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Hays instinctively cupped his hand more securely around Elizabeth’s waist and hip.
“I’m taken,” she said, staring up at Hays.
Hays’s heart took off.
“Apologies, Hays, Elizabeth.” Easton dipped his hat to them. “I was only joking.”
“No need to apologize,” Elizabeth said. “Hays is my bodyguard, not my intended.”
Hays’s heart seemed to wither in his chest. His grip on her softened, but even with her clarification he couldn’t let her go completely.
Easton looked from Hays to Elizabeth and only arched his eyebrows. “The lake and river are over yonder.” He pointed. “Would you like to see them?”
“You have a lake and river on your property?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yes, ma’am. Prettiest spot on earth.”
“Almost as pretty as Jacey and Cade’s valley,” Elizabeth returned.
“Hey now. We’re tops.”
She smiled at that. “I’m sure you are. I’d never seen anything so beautiful as Cade and Jacey’s home and valley … until I came here.”
Hays had seen something much more beautiful than Montana scenery—her. He bit back the knock-knock joke he wanted to say to her.
They walked with Easton to the north, and eventually the thickly-wooded trail opened up into a meadow. A fast-moving river cut through the forested mountainside and deposited into a wide, blue mountain lake, then the water exited the lake through a small dam, snaking the opposite direction of where they’d come from. It was breathtaking with the green mountain, blue lake, and rushing river, but Hays immediately had a security question. “Does the fence extend over the river?” He couldn’t see the fence as the river meandered away and the thick trees blocked the view.
“Yes.”
“But somebody could swim under the fence?”
“Not possible. Are you looking at the same river I’m looking at? Who could swim up that current?”
“I could.” He hadn’t seen the river on the camera angles last night. He should’ve studied them more thoroughly.
Easton’s eyes widened as Elizabeth nodded. “He is Superman.”
Hays’s heart slammed against his chest. He might be Superman, but he wanted to be her man.
“I’d like to see that,” Easton said. “But first, do you want to do the rope swing?”
A rope swing when they were in mortal peril and he needed to do a more thorough assessment of their property was a bit silly, but Hays was surprised when Elizabeth’s eyes lit up. “Is that similar to leaping off the cliff at Jacey’s last night?”
Hays didn’t have the heart to tell her that ‘cliff’ was more of a rock ledge. He’d leaped off cliffs sometimes close to a hundred feet high. “Did you enjoy the jump?”
“I did.” She blinked up at him. “Which is shocking, considering the stress level of that moment. Peter came at you and I was terrified he’d kill you and everyone else there. I didn’t know how to convince Jacey and Quaid that my father was evil and they should go into hiding. But you bested Peter.” She stared at him, and he felt like the king of the world. “I’ve never seen anyone best Peter.”
Hays tried for humble, but what could he say? “There’s some grit behind the pretty boy smile.”
That wasn’t humble at all, but he kept thinking of the ‘perfect’ Jarom. He could bet that preppy wuss would squeal, duck, and beg for mercy at one punch.
Her eyes trailed over him, and she murmured, “Obviously.” She glanced at Easton, who was patiently watching them and had thankfully remained silent. “Even amidst those intense moments, I felt carefree and happy when I jumped into the freezing lake, and I felt safe and exhilarated when …” She looked away. “When you came for me in the water.”
Hays’s blood swirled with tingly warmth. “Knock knock.”
“Who’s there?” She bit at her lip, as enticing as any woman in the world.
“Woo.”
