Page 49
She cracked the lid and her mouth watered at the sight of a row of perfect chocolate-covered strawberries.
He threw himself on his back and slung his arm across his eyes with a low groan of defeat.
She closed the lid and crawled over to him, drinking in his rugged good looks, and the memory of what he’d done to her last night stirred her entire body.
“Someone is trying very hard,” she teased him.
“I’ll show you hard.” He ripped his arm off his eyes and yanked her down on top of him.
A puff of air left her when she struck his body, and they froze, gazing into each other’s eyes.
Then she leaned down very slowly and claimed his lips. The soft caress flooded her with emotion. Suddenly she didn’t care that she was a hunted woman under Wyatt’s protection.
Right now, she was a woman who was falling for a man who’d been her rescuer and become her friend. But he was so…much…more.
The kiss ended with a happy sigh, and they smiled at each other. After two long heartbeats, she rolled off him and sat up. He stretched out his long legs in front of him and passed her a sandwich.
She opened the wrapper and let out a squeal. “Steak!”
He watched her bite into it, the glow in his eyes unmistakable. And when she dipped her gaze over the rest of his body, she saw an unmistakable bulge in the front of his jeans.
He followed her gaze, eyelids drooping as he caught her eye again.
In a charged silence, they began to eat. As the sky deepened from orange to purple-pink, they fell into easy conversation. As she listened to him talk about his time as a forest ranger, she marveled that she’d seen dozens of sunsets up on that mountain but she’d only registered them as another day that ended.
He crumpled his sandwich wrapper and dropped it into the basket. “What are you thinking?”
“I was thinking that sunsets are one of the things I miss least about the mountain. Watching the sun go down just meant I had less daylight to find water before dark. I never let myself actually enjoy them.”
“You’re allowed to enjoy them now.”
“Working on it.” She polished off her sandwich too and reached for the chocolate-covered strawberries.
She handed one to him, and he took it with a loaded look before biting into it.
She issued a husky laugh and nibbled hers too, absorbed with watching him study the horizon.
“It’s said that Wyoming has some of the best sunsets in the country. National parks especially. I practically grew up with them in my back yard.”
“Did you ever take a date to any?” Chocolatey-good sweetness flooded her mouth and she bit back a moan of delight at the treat he’d been so thoughtful—and romantic—to bring.
“Never had anyone important enough to share it with, I guess.” He glanced at her sideways. “I told you it’s my dream to visit them all.” He paused and his tone held a careful note. “Any chance you’d want to come along? Not to all of them at once. Just…maybe start with the ones close by.”
Her heart performed another heated flip at the invitation. At the future he casually folded into it.
It was so easy to picture a road trip with the man beside her, of hiking to vistas to watch sunsets and have picnics…and more.
“Would there be a lot of hiking involved?”
He shrugged. “Always hiking in a park. Why?”
“I think hiking’s got to be a lot like childbirth.”
His brow shot up. “Miserable? Painful? Sweaty?”
“No.” She laughed and plucked another berry from the box. “I mean people forget how hard it was the second it’s over. You’re standing at the top of some overlook, legs shaking, completely destroyed, and all you think about is when can I do this again? All you remember later is the view. The beautiful parts. Not the blisters.”
“That’s a very nurse way of describing hiking and childbirth.”
