guts, and gore. All the good stuff.
Where is there to fish around here?
I’ll pretend like you just didn’t ask that.
What? It’s a legitimate question!
It’s Alaska, there’s water everywhere and more fish than people up here. I’m going to take you to one of my favorite spots.
So we can catch fish?
That’s right.
And it’s not a date?
Not unless you want it to be…
The blood, guts, and gore thing sounds way more fun to me.
And that’s why I like you so much. Does this mean you’ll come?
Send me the details, and I’ll see what I can do.
Taylor had to check and recheck the address Noah sent just to be sure she was in the right place. She’d expected to pull up to nature preserve, not a small airplane hangar. What kind of deluxe fishing trip was this?
She must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, and now she was late.
Really, really late.
As she pulled around the parking lot, preparing to head back to the main road, she at last caught sight of Noah waving as he jogged toward her car.
“I was beginning to think you’d stood me up!” he puffed.
“And I’m beginning to think you’ve gotten me here under false pretenses,” she said with a smirk, closing the door behind her.
He shot her a confused look. “Haven’t you ever fished before?”
“Yeah, but it didn’t require a plane.”
“Then you’ve never done it right,” Noah answered confidently. “Until now.”
Taylor searched his face for any signs that he may be lying, but Noah stared back at her with an earnest expression and a contented smile.
“You said you have the whole weekend free, right?”
“Yes…?” She hesitated, still unsure of his intentions… or hers. Could she really spend all this time with him and keep her no dating rule in effect?
“Great, because we’re going to need it. I’ve packed you an overnight bag with some basic essentials. Otherwise, we’re roughing it.”
No, this would be too hard. It wasn’t a good idea. “I signed up for fishing, not to fly off to some unknown place and share a bed with you overnight!” she argued.
“Bed? Oh, no.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Relax, we each have our own tent, and I promise to be a perfect gentleman. This is how Rockwell’s fish. And since you’re fishing with a Rockwell, you may as well do it right.”
“You promise nothing funny is going on here?”
“Fishy maybe, but not funny. I promise.”
“Good, because if you try anything, I’ll brea—”
“Break both of my arms? So I’ve heard. Now are you in?”
They were just friends. She trusted him when he said that. She still didn’t know if she could trust herself, but at least this weekend would be a great exercise in self-control. Taylor sighed and said, “Lead the way.”
Noah did just that, bringing her to a small bush plane that hardly looked bigger than her car.
“And you’re going to fly this?” she asked skeptically.
“As long as that’s okay with you, ma’am?”
Oh, yeah, that definitely doused any sparks flying between them. “Ma’am? What am I, your mother?”
“Well, I just don’t want you thinking this is a date or something,” he countered with a wink.
“I don’t know…” She wrung her hands together, searching for any excuse other than the fact that she was terrified of the tiny little air vehicle and its civilian pilot. “You didn’t steal it, did you? I mean, who has their own plane? Are you some kind of secret prince or something?”
“A prince, really? Remember how I led with blood and guts here? And I’m not a thief, either. It’s my Dad’s plane, and I’ve been flying it since I was like fifteen. I swear it’s safe, and besides, we don’t really have that far to go.”
“So maybe we should just drive.”
“I think Ms. Tough Guy is scared. I also think she doesn’t need to be.”
“And I think you don’t need to talk about me in third person like that. Okay, fine.” She took a deep breath and hopped up onto the large pontoons before she could change her mind. “Let’s do it.”
As soon as she managed to sit down in the cramped cockpit, Noah handed her a rough-looking headset with big green ear muffs. “You’re going to need these. It’s pretty loud once we get going.”
She nodded as she struggled to figure out the seatbelt.
Without hesitation, he reached across her and pulled a third strap from next to her that hosted another part of the intricate buckle. The droning of the plane drowned out whatever Noah had said, but he gestured to the headset again.
With shaking hands, Taylor adjusted the device over her ears like an old-timey telephone operator.
A tinny voice came across the speakers. “There you are. Sorry if it’s a bit snug in here. Oh, and make sure you don’t touch this knob here,” he said, tapping a bright red dial.
She gulped down the bubbling fear rapidly rising in her diaphragm. “Okay. Where are the parachutes?”
Noah’s laughter sounded as if it was coming from an empty can. “Why? You planning on jumping out of a perfectly good airplane?”
“No, I just want to make sure I’m being safe.”
“Okay, in the interest of safety, I need you to look out that window and tell me if there are any planes or cars coming this way.”
“Ha ha. Very funny.”
“Okay, well, hope we don’t hit anyone then,” he said as the plane lurched forward.
“Wait!” she screamed into the headset. “Don’t you need to call ‘the tower’ or something?”
Noah grinned. “You know, you’re right. Tower!” He yelled as he gunned the plane forward, pushing Taylor back into her seat as the noise of the engine ratcheted up. She could feel vibrations pulsing through the plane. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt her chest beginning to compress.
“You can open them now,” Noah’s strong, confident voice said into the darkness.
“What?” she said, cracking one eye open.
“I said you can open your eyes. And maybe sit back a bit. You were pushing against the yoke during takeoff.” He gestured to the oddly shaped steering wheel in front of her.
She muttered an apology, thoroughly embarrassed now.
“You don’t have to be so tough all the time, you know. It’s okay to admit you’re scared. Or, I don’t know… that you’re beautiful.”
“Okay, fine, I’m scared. Please don’t do any crazy loop-de-loops or anything, okay? Let’s just get there in one piece.”
“See, was that so hard? How about the second part?”
“What more do you want from me? I already told you that your flying scares me. Maybe you should take a little less pride in that.”
“Tell me that you’re beautiful.”
“Why would I say that about myself? People don’t say that about themselves, Noah. It makes them conceited.”
“They should when they’re as beautiful as you. Besides, I think if you say it, maybe you’ll start to believe it, too.”
“You are exhausting, you know that?” Taylor let some of the tension out of her tightly held muscles, finally beginning to relax even though they were still nowhere near the nice, safe ground.
“Oh, of course, I do. Now are you going to say it or what?”
She managed a smile, and from the bliss that lit up Noah’s face, he’d caught it. “I’ll tell you what is really beautiful,” she said. “This scenery. Now shut up and let’s enjoy it for a second.”
He continued to wear a self-satisfied smirk on his handsome face, but thankfully dropped the topic.
“Look to the right, and you’ll see a few mountain goats out for a graze,” Noah said after a while.
Taylor turned in the direction he described and saw a line of fuzzy white blurs moving against the rocky mountains. Little specks of green, purple, and yellow dotted the blur below, and she imagined that the plant life must be every bit as beautiful as the expansive sky holding their plane like a safety blanket.
Noah continued to play tour guide as they flew, and soon she was so busy glancing from one beautiful thing to the next that she almost forgot to be afraid.
That is… until she spied the most beautiful thing of all.
And it wasn’t the goats or the mountains or the rushing rivers… No, it was the man seated beside her who had truly captured her awe.
Chapter 5
Noah began the descent as gently as he could.
Still, Taylor squeezed her eyes shut tight and clutched onto his arm with one hand and her seat with the other. The lake loomed larger and larger, but with a practiced hand, he lowered the flaps and brought the plane down into a smooth water landing, startling a few ducks in the process.
“You could have warned me about the landing,” she muttered between clenched teeth.
“Ahh, but then you never would have agreed to come. Besides, why did you think the plane had floats on it?”
“Is it too late to catch a cab home?”
“You could, but I’d bet Über rates for this far out are ridiculous. Now c’mon, we’ve got a bit of a hike.” He grabbed the large camping pack, fishing gear, and twin tents from the small cargo hold in back and took off toward the hills.
“Give me something to carry,” Taylor called, chasing after him.
“You can carry the fishing gear,” he said, handing her the lightest of the luggage.
“Are you kidding me? I want the tents. Give me the tents,” she said, motioning for him to trade her for the heaviest of their gear.
“If you insist.”
She made a little grunt as she situated the load and then took off at a quick stride, leaving Noah to follow. He wondered what she was trying so hard to prove—and whether it was to him or to herself.
“You ever been fishing before?” he called from behind her. He had to admit, he was enjoying the view.
“Sure, in streams and creeks and stuff as a kid. I caught this huge catfish once almost half the length of my arm.”
He laughed and finally quickened his stride to match hers. “You call that huge?” he asked, coming up beside her. “Wait until you meet the King Salmon. After all, he’s king for a reason.”
“How about you? Have you been fishing before?” she asked, breaking out into a laugh almost as soon as she’d finished the question.
He turned to stare at her, and she offered him a goofy grin. Having a destination and a plan seemed to put her at ease—or maybe it was just being on solid ground again.
“You know I have,” he said as kindly as he could manage.
“Yeah, but how many times?”
“At least a hundred.”
“And you hunt larger stuff, too?”
“First, you don’t hunt fish. Unless you want me to get you a spear, in which case you should have told me before we left. Second, oh yeah. Hunting is a way of life up here.”
Her next question came out as an almost strangled whisper. “Is it hard to kill the animals?”
“No, we do it humanely, and we use every part. Plus, the state department hands out licenses following a quota designed to keep the populations in check. It helps protect the herds year-round and makes sure there is enough to provide for those that are left.” He fixed his eyes on her and waited for her to return his gaze. “I wasn’t expecting that question from you,” he admitted.
Her face scrunched up as if she was having a hard time figuring something out. Finally, she said, “Why not?”
“Because of what you do. You must have had to make peace with the fact that you could take another human life.”
“Yeah, but I’ve never seen combat, and it’s doubtful I ever will.”
“Does that disappoint you?”
“A little, but I’m also kind of relieved, too. I have very mixed feelings about… well, all of it. The only thing I know for sure is I want to serve my country and help make people’s lives better.”
“You do seem conflicted.”
“About combat? I just told you I am.”
“No, about everything. Literally everything.”
She turned to pout at him, but the expression seemed forced. “Well, that’s not very nice.”
“It’s not meant to be mean or nice. It’s just an observation.”
“Maybe keep your observations to yourself?”
“Fair enough.” When Noah turned to look at her again, she kept her eyes focused straight ahead. A look of consternation pinched at her face.
She was right, of course.
He was pushing her too hard. But then again, it felt so easy to share these things with Taylor. He’d never found himself so intrigued by anyone before, and although he still didn’t want to sacrifice himself to the altar of marriage, he had to admit that spending time with Taylor felt good. It felt right.
Maybe because she herself was like a game. Not a conquest, but rather a puzzle. The more time he spent trying to figure her out, the more he craved a solution, an understanding.
One very large question remained…
“Why are you spending time with me?” he asked, dreading the answer. Would she bite back with an insult, or would she finally reveal what was so obviously in her heart?
“Because you asked,” she said simply, offering a placating smile as she finally turned to look at him again.
But, no. That answer wasn’t enough. Not for Noah.
He took a slow, measured breath before reframing his question. “You’ve made it clear that you’re not afraid to stick up for yourself and you don’t do anything you don’t want to, so why do you want to be here with me?”
Taylor stopped walking for a second as if his question had grinded her to an actual halt. “I don’t know. I just do,” she said at last.
“Good enough for me,” Noah answered with a laugh, turning back to where she stood rooted in place.
And for now, it had to be. He would figure out the rest soon enough.
After all, he had a plan.
Taylor wondered if she’d given away too much by admitting how much she enjoyed spending time with Noah. But it should have been obvious, right? After all, they were here together in the wilderness, and she’d trusted him enough to deliver her safely via that rickety little plane.
“Well, since we’ve stopped, may as well set up camp.” Noah said, motioning for her to hand over one of the tents.
She set to work on the other and asked, “What about fishing?”
“If there’s still good light when we’re done, we’ll head out today. Otherwise, we’ll hit it in the morning, bright and early.”
She watched his strong arms as he spread out the tent and snapped together the central pole system. Noah caught her looking and smiled, but for once didn’t tease her.
And for a moment it all felt so real, as if she were out for the weekend with her boyfriend. In this momentary fantasy, each of them knew how the other felt and had long stopped fighting it. They were in it for the long haul, and above all else, they were comfortable being themselves with each other.
Taylor shook her head to clear the ridiculous daydream from her brain. She didn’t even feel comfortable with herself, so how on earth could she ever relax with someone else so completely?
After all, that was another reason for her no dating rule.
Whenever her mother asked about boyfriend prospects, Taylor had told her she’d married the military. She’d said it so often, in fact, that her mother had practically stopped asking. She’d even adopted a hodgepodge of rescue dogs to serve as her pseudo grandchildren.
At first, Taylor had been happy. It would mean less pestering, but now she realized that her mother had simply given up on her. Was Taylor really such a hopeless cas
e?
Maybe so.
Still, just because she’d met a nice man now, that didn’t mean anything had changed. She liked Noah, but they barely knew each other. And she was too much of a pragmatist to remain at her post in Anchorage if another opportunity came along. She had every single reason to leave, and only maybe the whisper of a reason to stay.
She reached down for another piece of tent, only to realize she’d assembled the full thing while lost in her daydream. She’d even managed to beat Noah who was still finishing up his.
“Good thing that wasn’t a contest,” he said, slapping his hands together. “Because I lost, big time.”
Taylor should have made a joke or even taken a jab at him, but she couldn’t help but to reflect on his words in light of her recent stream of thoughts.
When the time came, she would leave Anchorage. It wasn’t a contest. Not at all.
“Seems I underestimated you. I won’t make that mistake again.” Noah laughed, and finally, she allowed herself to join him. They were here as friends to have fun. The hard decisions had already been made, whether or not Noah knew it.
“That’s right, mister,” she answered, grabbing the fishing gear from the spot Noah had dropped it. “Prepare to lose at fishing, too.”
Chapter 6
They made their way over to the rushing river. Noah had already noticed that Taylor was in better shape than him, but now she was literally walking circles around him.
“Why are you so slow?” she asked, sticking her tongue out as she passed him again.
“Why are you so fast?” he countered. “You do know the whole point of fishing is to relax and take things easy?”
She skipped ahead again, and he thought he saw a shrug. “This is me relaxed,” Taylor said.
The Alaska Sunrise Romances: A 9-Book Sweet Romance Collection Page 10