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Swallowing hard, I force down two more graham crackers, close up my pack, and walk. The trail takes me uphill for another mile before I cross onto the other trail and start heading down.
My quads are aching by the time I'm in sight of home a good two hours later, and I regret not asking Grant for a lift. Yesterday, when I'd planned this booty call, I'd been in the mood for a good long hike and some time alone in the woods.
Now, though, I just want to have a warm shower and curl up on the couch with Honey to discuss our plans for the sanctuary farm with Skidmark cuddled close.
On the way to the house, I stop in to see Mari. She greets me with a friendly moo and I go right into her stall and wrap my arms around her big neck. She rests her head on my back and I feel enveloped, safe and warm and loved.
"Why aren't you outside, munching on grass?"
Honey and I agreed to cut back on Mari's feed this morning to see if it will convince her to get outside. Obviously, that hasn't worked. One arm over Mari's body, I walk her out of the stall.
Or I try to. She won't budge. I don't understand what she's so afraid of, but it's not my place to understand, I suppose.
I give her the rest of her breakfast, kiss her furry cheek, and head to the house.
Since it's almost lunchtime and I have no idea who might be home, I go around to the front, hoping to sneak in without having to make conversation until I've showered the sweat and sex smell off me.
On my front porch sits Grant Holiday, clean and dressed in his uniform. I, on the other hand, am dirty and sweaty and, even though I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, I'm sure baby curls are sticking out all over my head.
"Shouldn't you be at work?" I ask from the walkway, a good ten feet from Grant.
"I am working. I'm making sure a woman who was on the trails alone has returned home safely."
I cross my arms over my chest and consider running away, but he'd probably just follow me. "That's definitely not part of your job description. Why are you really here?"
He stands and crosses the walkway until he's right in front of me. He smells clean, like soap and shampoo, and I definitely don't smell anything but foul.
I stand my ground, though. Maybe I can stink him away from me.
"What are you really mad about, Dani? I wasn't there when you woke up, but I was never far."
Worse than having him think I'm a helpless woman who can't hike alone is him thinking I'd be so petty as to ignore him because I woke up alone. "I saw an email notification on your phone about a background check. A background check to look into me."
He doesn't look surprised, and he doesn't look remorseful. His expression hardens, and he crosses his arms over his chest. "You were snooping on my phone?"
"Your phone woke me up when it buzzed with a notification. I thought it was mine. When I grabbed it, I saw the subject line. Nice to know you think I'm the type of person who'd snoop through your phone, though." I start to walk around him to go into the house, but think better of it. "I'm surprised you're even here. Didn't you find enough reasons to be done with me in the background check?"
He drops his arms, but his expression doesn't harden. "I requested that background check from a friend on the police force when you started working for Lazarus. I requested it to protect my brother, since he has no sense about protecting himself."
"And what did you find out? That I'm a college dropout? That I have a horrible credit score? That I'm not good enough or righteous enough to date the scion of goodness, Grant Holiday?" I need to hear him say it. I need to hear him say we're over before I lose my resolve and ask him why I'm not good enough. Why he won't give me another chance.
I refuse to be pathetic in front of this man.
His expression softens. "You're the one I had to beg to date me. If anyone's guilty of snobbery, it's you."
"Fine." I stomp my foot on the bricks. "Blame it on me if you have to. I'll go along. No one will have a hard time believing you'd dump the troublesome Weston daughter."
"Maybe I like troublesome." He steps into my space and I step back.
I need to run. But I'm frozen in place by the hunger in his eyes. How dare he trap me in a lust gaze?
"I never looked at the background check, Dani. I never intended to look at it, even before you and I…" He smirks. "Got to know each other better. I'm not the kind of guy who goes around behind my friends' backs like that."
I don't soften. I'm even more annoyed. Couldn't the guy have a single flaw? Well, a flaw beyond his ridiculous adherence to rules. "You didn't look at the background check?"
"No. Are there any other secrets about yourself you want to reveal?"
So many. But I get the sense he's about to kiss me, so I stuff them down. I can give him a reason to walk away as soon as I get one more kiss. "Nope."
