“Stability. A little extra support as you hike.”
“I know how to walk, Leo.”
“Of course you do. But it’s different in the forest.” His voice was calm, and it just made her more uncomfortable. “It would be easy for you to fall and hurt yourself. It’ll support your ankles. Help you balance.”
Her face heated as she stared at the sticks in her hand. “Are you saying I need extra help because… because…”
She shoved the pole out in front of her, unable to bring herself to finish. She never apologized for her body, for taking up more space than the world often wanted her to, but something about standing in front of Leo and asking if he thought she needed help walking through the woods made her burn with humiliation.
“These are really common,” he said, apparently unaware that she was a cauldron about to boil over. “Lots of the volunteers we got at POR use them if they don’t have much hiking experience. But especially for you on your first hike, I want to be sure…”
He finally noticed the look on her face and stopped talking, but her emotions were getting too big to control. As pissed as she was at herself for letting all this bother her, she had some anger left over for Leo even though what he was saying made sense.
Kind. Calm. Collected.
Fuck it.
“DoesReggieuse them too?” Acid churned in her gut as she said it.
“Not usually.” Leo shoved his hair off his forehead in frustration. “I’m just trying to keep you safe since you’re new to hiking. If you could not assume the worst of me, that would be great.”
She stared at him as a whole new anger twisted through her. He was accusingherof thinking the worst ofhim? That was fucking rich.
“You. Want me. Not to assume the worst.” She could barely hear herself over the blood pounding in her ears.
“Yes,” he spat out.
Her laugh was shrill. “You do see the irony, right? Because you’ve always been so good about not assuming the worst ofme.”
She saw the instant her meaning washed over him; his jaw hardened so fast that the muscles bunched under his skin. Their staring contest ended when he shook his head and took a step back, the fight draining from his body.
“Do what you want, duchess,” he said, not meeting her eyes. “You always do.”
This time the words weren’t playful, and he turned on his heel and left the aisle with her supplies in his arms. When she joined him minutes later at the checkout, he didn’t say a word about her leaving the poles behind in that fucking aisle.
NINETEEN
For the millionth time that morning, Leo considered knocking on William’s bedroom door and asking him to switch.
And for the millionth time that morning, he nailed his feet to the floor and continued making final adjustments to his backpack. It would undoubtedly be smarter for him to pick up Vani’s kids by himself while Faith went with William to meet the ranger, but he just couldn’t bring himself to make the ask. William would be way too delighted for one thing. And for another thing… well, Faith might be way too delighted too. Why’d he recommend William for the job in the first place?
This was going to be a long two days.
At six on the dot, the early-morning quiet was interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by Faith’s voice calling, “Hello?”
“In the kitchen,” he called back, mentally preparing himself for battle after the disastrous end of their shopping trip two days ago. But Faith just breezed into the room and dramatically dropped her backpack onto the tiled floor.
“Does all camping have to start soearly?” she demanded.
He momentarily lost the power of speech. After bracing himself for a continuation of their standoff at Hiking HQ, he was instead met with a different kind of torture.
She looked fucking adorable. He was always low-key turned on by her work outfits at BUILD. That tight skirt she’d been wearing when he took her shopping, for example? They’d barely been speaking when he dropped her off at the car, but that hadn’t kept him from fantasizing about stripping her out of it and fucking her at least six different ways. But the woman standing in his kitchen with a crooked smile on her face was a fantasy he didn’t even know he’d been harboring.
She’d topped her new merino wool T-shirt with a purple plaid flannel that she’d knotted at the waist, and her brand-new khaki pants and garish boots were crying out for some trail dirt. But that wasn’t the only thing that pulled a smile to his lips.
The blue was back in her hair. She’d done it up in two long braids, the streaks of color twisting playfully through the loops. The shade was slightly different this time, closer in color to her new shoes, and he’d bet cash money that it was intentional.
Trail Faith was absolutely. Fucking. Adorable.
