This was the part where she drove back to her cabin, and I drove back to my life, and we pretended last night was just one of those things that happened sometimes.
Except I didn’t want to pretend.
“I guess this is goodbye,” Leah said softly, and the words landed in my chest. “I’m glad we met, stranger. And thanks for taking care of me. I would have been lost out here last night without you around.”
I looked at her standing there in the golden morning light, her wild curls framing her green eyes that saw right through me, and I realized I’d been lying to myself foryears.
I’d told myself I was better off alone, that love only complicated things.
How long had I believed that keeping people at arm’s length was the smart play?
But looking at Leah, I didn’t feel smart. I felt like a fool who’d been hiding from something beautiful because he was too scared to reach for it.
“Does it have to be?” The words came out rough.
Her eyes widened. “What?”
I stepped closer, “I don’t want to say goodbye, Leah. I… I think I want to say hello.”
She looked up at me with confusion on her face. “But I thought—”
I didn’t wait for her to finish. Instead, I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her, soft and slow and nothing like the desperate hunger of last night.
This kiss was a question and a beginning. A promise of something I wasn’t sure I knew how to give, but wanted to try anyway.
When I pulled back, her eyes were shining.
“How long are you in town for?” I rumbled. “Maybe we can see each other again before you leave.”
There was a group camp scheduled for tonight, and I was supposed to be the lead. But for Leah, I’d call Boone and tell him he had to take the group out solo this time.
After the shit he pulled when he got together with his wife, Katie, he owed me one.
The only question was, did Leah want to experience more of me before she ran back to her regular life? Or had one night been enough for her?
Chapter 9
Leah
He wants to see me again.
Warmth flooded my chest.
Ever since we woke up this morning, Jameson had been acting like a scared kitten, if scared kittens were gruff and remote.
So I hadn’t known what was rolling through his mind. Although when he put his hand on my back as we hiked, I’d had a moment of hope.
This is just a fling. Don’t get attached, I warned myself, knowing it was already too late. I’d fallen hard for my mountain beast.
I fumbled for my phone, my hands trembling slightly as I filled out a new contact. Jameson McCall. I typed the letters carefully, then handed him my phone so he could add his number.
His fingers brushed mine as he took it, and even that small touch sent warmth flooding through me.
He typed quickly, then called his own phone so he’d have my number too. The efficiency of it made me smile. Of course he’d think of that.
“There,” he said, handing my phone back. “Now you can’t disappear on me.”
“I wasn’t planning on disappearing.”
