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"Yes, it is." Erin chuckled.
Ryan helped load and secure the boxes down with a stretchy net, and they headed south in minutes. Once on the road, Ryan asked the burning question. "Erin, when's your birthday?"
"Why?" She frowned.
"Don't want to miss it. You know when mine is."
"That's for taxes, not anything else. Besides, you know the rules. No gifts for the boss." She shot him a raised brow look.
"We're not in the military anymore. Nice try, though." Ryan smirked at her.
"Fine." Erin's lips flattened. "September twenty-seventh."
"Thanks." He'd put it on his calendar later.
"Sure. But don't get me anything. Really."
"Okay." He’d find the perfect gift for her no matter how long it took.
Erin laughed. "Such a guy answer."
"Yeah. Guy here, in case you didn't notice."
"Oh, I noticed." She cleared her throat. "Was there anywhere else you needed to stop?"
Erin noticed him, huh? Maybe there was hope. "Don't think so." Or maybe it was a friendship thing.
"Okay." She kept her eyes on the road.
He really wanted to ask her some other questions, but she'd respected his reluctance to talk, so he couldn't ask without telling her more. And he really didn't want to talk to her about his problems.
"Did you find a pair of boots?"
He lifted one foot, but probably not enough that she could see it. "Yeah. I'm wearing them. On sale even, so I could get a nice sleeping pad too."
"Good. Makes a big difference out there." Her smile turned rueful. "Especially when you get older."
Ryan frowned. "You certainly aren't old enough for it to matter that much." Erin couldn't be that much older. Thirty-something, certainly not forty yet. Not that it mattered.
She chuckled. "You're so sweet. But so wrong."
"I don't think so." He scowled.
"Oh, trust me, you're wrong." She lifted her fingers off the wheel in a little waving motion.
Ryan frowned at her skeptically, and Erin chuckled again. Obviously, she wasn't going to tell him. It didn't matter; she could be eighty and he'd still be toast. He settled back into his seat and remembered he had questions about the backpacking trip.
"This will sound a little weird, I guess, but...what do you sleep in out in the backcountry?"
Her laugh rang in the truck's cab. "Why? Worried you'll have to see something you don't want to see?"
No, worried I won't. Ryan discarded half-a-dozen sexy innuendos. "No, I'm trying to figure out what to bring."
Erin snickered. "I usually bring super lightweight wool long underwear with me, just in case, and sleep in that. But since it's been really hot this summer, and we're not gaining much altitude, I'll probably bring a pair of running shorts and a tank top or something."
That would make sleeping right next to her easy—not. Ryan bit back his groan.
"I might bring a sleeping bag liner or a sheet. Our sleeping bags will be too warm, but it will be too cold to not have something over top."
