Maybe I should stay close to keep her from getting into trouble out here. Being unprepared out in the wildlands surrounding Iron Peak could be a death sentence.
“There’s no need to switch booths,” I said in a low rumble. “Marla likes to meddle. It’s her favorite hobby.”
She was younger than me. Definitely younger. Late twenties at most, which put at least a decade between us. Probably too young for a gruff bastard like me.
Amelia’s shoulders relaxed slightly, though the flush still colored her cheeks. “She seems… determined.”
“You have no idea.”
I should have left it at that. Should have let her order her breakfast, eat in awkward silence, and then watch her walk out of the diner and out of my life.
That would have been the smart thing to do.
Instead, I heard myself say, “She was telling the truth about the tour.”
“The free tour?” Amelia blinked while her hair caught the morning light streaming through the window, turning some of her strands bright like gold. I was almost transfixed by it.
“I’d be happy to take you out. Show you around. What kind of tour interests you? I do town tours, hiking tours, or something off the beaten trail.”
“For free? I don’t want to take up your time, but I really can’t pay. I’m on a tight budget.”
“Yup. Marla said it would be free. It’ll be free,” I rumbled.
I wouldn’t talk the pretty woman into it. So I leaned my arm back on the bench seat and waited for her to make up her mind.
She looked into my eyes, and something shifted in her expression. The nervousness faded, replaced by something dreamier. Softer. Her mouth parted slightly while she fidgeted with her napkin. She had the kind of lips that would flush beautifully under a man’s mouth.
In a quiet voice she said, “Take me on anadventure.”
My cock jolted awake in my jeans, suddenly very interested in the conversation.
Down, boy.
But the damn thing was staging a mini-revolution, ready to overthrow all my good sense if I didn’t do everything in my power to get this woman underneath me.
“I’ve got just the spot,” I said, my voice dropping lower. “Past the old mine ruins out by the Iron Peak Trailhead, there’s a path that most people don’t know about. Leads to a secluded hot spring.”
Her eyes lit up. “A hot spring?”
“Not the main one on the tourist maps. This one’s hidden. I could count on one hand the number of people who know it exists.”
“That sounds perfect.” Amelia smiled, and her whole face lit up. “I’d love that.”
“It’s settled then. We’ll go after breakfast.”
Polly appeared at our table with her notepad and a knowing smirk. She was one of Marla’s part-time girls, a college student home for the summer, and she’d clearly witnessed the whole setup.
“What can I get you two?”
We ordered. She got the breakfast special with extra bacon. I stuck with my usual eggs and hash browns. Polly scribbled it down and disappeared toward the kitchen.
I leaned back in the booth, studying Amelia. “So what brings you to Iron Peak? You don’t exactly look like the outdoorsy type.”
She glanced down at her thin coat draped over the seat beside her and laughed softly. “Is it that obvious?”
“Little bit.”
She settled deeper into the booth. “I was a medical receptionist in Florida up until recently. But I decided it was time for a change.”
