And since I’m still feeling a little wild and reckless, I throw out a challenge to Maverick.
“I don’t see you getting dirty. Why don’t you show us how it’s done?”
“You think I can’t?” He smirks. “What if it was a race between you and I then?”
The boys all cheer and clap. Excited to see the adults face off.
Stepping up to the first platform I look up at Maverick. Hand on my hips I say, “And if I win, then you stop calling me city girl.”
I get a snort as an answer. He doesn’t think I can win.
I’m not big on physical fitness, but I have done yoga and I enjoy walking through the park back home. This seems more about balance. Surely he can not get his hulking big body across the course faster than I can.
It’s a run stepping over tires and then a rope climb up to the moving platforms. For the second Clayton yells to go it is obvious that I am far out classed. Maverick skips through the tires as though they are nothing. And he scales the rope wall in seconds. So much so that he is there to reach down his hand to simply pull me up to the top platform.
Without stopping to thank him, I jump onto the first moving platform. There is where I surely have a chance, running across them without stoping to think about. A look back shows me I have gained a lead on him, but not by much.
My heart racing, I dive into the mud. On my stomach I start to crawl under the netting. This is just physics. I can move my smaller body quicker than he can get his bigger mass through the mud.
But he has me on the hurdles. Getting over them with ease. He is there grinning at me at the finish line while I am panting and gasping for breath, falling into the mud on my back to tryand catch my breath. He is just as composed, and damn sexy, as ever.
He takes my hand and lifts me back up onto my feet. “Good try, city girl. I’ll show you where the showers are.”
Chapter 5
Maverick
I can’t stop thinking about Josie. Watching her has become like an obsession. I’m watching over my staff and the boys too. There is even an extra person with us today, a reporter doing an article on the camp. But I always know where Josie is and who she is talking to.
I’m impressed with her can-do attitude. She seems determined to throw herself into this experience, even though I practically blackmailed her into being here.
After breakfast there were a few skills workshops and Josie joined in, helping the quieter boys, not taking any attitude from the louder ones. I can see that the kids are all quite taken with her. Who can blame them? She is nothing like the crazy woman who was yelling at me the other day. Well, there is still a wild spark in her eyes that I find most intriguing.
Her challenging me to the obstacle course yesterday helped win the kids over. I think they see her as their champagne, even though she lost the race. That was something. To be challenged by Josie.
She is exciting to be around. Wild. I never know what she is going to do next, or how she will react. It’s been a long, long time since I felt so alive around a woman. Eager to be with her.Eager to talk to her. But I have competition with the kids always grabbing her attention.
I take my opportunity on today’s walk up to the camping grounds. Normally I would take the lead, but today I let Maggie lead the troop up the mountain. It is a bit of a trek but we have stops along the way to show little survival tips to keep the boys interested. I fall to the back to where Josie is huffing and puffing.
She is not fit, making it even crazier that she took part in the race. And if I was to guess, her body is probably feeling the pain from that today. But I like her curves. It’s hard not to admire the glimpse of cleavage under her shirt. Or how stretched the fabric is in her chest area. She has lovely thick thighs too. I like a curvy woman. I don’t want to feel like I might crush her with my size.
“How are you feeling today?” I ask, falling into step with her at the back of the pack.
“My body feels like I’ve been hit by a truck. Do you think it could be a delayed reaction to the car crash you caused?”
I let out a snort of laughter. “I think it’s more likely the exercise from yesterday. You need a full body rub down.” Shit. Now I’m going to have that image in my head for the rest of my life. “Ah, not that I meant me or here. Normally after playing sport or doing exercise….” My words trail off. There is no good way to get out of this.
She grins and nods. “I get it. I doubt there are any good day spas up here in the mountains.”
“You’d be surprised. There are quite a few different businesses in Starfall Valley. A lot of city folk are moving up here for a better life.”
“And what about you? Did you move here or were you born here?”
“Both I guess. I grew up here on the mountain. But I moved away to join the army. I got my degree and lived in the city for a bit. But then I moved back. I just knew that this is where I wanted to be.”
She stops and looks around. We are in a bend in the trail with a rocky cliff down towards a valley. It’s a great view over the forest. I watch as Josie takes a deep breath in and puts her face up to the sun. “I can certainly understand the attraction of this place. This is a lot better than being stuck in a class room or an office all day.”
As we walk along she tells me more about her situation. How she is looking for what comes next. “I always had some sort of plan that I was following. But now.” She stops and shrugs her shoulders. “I just don’t know. It’s scary but also a little bit exciting. Anything could happen now.”
