Page 102 of Slow Hands Cowboy

They finished eating, and Anna packed up all of her notes and her computer. “Do you want to go shopping?”

“I’m actually going... camping tonight? Apparently.”

“Camping. You. I’ve never seen the mustangs. I need to see the mustangs. Especially because defending them is going to become part of my campaign.”

Anna looked agog. “You really like him.”

Addison looked away. “I don’t know that I... I mean... all I’m going to say is that I never realized that sex was supposed to be this good.”

“If the sex is so good it’s making you camp, I feel like that’s a little bit beyond just I don’t have a lot to compare it to.”

“I have plenty to compare it to, but I’ve never wanted a man enough to submit myself to sleeping in a sleeping bag outside.”

“This isn’t about sex, it’s about mustangs.”

“It’s about sex.”

Fine. Maybe it was. But they did go to one of the boutiques at the end of the block to buy some very sporty-looking campwear, and a cute little coffee set. Then a backpack, and a special thin sleeping bag that would keep her extra warm, even though it was pretty warm at night, as it was.

By the time she met up with Walker again, she was almost overly prepared.

“What is this?” he asked, looking down at her. She had her backpack on, and she was clinging tightly to the shoulder straps.

“I’m ready to camp.”

“I have supplies,” he said.

“Well, now I have them, too. I’m ready to go out and see the Mustangs.”

“We’re just going to sleep in the bed of the truck.”

“Yeah. It’s plenty big enough. I mean, I have to open the tailgate up so that I can put my feet out.”

“Aren’t you worried about... predators?”

“Why? Because you think you can fist fight a bear?”

“I could fist fight a bear, Addison, ye of little faith, but also, it’s not like we get a lot of bears down there. I know the area well. We’re going to go down into the valley, rather than up, on Painted Ridge. Painted Ridge is a good place to see the horses from far away, but I thought you might want to be more up close and personal.”

“This all sounds good. Really it does, except the part where I’m supposed to sleep in the bed of a pickup truck.”

“I thought you were ready for the adventure. Prepared for any eventuality?”

“I mean, I thought we would at least have a tent.”

“All the better to sleep under the open sky.”

As she found herself being bundled up into the truck, she couldn’t help but reflect on what Anna had said. Maybe she was being insane over sex. Because she couldn’t imagine anyone else getting her to agree to do this. Except, no. It wasn’t just about sex. It was about her wanting to test her own limits. Her wanting to see what she was capable of, what she liked. This was the kind of thing that her dad would have said was dangerous. Even though it was safe. Really. It was on his ranch that he was familiar with, and if there was actually a threat, of course, he would know that.

In that way, she didn’t need to worry.

But her dad had just made it so that she thought through the consequences of everything. And when it came to new experiences, it was hard to do that. Because who could know what the consequence was of something they had never done? Then you couldn’t walk yourself through it, couldn’t figure it out.

So the drive out to the valley where they were camping was a relatively long one, considering that they were still on ranch property. And it was beautiful. The mountains changed, evolving from sharp, craggy rocks with evergreens growing up the side, to mountains that were more bare, and then rounded, almost hills that were striped with finely powdered sand, black and red, like paintbrush strokes.

“It’s beautiful out here,” she said. “I can’t believe I’ve never been here.”

“You’ve never even been up to Painted Ridge?”