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“Damn that man.”
He opened his door and climbed in. Without another word, he turned on the engine, buckling as he pulled out into the merge lane.
They didn’t speak for the next hour. She forced herself to look at the brochures for Yosemite and not at his profile. But as the highway road flowed into a winding road that was filled with rich amber yellows and hints of rust-colored trees, she fell into the scenery and the cloudless blue sky.
A few signs gave directions to attractions nearby. She rolled down her window and closed her eyes for a moment. Crisp air with a hint of water. The flavor was a little different from home but no less recognizable. He turned off a road—at least she was pretty sure it was a road. She braced her hand on the dash when they hit a dip, and she felt air between her ass and the seat.
“Why are we going off-road?”
“This is a road.”
She grasped the handle along the window frame and the dash as the nose of the truck suddenly dipped. “Oh, really?”
His lips quirked at the corner. “Yes.”
Oh, great. Now he was going to grow a sense of humor? She slapped the roof of the truck when her ass lifted again, and she was jarred back down. “I hope you’ve got good struts.”
Again he didn’t say a word.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“Maybe.” He made a hard turn. The truck groaned over a hill, and she gasped, unlatching her buckle. Majestic and timeless, the mountains exploded out of the trees. Shale gray was the dominant color of the cliffside with rusty tips that made the mountains look like they’d been dusted in cinnamon. The surrounding trees were a deep evergreen color. Oaks and birch trees swayed in brilliant yellows among the green. A river roared beneath the tiny vista.
“This is your place?”
He nodded. “Merced River.”
She ducked her head out the window as he parked. She couldn’t get over how immense the mountains looked.
“Kendall, get back in here.”
She sat on the window frame and nudged his shoulder with her sneakered foot. “Be quiet. I’m communing with nature here.”
He laughed.
She slid back inside and knelt beside him on the bench seat. “Did you just laugh?”
He shook his head solemnly. “Nope.”
She drilled a finger into his biceps. “I think you did.”
“Go commune with nature.”
She spun around on the seat and opened the door and hopped down. “I think I will.” She ran to the edge of the vista, and the water and expanse of field on the other side made her itch to explore.
“Like it?”
She turned around, then rushed forward to take a bag from his overburdened arms. “It’s gorgeous. That view is to die for.”
“Wait until you see the next one.”
“Really? It’s better than this?”
He looked up. “Clear skies. Yeah, it’ll be even better.” He dropped the sleeping bag, then released the ties and snapped it out.
The sun was well past its zenith, but it was still warm enough that she stripped out of one of her layers and threw her shirt at the corner of the sleeping bag, leaving just her skinny-strap tank top. She toed off her sneakers, kicking them onto the grass, stretched out on her stomach, and propped herself on her elbows. The super-cushioned and insulated material was almost better than her mattress. With the sun on her back and the view, could it get any better?
Shane unpacked their food and held up the huge deli pickle she’d bought. He lifted a brow and set it beside her sandwich. She grinned, but her attention slid back to the mountains. “I can’t get over that view.”
