“We good?”Carson asked him, watching Barry’s color return back to normal.
“We’re good.”Barry stood to his full height, a grin falling across his face.“That was my bad.I crossed a line I shouldn’t have.Hell of a hold, man.You’re going to have to teach me that.”
Chapter 11
“This is so beautiful.”Allie sighed as they hiked along the trail.It was a hot summer morning, but the trees offered some shade against the desert heat.This place was like an oasis in the middle of the desert.A forest of pine trees and creeks.
Most people came to Vegas for thestrip.To gamble or watch shows.She loved it for its diversity.You could be in the desert one minute and in the mountains the next or smack dab in the middle of a hectic town.
Allie stopped to look around at the scenery.She had never been to Mount Charleston before today.She’d dragged a kicking and screaming Sandy to Red Rock, but this was much different.
The woman was allergic to nature and hated hiking that served no purpose outside of just being in nature surrounded by bugs and things that could kill you, like rattlesnakes.
It wasn’t a harder climb than the other, just different.Different terrain and scenery.
Carson, who was keeping pace with her, looked around as if seeing it for the first time.Maybe it was, but she hadn’t asked when he suggested it.“It’s nice,” he finally replied with a shoulder shrug.
Allie rolled her eyes though she knew he wouldn’t see it through her sunglasses.Men.Point them at a gorgeous scenery or painting, and they could care less.Point them at an elk or fish, and theystarted to drool.
“How much farther are we going?”
“You’re not getting tired on me now, are you?”Carson gave her a crooked smile.He looked happy outhere.Just like he had when they were paintballing.He was out in his element again.He had a large backpack on his back.She didn’t want to know what the thing weighed, but it looked heavy.He said everything they needed to survive was in that bag.
Was he planning on them camping out here?She hoped not.Not that she was against it, but all she’d packed in her backpack was water, food, a jacket, and a flashlight.
“Please, I could keep up this pace all day long.I was just merely curious.I’ve never been out here.”
“It’s not much further.The terrain gets a little rough at spots, but in the end, it will be worth it,” he stated cryptically.
So he’d been here before; well, that answered that.“Good thing for you, I like surprises.”
“Good to know.Have you been hiking since you moved here?”
“Once, I brought Sandy out to Red Canyon, and I use that term lightly,” she said with a wry smile.
“Hated it?”he guessed.
“Every second,” Allie confirmed, laughing.“She is not an outdoors girl unless it’s sitting on a balcony or lying on a lounge chair next to a body of water.”
“She was the same way when we were kids.”
“So, I haven’t been out since.I don’t feel comfortable going hiking alone, and I don’t really know anyone else here but her.”
“That’s smart not hiking alone.It could be dangerous.You could injure yourself or get lost, and no one would be there to help you.”
“Or you could attract the wrong kind of person.Though I suppose someone like you wouldn’t have to worry about that.”Shelooked him up and down.He wore blue jeans and a light grey long-sleeved muscle shirt that left nothing to the imagination.His thumbs were hooked in the backpack straps showcasing his biceps.She could see the ridges of his abs flexing with each step he took.
Allie had always been more attracted to brains than brawn, but it was hard not to look at this man and drool a little.
“Someone like me?”He gave her a puzzled look.
“Big, tall, SEAL.I’m sure you’re trained on how to kill a man in a million ways and make it look like an accident.”
“Ah.”A proud look came across his face.
“Or trained in all forms in the art of war.”She waved her arms around in punching motions.
“I wasn’t raised by ninjas.”He chuckled at her attempt to jab and uppercut.She knew how to do it, but she was just playing around, not trying to stay alive or ward off an attack.
