I turn my chin up. “Never better.”
Lies.
I don’t want him fawning over me and he doesn’t. He smiles, touches my arm, and continues to herd the other vets down the trail with Georgia. Allie and I lag in the back, and I tell myself it’s because I want to observe the others andmaybebecause it gives me a better view of Duke’s ass.
I blame the altitude for distorting my judgment as I notice how good he looks from behind. Broad shoulders flexing under the weight of his pack. Muscular arms tightening each time he adjusts the strap. That damn tattered baseball cap low on his head, with just enough curl of his sandy brown hair at the base of his neck to make me think wildly inappropriate things for someone on a therapeutic hike. Occasionally, I catch his bold, blue eyes searching for me, and I smile when he finds me.
Wow. Mountain Man Mode: Activated. I hate how much I like it.
Focus, Roxanne. You’re not here to objectify the wilderness guide.
But still, his ass in those jeans. Damn.
He moves through the group with quiet command, pausing to check packs and making sure everyone is accounted for. Dukegives Stedman and Millie space to lead, but he’s always watching over his flock. When we reach a steeper stretch, Garrett starts falling back a little, muttering under his breath. Duke drops beside him and says something too low for me to hear. Whatever it is, Garrett huffs and rolls his eyes, but keeps moving. Duke claps a hand on his shoulder, grins, and the tension in Garrett’s posture softens.
And here I am trying not to trip over my feelings.
“Roxanne?” Allie asks, jabbing me in the arm.
“What? Oh, yes. That sounds good.”
Allie smiles and shakes her head. “You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”
“I did, I did … no, I didn’t. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m enjoying the view myself.” Her gaze lands on Topper.
He’s the opposite of Duke in every way, but still his compliment. Where Duke is quiet gravity, Topper is golden sunlight. He’s all lean muscle and sun-touched skin, with the kind of shoulders that suggest he catch you mid-fall without breaking a sweat.
My heart is so full when I see Allie light up around him. She’s spent her life dating emotionally unavailable, man bun poets who still live with their mothers. I have a feeling Topper would build her a house with his bare hands, massage her feet, and be there with a pint of ice cream if she ever shed a tear.
“So what are you going to do?” I ask her as she walks with her eyes forward and a lazy smile on her lips.
“Me?”
“Yes, at the end of summer when you are madly in love with this man and you can’t take him with you?”
Her shoulders lift when she blows out a long breath. “We did talk about it.”
“What? When?”
“After dinner the other night.”
“Have you slept with him?”
“That’s the crazy thing,” she says, leaning in. “No, I mean, he kissed me the other night, behind the barn of all places.”
“Yes, I called it,” I nod. “How was it?”
“Toe-curling, thigh-tingling, flutterfly-producing heaven.”
“Oh my. I don’t understand … how did you not roll around in the proverbial hay right there?”
“Well, it was all hands, and teeth, and my top flying into the bushes. I never found it.”
I giggle. “And yet you stopped?”
“You won’t believe this, he actually said…” her voice drops, “‘I want you, Allie. Don’t think for a second I don’t, but you deserve more than me slamming you up against the back of the barn.’”
