Taken With You (15 page)

Bundled into a fleece pullover, hat and gloves to ward off the early morning chill, she stood at her counter and drank coffee until she heard Matt’s truck start. Then, because the idea of hanging her naked ass over a log to pee was nothing short of ludicrous, she went to the bathroom again.

He was just pulling up to the curb in front when Hailey walked out of her house. She wiggled the handle to make sure the door was locked, and then walked toward Matt’s truck. She liked that he got out and walked around to open her door for her. And he’d either cleaned his truck last night or he was the neatest guy she’d ever ridden shotgun with. There was more tech equipment than she’d seen in other trucks, but not so much as a gas receipt in the console.

“No travel mug?” he asked once he was in the driver’s seat.

“I figure there’s a good chance there’s no indoor plumbing where we’re going.”

“And yet you’re here anyway.”

“I said I would.”

He grinned and put the truck in gear. “It’ll be worth it. I promise. Well, as long as we don’t get stood up.”

“Whoa. Stood up? I’m willing to put up with
you
at freaking dark o’clock, but this isn’t exactly social hour for me.”

“Trust me.”

It was a good thing she did trust him because it wasn’t long before he’d steered down a network of dirt back roads she’d never find her way out of alone. But when he pulled over in what was little more than a wide spot in a glorified cow path, she gave him a skeptical look.

“We have to go the rest of the way on foot,” he said.

“It’s still pretty dark out there. I mean, I’m not afraid of the dark or anything, but I think we know I’m not exactly at my best in the wilderness.”

“This is hardly the wilderness.”

He didn’t laugh at her, but she could hear the amusement in his voice and it got her back up a little. Maybe she wasn’t going to win a Miss Rugged Outdoors pageant any time soon, but she wasn’t some hothouse flower, either.

She was already out by the time he walked around the truck, and she plastered what she hoped was an optimistic smile on her face. It was early, though, so she couldn’t be sure.

He had a backpack slung over his arm and, after locking the truck, he held out his other hand. “Ready?”

She slid her hand into his, thankful the glove would act as a buffer between her skin and his. It was one thing to acknowledge to herself they had sexual chemistry, but holding hands seemed so...intimate. Romantic.

“How come you didn’t bring Bear? It seems like a walk in the woods would be right up his alley, no matter what ungodly hour it is.”

“He’s a great dog—probably the best I’ll ever be blessed with—but he’s still a dog. You’ll see.”

It was eerie, walking through the woods while it was still too dark to see into the trees around them, but Matt’s fingers laced through hers gave her comfort. He walked the barely there path with confidence, occasionally pulling on her hand to guide her around a hole or rock, or warn her of an exposed root.

But when the path came to a dead end at a rock face, she decided she’d let him steer the ship long enough.

“Nice walk, but I guess you took a wrong turn somewhere. If we head back now, we can call dibs on the first pot of coffee at the diner.”

He pointed up toward the top. “I didn’t take a wrong turn. Up you go.”

“I draw the line at scaling cliff faces before breakfast.”

Raising his arm over his head, Matt set the backpack on top of the rock. “Cliff face? Really?”

“Fine. A very small cliff.”

“Put your foot there.” He pointed to a crack in the boulder. “Grab the lip of the rock and then swing your leg up and over.”

“Maybe it’s not Mt. Katahdin, but I’m not as tall as you.”

“I’ll give you a boost if you need one.”

Hailey put her hands on her hips. “Did you drag me out here at the butt crack of dawn just to get your hands on my ass?”

The innocent wide-eyed look was ruined by the tilting corners of his mouth. “Pretty drastic measures, don’t you think?”

A little, since they both knew if he put his hands on her ass on any given day, she wouldn’t push him away. Not hard, anyway. “You go first.”

“No, ma’am. Trust me, you’d rather have me give you a boost from below than drag you up over the edge by your wrists.”

“There’s no way around it?”

“No, and daylight’s coming.”

With a melodramatic sigh, Hailey lifted her leg to shove the toe of her sneaker into the crack. After a couple of big hops, she was able to grab the edge of the boulder, and then she tried to figure out how to get her other leg up there.

She’d never been so self-conscious about her ass in all her life. It was right there, just waiting for Matt to give it a boost, and she had no doubt he was checking it out.

“Need that boost now?”

“No.” She stretched her leg out and up, trying to catch her heel on the rock. What she was going to do then, she had no idea, but she hoped she’d figure it out.

“How about now?”

She had no choice. “Fine.”

To her surprise, he didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to grab her butt. Instead, he put his hands at her waist and lifted. A panicked scramble that almost included an accidental kick to his head later, Hailey was on top of the boulder. After an embarrassingly few seconds, Matt joined her without even breaking a sweat.

Hailey handed him his backpack, but her attention was on the view in front of her. In the dim, early light, she could make out a marshy pond surrounded by tall grasses and scrubby trees.

“Move over a sec.”

She shifted to the edge of the rock and watched Matt pull a thick fleece blanket from his bag. He spread it over the rock, then patted it. Once she was comfortable, he pulled out a Thermos and poured coffee into the steel cup.

She took a sip and almost moaned. There were gallons of coffee in her near future. Just as soon as she was someplace with a bathroom.

“Look,” Matt whispered, pointing off into the distance.

She tried to focus on where his finger was pointing and, when she saw them, she let out a hushed gasp. A moose wandered to the edge of the water and lowered her head to drink. Behind her, two lanky calves wandered, plucking at the brush.

“Are they twins?” She kept her voice low so she wouldn’t spook them.

“Yeah. There are a lot of twins this year. That means food is plentiful and the overall health of the herd is good.”

Hailey watched the mother and her babies, awed by how strangely beautiful they were. They were goofy looking animals, but here in the early morning light, they looked almost majestic.

She’d seen moose before, of course. Their part of the state boasted a dense moose population and attracted tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of one. She’d dodged a few over the course of her driving years, and sometimes one would stand in a clearing, causing cars to line the sides of the roads so families could take pictures.

But she’d never been moved by them before. Here in their world, they felt safe and secure, and looked totally at ease. They didn’t rush, but lingered for a long time, foraging and drinking.

Without thinking, she slid her hand into Matt’s and squeezed. “I never thought I’d say this, but they’re beautiful.”

“They are.” He squeezed back. “It’s already getting warm, so they’ll head back into the woods soon. And the bugs will be looking for breakfast.”

“Just a few more minutes,” she whispered.

Maybe walking through the woods to a remote marsh would have landed somewhere in the bottom two percent of dates she’d like to go on, but she wasn’t ready for it to be over yet.

* * *

M
ATT
SIPPED
THE
coffee Hailey had handed back to him, watching the cow and her twins forage. He’d been out here a few times over the last couple of weeks and he was thankful mama moose hadn’t chosen today to change their routine.

He’d banked on Hailey not laughing at him outright when he brought her to the rock or, even worse, storming back to the truck, but he was pleasantly surprised by her willingness to sit quietly and watch the small family roam. Sitting on the fleece-covered rock and holding her hand was one of the best mornings he’d had in a long time.

“I think they’re leaving,” she whispered.

“They’re going to go back into the woods a bit, though they won’t actually go too far, I don’t imagine. This is a sweet spot.” He offered her more coffee and, when she shook her head, he screwed the cup back on the Thermos and tucked it in the bag.

“I’ll get down first,” he told her. Not that he thought she’d jump, but he didn’t want to take any chances with her.

Once he was back on the ground, she turned and sat with her legs dangling over the edge. She looked down at the ground and then back at him. “This might hurt.”

“I’m not going to let you fall.”

Reaching up as high as he could, he urged her to move forward until he caught her around the waist. With her hands on his shoulders, he had to take a step back to brace himself, but he could take her weight.

He lowered her slowly, so her body slid down his until they were eye to eye. “I told you I wouldn’t let you fall.”

When some of the strain lifted, he knew her feet were on the ground, but she stayed on her tiptoes with her hands still on his shoulders. “If I thought you would, I’d still be sitting up there, trying to figure out how to get down.”

His fingers tightened on her waist, and he could tell by the way she looked into his eyes that she knew he was going to kiss her. He paused, his mouth not an inch from her lips, to see if she’d pull back.

She didn’t, so he closed the space between them. Her lips were soft and he kissed her tentatively, testing her reaction. When her hands slid from his shoulders to the back of his neck, holding him to her, he deepened the kiss. Their breath mingled as he caught her bottom lip between his teeth for a second, and then he slid his tongue over hers.

He sucked in a breath when she turned the tables, nipping at his lip while her fingernails bit into his neck. He wanted to back her against the boulder, her legs wrapped around his waist, or lay her down on the mossy forest floor, but he restrained himself. He savored the feel of her mouth against his and her hands on his body.

Before his self-control totally left him, he broke off the kiss. His hands slid up her back and he smiled at her slightly dazed expression. He probably looked about the same because it had been some kiss.

“This is the best date I’ve ever been on at four-thirty in the morning,” she said, the corners of her mouth quirking upward.

“Me, too.” He pulled the blanket off the rock and shoved it back into the backpack. After slinging it over his arm, he took her hand and they walked slowly back to the truck.

Once they were in, he started the engine, but the last thing he wanted to do was take her home. “Want to go get some breakfast?”

“When you say
get
instead of
have,
do you mean somewhere other than your kitchen?”

“We may not get dibs on the first pot, but the diner does a good breakfast.”

“Oh.” She hesitated, avoiding eye contact as if she had something to say he wouldn’t like hearing.

He put the truck in gear. “Hey, if you don’t want to go to breakfast in public with Jeremiah Johnson, just say so.”

“I’m sorry about that.” Her grin disarmed him. “You have to admit you were looking pretty rough that day.”

“I’d been working my way through the storage shed that everybody in the family throws stuff into, but never takes back out. It was pretty gross, I admit. Now, you admit why you don’t want to have breakfast with me.”

“You’ve only lived here a couple of weeks, so you might not get how the town works yet. If you and I go to the diner for breakfast together, we’ll instantly be a couple.”

Even though he tried to keep the defensiveness stamped down, her words hit a nerve. “So you don’t want people to know we were on a date?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” She gave him a look that clearly broadcast her opinion he was being an idiot. “You’re going out of your way to be offended by things I’m not actually saying. Stop it.”

Maybe she was right. It took a few tight turns to get the truck facing the right direction and he drove slowly back to the main road. “Okay. Assuming I’m okay with the good people of Whitford jumping to conclusions, would you like to have breakfast at the diner with me?”

“I’d love to have breakfast with you.”

* * *

O
F
COURSE
THE
Trailside Diner had to be busy when Hailey and Matt walked in. It was probably her imagination, but it sure seemed like everybody paused for a fraction of a second, noting the fact they’d come in together early in the morning.

She’d be getting a few phone calls later in the day, and it wouldn’t surprise her at all if Tori ended up at the library.

“There’s a booth over there,” Matt said, pointing toward the back corner. His hand rested at the small of her back and she saw that people were noticing the gesture.

But if he didn’t care, neither would she. She went to the booth and slid onto one bench while he sat across from her. Liz acted the professional when she brought menus and the coffeepot, but she managed to give Hailey a
what is going on
look when Matt wasn’t looking. Hailey ignored it.

She went for a couple of scrambled eggs and toast, but she wasn’t surprised when Matt ordered the steak and eggs. They fixed their coffees, then chatted about the moose for a while. He was not only knowledgeable about them, but she could hear affection in his voice, which made her smile.

Forcing herself to remain oblivious to the sideways glances and whispers happening around her, she focused only on Matt. And Matt’s mouth. The memory of the kiss in the woods was almost as sweet as the kiss itself, and she savored it. His mouth had been gentle at first, but it wasn’t long before he was taking her breath away.

Thankfully it hadn’t gone any further than that. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if he hadn’t ended it when he did. Sex in the great outdoors had never been on her list of things she ever wanted to do, but at that moment she might have considered it.