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“Speaking of Sierra, she gets plenty of TV time even though you don’t have one.”
He wasn’t wrong. Her friends all had TVs and whenever she visited, she saw plenty. “I don’t want one at home, but I can’t tell her she can’t watch it other places. I’m not that unrealistic of a mom. Besides, Granny Waddle has one downstairs, and they watch shows together. Just like eating meat. I don’t make it, but she’ll eat it if she wants at friends’ houses or restaurants. Her favorite snack is beef jerky. Her entire hockey team loves it.”
“Not kale chips?” he teased, obviously remembering what Sierra had shouted earlier.
I couldn’t help but smile. “I think my days of getting her to eat them are long gone.”
Realizing the kids were getting ahead, I started walking again. Now that we were off trail, it was harder going, having to keep my eyes down so I didn’t trip over a rock or a tree root, which of course, I did right then.
Instead of falling, Luke grabbed me, wrapping an arm about my waist.
“Careful, tiger.”
I took a breath, let it out, absorbed the feeling of his arm around me. Of his hard body pressed into mine from behind. I nodded, thankful I didn’t get hurt. He released me and I started walking again. I had no idea a walk in the woods could be foreplay.
We were quiet for a few minutes, and I got used to walking with wet panties as I stewed on Luke’s not-so-secret secret. He was a famous TV star. To me, he was just the hot guy who fucked really, really well.
“At the bar last night, were you in the corner so people didn’t recognize you?” I wondered.
“Yeah,” he replied, keeping pace behind me. “I wanted a burger, a beer, and the ballgame."
“You said you’re on vacation?” It was a ridiculous question since I knew he didn’t live here, and he had a room at the resort.
“Yeah. Filming is done and I have time off. I needed to get out of LA. That’s why I’m in Hunter Valley. A break.”
“Except for me, I’m sure people recognize you. If people react like Sierra did, it’s not much of a break.”
“Yeah, but here in Montana, they’re cool about it. Most of the time. The only way I could be left alone entirely would be off the grid, which doesn’t sound fun at all. Or I could head home to my parents’ place in Nebraska, but then I’d be up at dawn and herding cows. What about you?”
“Me? I’m far from famous.” My mother was, though. I avoided her spotlight because she didn’t want me in it now that I wasn’t perfect. I went from being a perfect ballerina to an unmarried single mother, which was bad for senatorial campaign slogans and photo ops, especially when my ballet career had been so promising. She didn’t even acknowledge she had a granddaughter.
“I know how you feel when you come all over my dick, but not much else. You’ve got secrets, too. How come you snuck out?” he asked, his dirty talk making me stumble over a stick. His hand cupped my elbow to steady me.
“I told you, I had to teach this morning.” It was the truth, but it was evasive.
“That might be the case, but you could’ve said goodbye. Would’ve made it easier to find you.”
I frowned. “Why would you want to find me?”
He reached out, ran a finger over my cheek in a simple gesture that indicated a certain level of intimacy. I liked it.
“I’d have missed out on hiking with a pretty girl and three short, noisy chaperones.” His slow smile pushed one from me. God, he didn’t need deep breathing exercises to be calm and easy going.
After the lawyer’s letter this morning, I was far from either.
“I went into last night looking for a one-night stand,” I explained. “Nothing more.” I might have sounded like a slut, but a woman had needs as much as any guy. There was nothing wrong with having them fulfilled without any kind of commitment.
“You don’t want a relationship?”
I stopped and he almost bumped into my back, having to set his hand on my shoulder. I spun around. “A relationship? No.”
What did I know about relationships? My parents had an open, loveless marriage. Any mental health counselor would say I mistook attention and emotional manipulation as caring. I didn’t need to pay anyone to tell me that. I had a history of losers, of shit guys who seemed to know I was screwed up. Or that I was drawn to assholes all on my own. The fact that plenty of them, even recently, wanted access to my mom only made the whole dating thing worse. I should’ve learned eons ago, but for some reason, it took Duncan for me to realize I was better off alone. Yeah, Mallory and others fixed me up, but none went beyond the first date. Jaded? Definitely. Besides, why did I need a man? Fine, besides legit orgasms. I’d made my own little family. I loved Sierra unconditionally and taught her that real love was that way. No strings attached.
“I want more, Aspen.”
My eyes widened. “What? Like boyfriend/girlfriend? Engagement? Marriage? You’re on vacation.”
“You can’t deny last night was amazing.”
