AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll try to keep it under five miles,” Ben said with a grin.
“Five miles total,” I said firmly. “None of this ‘as the crow flies’ bull.” I shifted my focus back to Robin. “He’s burned me before.”
“Burned you? You always have fun on the trail,” Ben said, sliding his arm over my shoulders.
His hand kneaded my shoulder and the tug to lean into him overtook me. I shrugged his hand off my shoulder. “I always have fun, but we’ve got spa reservations at two.”
“I’ve heard such good things about the spa here,” Robin tittered, pushing her eggs around the plate with her fork. “The couples’ massage is supposed to be really relaxing,”
I dug into my bagel. “It sounds great. What time is your appointment?”
“Eleven. Jared and I were going to explore the resort before our appointment. Let us know how the hike is. Maybe we could check out a trail before we leave.”
The look on Jared’s face made it clear he had no intention of hiking and I didn’t blame him. I’d much rather go back to the room and crawl back into bed. Or play on my phone in the hot tub. But more clothes and activity were probably a better choice, all things considered.
“Have a pleasant morning. Want to catch up in the bar before dinner? Say five?”
We nodded as Robin and Jared stood to leave. I wolfed down the eggs before pouring myself a cup of coffee while Ben pushed around the food on his plate.
“Not hungry?” I asked.
He pushed the plate away. “Not really. I don’t want to get too full before we go out. I should have just stuck to a bowl of granola, but it all looked so good. Do you think you can steal some pieces of fruit to take with us?”
I smiled. “Yeah. I think I can handle that.” I swiped two bananas and two blueberry muffins on our way out the door, tucking them into my backpack.
Ben let the front desk know we’d be taking a hike and giving them the trail information. I had no cell phone service and Ben only had SOS mode on his screen. While the weather report looked fine, the last thing we needed was to get stranded on the side of the mountain with no phone and no one the wiser.
“So, how much pain are you putting me through today?” I asked, tucking my hands into my sweater as we emerged from the hotel.
“Hardly any. It’s an out-and-back, just over three miles, with a lookout point.”
I squinted up at the overcast sky with a shrug. “I’m not sure we’ll see much.”
“It’s about the trip, not the destination,” Ben chided me gently, taking my hand and pulling me toward the tree line.
I followed him through the parking lot and to the trailhead, nicely marked with a sign explaining the trail markers.
“Wow,” I whistled under my breath. “Even the hikes are fancy up here, huh?”
“Only the fanciest hikes for the fine visitors to Mount Pierce.” He squeezed my hand, letting it go while he traced his finger over a path.
I pulled my hat over my ears, glad Ben thought to pack mittens. “Three miles one-way or round trip?”
“Round trip. You’re welcome.” His eyes gleamed mischievously. “You’re lucky we have that appointment at the spa. There’s a really fun ten-miler I was tempted to drag you on.”
I kicked a pine cone littering the path, watching it bounce down the path, but not arguing. He had a point. He could have made this a lot more unpleasant. Besides, the cool air and space had eased some of the tension in my chest leftover from the make-out session the night before.
As we wound around the mountain, my body warmed up and I pulled off my jacket, tying the arms around my waist. The hat and mittens quickly followed.
Ben stripped down to a tight black t-shirt and, rather than watching the trail, I had my eyes glued to him and the shirt sculpted to his back. How had I not noticed his broad shoulders before?
“And look at that view!”
I pulled my eyes away from his muscles and saw a wooden observation deck overlooking a valley wrapped in clouds. Ben bounded onto the deck while I took a moment more to admire the view of his back.
I joined him on the deck. “Gorgeous,” I laughed. “Worth the trip.”
Through the fog, I could barely make out the shore of the lake below, only catching sight of a smattering of trees and some green.
