Chapter 11
Boone
Katie didn’t know I’d gone crazy for her.
How could she? I hadn’t told her.
We finished the hike back to the trailhead without any complications other than a few almost slips. But I managed to catch her every time. I wasnevergoing to let her hike in tennis shoes again.
Her pace slowed more and more towards the end. And I didn’t know if she was exhausted from the hike or reluctant to part from me.
But I knew we’d have more time with each other because she’d accidentally lost her backpack off the cliff, along with her car keys.
It would take time to replace them. We’d have to try to find a locksmith willing to work on a holiday, because today was Christmas Eve.
And the only two locksmiths I knew were Slate and Daryl. I didn’t want to bother them on Christmas Eve. Or Christmas Day, for that matter.
Would I be lucky enough to get to keep Katie for two more days? I hoped so, but if she raised enough of a fuss about it, I’d call and get them out to her car.
She’d been talking for the last hour. “Boone, I don’t know how you have the stamina to do this every week. This hike just about killed me. And you do one every single week, all year long?”
“Some are shorter than others. We also take hunters out during deer season. They don’t like to move much, so that’s mostly sitting.”
As the trailhead finally came into view, along with the shuttle bus and my truck, a sinking feeling settled in my heart.
This might be it.
The end of our time together.
Putting my hand on her lower back, I rumbled, “It’s a long drive back to Georgia, and it’s Christmas Eve. And as I recall, you don’t have a car key.”
“I know. I’ve been fretting about that. I’ve been thinking I could stay at a hotel until I find someone to make a copy for me. I guess I’ll need a locksmith. I wish I carried a spare, but it’s at home sitting on my entry table in the key bowl. It’s not going to help me there, is it?”
“Well,” I started in, trying to perfect my sales pitch, “Wanna spend Christmas with me?”
Her head whipped around, and she stopped moving. “You would do that? For me? Let me stay with you?”
It felt very much like I would do that forme, but if she felt like it was for her, that was good too. “Not just for you. I’d like to spend Christmas with you. I go see my folks, so you’d have to meet the family. Oh, and need to warn you about my grandma. Christmas is at her place, and she rules the roost. She’ll ask you a thousand questions and try to make you marry me. But other than that, we’re a laid-back lot. I think you’d like it. Plus… I have a bathtub.”
She grinned at me. “Your grandma’s been trying to marry you off?”
“Yup. She’s on a dedicated mission to have grandbabies before she’s too old to enjoy them. And she can beverypersuasive, so you’ve been warned.”
Katie’s face shifted, and she looked troubled. “Are you sure you want me to come for Christmas? You’re not just saying that because…”
Because what?
Because I was falling in love with her?
Because I’d be devastated if she got in her car and drove back to Georgia right now?
My voice was deep and husky. “Katie, I’d very much like you to stay for the holidays. I’m… enjoying our time together and…” Ahhh, honesty was hard sometimes. I was the type to leave things unsaid, but Katie deserved better, so I told her the truth. “I’d like it to continue.”
She looked up at me with wide eyes, and I saw a glimmer of fear in there, mixed in with happiness. “You did say you have a bathtub, right? Sold! And I can’t wait to meet your grandma. Let’s see if she manages to play matchmaker. I took two weeks off work. I was planning on staying at the Silver Pines Lodge after the hike was over. But a real, rustic cabin with a sexy mountain man attached to it? That’s better than a lodgeanyday.”
We were snuggling in my bed, breathless after another marathon session.
A fire was crackling in the fireplace, and snowflakes were coming down outside. A storm had kicked up yesterday after wegot back from the hike. I’d checked on Jameson, and everyone was doing fine.
