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She grinned up at him. “I hope you didn’t cook it.”
“I’m going to leave Luke in the woods. I swear,” he grumbled.
“I wonder what other secrets Luke knows about you. I think I’ll buddy up with him today.”
Dakota grabbed her hand and tugged her closer. “Oh no you don’t. You’remybuddy on this trip.” Giving her hand a little squeeze, he turned toward the kids again. “Right this way, trolls.”
He marched out into the hallway, still holding on to Leah’s hand. Stopping for a moment to throw himself against Heidi’s door and disrupt her class, he gave Heidi a wave through the small window—as Heidi gave Leah a thumbs-up. He then led the students out of the school and around to the back of the building where a path wound its way into the woods.
“We’ll start here, but keep an eye out for any traces of unicorns. First troll to find one gets a prize.”
Excitement fluttered amongst the students and they started into the woods, chatting and laughing and generally having a great time only five minutes into the trip.
“What’s the prize?” Leah asked.
He nudged her onto the path. “Locate the unicorn and find out.”
****
Dakota was having an absolute blast on this trip. The colors had intensified in the trees during this first week in October, turning everything fiery as the sunlight filtered into the woods. The air was autumn fresh and a beautiful woman walked by his side.
Of course he’d orchestrated it so a beautiful woman walked by his side, but at thirty minutes into the trip, Leah didn’t appear to be angry with him over what he’d done. He’d actually been a little nervous when he’d entered the school and signed in at the front office. He’d wanted to get a gauge of Leah’s reaction to the trip announcement from Principal Myers, but she was in a meeting. He’d also considered stopping in Heidi’s room first to investigate, but then made the decision to man up and dive in headfirst.
The moment he’d seen Leah inside her classroom, looking goddamn adorable in her outdoorsy wear—and purple hiking boots—he knew even if she was mad at him, he’d done the right thing with this trip. He wasn’t overly fond of the inexplicable desire to be in her company, but he’d attempted to get her out of his system. He’d even gone so far as to purposely avoid running into her before the trip. He half-figured she’d contact him after the principal’s announcement, enraged by his game. When she hadn’t, he didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried.
Looking at her now as she hiked beside him, gently reminding students to stay together and be careful, he knew he didn’t have to worry. The smile on her face and the light in her eyes told him she’d forgiven him and was up for having a good time today.
“See,” he said. “Isn’t being out here better than being stuck indoors?”
She turned her head to look up at him. He loved that she was so petite next to his 6’3” height. It made him want to scoop her up and carry her off to somewhere private—to somewhere a bunch of fourth graders weren’t ready witnesses. They definitely shouldn’t see what he wanted to do to Leah.
“Confession time, okay?” She shifted her weight from one leg to the other then squinted up at him.
He nodded, curious about what she might have to confess.
“I actually love the outdoors. In fact, I chose to move to Maplehaven because of how gorgeous the landscape is here. It has it all. Mountain views, waterfront, woods… I mean, how could a person possibly live here and stay indoors?”
Dakota opened his mouth in shock. “You lied.”
“I did.” She let out a little laugh, light and airy. “But I didn’t realize I was dealing with Captain Persistence here.” She motioned to him with her hand.
“Oh, is it that awful being in these breathtaking woods with me?”
She shook her head, her ponytail swishing along her back. One of the students had volunteered to carry her backpack after Dakota handed his over to Luke for making the cooking comment.
“You’re the one taking a financial cut today,” she said. “I’m still getting paid to be here.”
“So if I offer to pay you, will you go on a date with me?” He surprised himself by using the worddate. Up until this point, he’d only been asking for an adventure outdoors with her. After today, however, she would have been on an adventure with him. He had to change up his offer and making it a date seemed like a logical request.
“Hmm… not sure you can afford me.” She gave him a grin and jogged ahead to a group of students huddled over something on the ground.
Not an official no. Not an official yes either. Why was she making him struggle so?
He caught up to the group of students and looked down at the hoof-shaped indentations in the dirt. “What have you found, guys?”
“Tracks,” Luke said, setting Dakota’s heavy pack down and unzipping it. “Do you have that guide book in here?” He plunged his arms into the pack and rummaged around.
“Luke, you shouldn’t be going through Mr. Brenton’s things,” Leah said.
