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For once, he didn’t use my old title in a derogatory way, and I stopped teasing him. “Come on and keep up. One of us is not on vacation, you know.”
We picked up our pace, chatting about the books we liked, with me admitting I wished I had more time to read. He became adorably serious, saying there was always time for a good book. When the trail got tight between some overgrown bushes, he paused so I could go ahead of him, resting his hand on the small of my back to help me through. After it widened again, he let his hand drop and I could still feel the supportive weight of his palm burning a hole through my t-shirt.
At an ancient fallen log that I had climbed over a hundred times before, he neatly picked me up and plopped me onto the other side, keeping his hands at my waist for a breath longer than necessary. My eyes traveled from where his fingers grazed my sides, up his firm chest, taking a short detour to note how broad his shoulders were, and finally settled on his face, specifically a dimple I hadn’t noticed before. Probably because he rarely smiled as widely as he was now. It was disorienting, how handsome I found him, especially that close. I knew I should probably go off about how I was perfectly capable, and he didn’t need to act like Tarzan. We were on my turf, after all. But I rather liked him acting like Tarzan and felt my cheeks getting hot as his hands tightened their grip on my waist.
I blinked and the moment was over. He jumped over the log and stretched out his back.
“I thought you said this place wasn’t too far,” he complained. “We’ve been walking up for the last half hour.”
I snickered. “You need to spend more time on cardio and less on your muscles. And yes, we’re going up. That’s how you get the good views.”
“I guess you’re right,” he said. “You should see the view from my office in Manhattan. When we bought the building, the three of us had a war over it. Huge corner office, tall windows, all overlooking the park, the river, buildings as far as the eye can see. We finally agreed to play a game of poker for it.”
Buildings as far as the eye could see didn’t sound that impressive but to each their own. “You’re lucky you won,” I said diplomatically. I looked up at him to see he was grinning devilishly. It shook me straight to my core, and not at all in a bad way. Dangerous, yes. But bad? Not at all.
“You can keep a secret, right, Miss Loblolly?”
“Secret keeping isn’t in the pageant code of conduct,” I said. “But I go above and beyond.”
His wicked grin grew even more deliciously mischievous. “Of course you do.” He held up his hands to show he meant no harm, and I was so taken by him, I let his little jibe bounce off me. “Well, here’s a secret for you. I cheated at that card game because I had to have that view. It’s like a balm to my soul.”
“Cheating at cards? You better not ever, ever go to the VFW and admit that. Or the Ladies Auxiliary for that matter.”
“I never did it before that, and I’ve never done it since,” he said, putting his hand on his heart.
“Come on then,” I called, running the last few yards of the trail and bursting into the clearing. We were at the lower end of the foothills, but the view was still impressive looking down into the valley. He caught up with me and stopped dead, turning in a slow circle and taking it all in. “What do you think?”
He looked at me for a brief second before focusing back on the expanse of green below us, bits of craggy mountainside peeking out in the distance, and blue, blue sky all around.
“Holy shit,” he whispered. “This is really amazing after all.”
I got a little choked up watching him take it all in, being as reverent as if he were in a church. I jogged up this way every so often and always loved the view, but now I saw it with fresh eyes, thanks to Jax’s awe.
His arm slipped around my shoulders, and I turned to see him still gazing out at the feathery pine tops. He didn’t seem to realize what he was doing, just lost in the beauty. I didn’t want to disturb his reverie and leaned against his strong form, enjoying the rest. Maybe enjoying the feel of his solid, warm body a little too much.
“Aren’t you going to take any pictures?” I finally asked, easing away before I put my own arms around him and we started something unwise.
He shook himself out of whatever daydream he’d found himself in and looked at his camera sadly. “I’ll try, but I know I’ll never capture it properly.”
“That’s why I come out here all the time,” I said as he clicked away at different angles. “A picture is nice for a reminder, but it’s just not the same.”
“You’re lucky to live here,” he said.
The last few months of planning a high school reunion without very much help, and now trying to save the Dante with even less help made me feel uncharacteristically bitter about his statement. Was I really lucky? I snorted, instantly feeling bad for having such thoughts.
His eyebrows shot up. “What? Trouble in paradise?”
For some reason, I wanted to blurt out how abandoned and alone I felt, with everyone treating me like I was crazy to want to keep a piece of history from becoming buried and forgotten. How betrayed I felt that no one wanted to work as hard as I did to improve the town. For some reason I felt like he would understand. Or would he just jokingly call me Miss Loblolly again, and not in an endearing way this time? I ended up shrugging.
“Ah, it’s nothing. I’m just tired from working half the night in the ER.” I pulled my phone out and made a big show of checking the time. “And I’ve got to head in so I’m not late for work. So unless you think you can find your own way back, it’s time to go.”
He looked at me for a long moment, probably curious about my abrupt mood change. Thankfully he didn’t ask me about it, and we hiked briskly back down to the parking lot without any more touching or banter. That shouldn’t have mattered, but it only made me feel more alone.
Chapter 7 - Jax
The view on the way back down the trail was almost as good as the one Luna took me to see, and I kept my eyes on her shapely backside as she scampered down ahead of me. Those curvy cheeks in her jogging shorts definitely gave the Virginia countryside a run for its money. What could have led to her sudden change of mood? For once, I didn’t think it was anything I had done.
There was just something about her sunny nature, her upbeat attitude, and yes, her soft curves, that made me turn into a complete monster of an eight-year-old boy, wanting nothing more than to metaphorically pull on her pigtails. The sudden flash of sadness in her ordinarily bright eyes made me want to pull her into my arms and make everything all better, which would have gone over about as well as yanking on her hair. She was dangerous, or at least the way she was starting to make me feel was dangerous.
