The Bad Boy's Baby (Hope Springs) (12 page)

Chapter Seventeen

With the weatherman promising lots of blue skies this weekend, Cam’s thoughts turned to the mountains. The last trip with Emma and Zoey had been the opposite of the experience he’d envisioned, but even though he hadn’t returned with a single fish to show for his efforts—thanks to Zoey’s love of throwing rocks—he’d had a blast.

Now he had another kind of trip in mind, more along the lines of a major hike to a lake farther up with an overnight stay, and he was wondering how likely it’d be to convince Emma to leave Zoey with Quinn and Heath so she could go with him.

Admittedly, the thought of it made him a bit nervous, but he also knew that Heath would be touring with his band soon—not to mention how busy they’d all be once Mountain Ridge officially opened—and if Cam didn’t take a chance on some alone time with Emma while he could, he’d regret it.

Quinn approached, waving a flyer in the air. “There’s this big sale, and they have a used four-wheeler. You and Heath mentioned it’d be nice to have one, but I’m starting to stress about how much money we’ve already sunk into the place. Then again, if we can get it cheaper now…”

Cam took the flyer. “Did you show it to Heath?”

“He left last night—Dixie Rush has that show in Casper, remember?”

Crap. He hadn’t remembered. “When will he be back?”

“Tomorrow night,” Quinn said. “The big tour’s not for another month.”

Cam glanced at the details of the four-wheeler, but it wasn’t sinking in. His thoughts were still too busy turning over his plan. “Hey, if I asked you and Heath to watch Zoey on Saturday, all the way through Sunday afternoon, how scared would you be?”

“Not scared at all,” Quinn said with a laugh. “I’m guessing you and Emma need a little alone time.” She nudged him with her elbow.

Cam shook his head. “I have a feeling you already know way too much about me and Emma.”

“Girls talk.”

“So, do you think she’d be interested in an overnight trip? And I’m not saying that anything has to happen. I’m just saying…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Never mind. Let’s pretend this conversation never happened.” He lifted the flyer and studied the many vehicles. “I think that we can wait. Did you balance that ledger thing?”

“No. Just because I’m the Asian one doesn’t mean that I’m going to do all the math.” She crossed her arms.

“I wasn’t saying—”

Quinn laughed and shoved his arm. “You’re too easy! I’m just busting your balls.” She took the flyer from him. “I’m working on it, but I got caught up organizing the kitchen and trying out recipes. Emma and I are about to have a meeting about rates and that kind of thing, though.”

She took a few steps away and then spun around. “And Cam?”

He braced himself for whatever his future sister-in-law was going to say, although with her, bracing did little good when it came to what popped out of her mouth.

“Yes, we’ll watch Zoey, and yes, I think Emma will be happy to take an overnight trip with you. In fact, I think you both could use a break from everything.”

Cam expelled a deep breath, excitement that the trip he’d envisioned with Emma might actually happen rising up and taking hold. “Thanks.”

“Yep. Can’t wait to hear
all
the sordid details,” Quinn said, then she laughed, and Cam shook his head, the little bit of relief he’d felt flying right out the window.

…

“How’s it working with Pete now?” Quinn asked Emma as they sat at the large table in the main room of the lodge for coffee and their meeting.

He’d had a work emergency in Salt Lake City, and then he’d called Mr. Strickland to say he had to deal with meetings and couldn’t make it back to Mountain Ridge for a few weeks. At first Emma had worried that he’d been avoiding her after she’d politely declined his date offer, regardless of his claim that he understood about her and Cam.

“Fine. He came in this morning and we just went on as usual. I’m the queen of awkward, too, so I’m pleasantly surprised that it hasn’t changed anything. Actually, he showed me pictures of a property his company had just acquired. They’re planning on renovating a ski resort in Park City, Utah, and he wanted to get my input on a few of the ideas he had for the place.”

She couldn’t help but beam at the compliment, but she knew Quinn would get it—after all, Quinn’s determination to change her career had landed her Mountain Ridge. And Heath, actually.

“Well, if I were him, I’d want your input, too,” Quinn said. “I never could’ve made it through this construction phase without you. And I can’t thank you enough for taking a look at our books.”

Quinn turned the laptop toward Emma. “I’m trying to see where I can cut down some overhead, but I also want us to have a reputation as the perfect place to escape. Not the place where there aren’t any amenities and we price gouge people.”

Emma pulled up a search window and typed in “Wyoming Resorts” so she could get a feel for what other places were doing before she gave her opinion.

An hour later, she and Quinn were still sorting through figures and debating the finer points of what all Mountain Ridge would offer guests.

“I really think you should cut lunch,” Emma said. “At least until you see how profitable breakfast and dinner are. Lunch is usually the meal where people will be out and about anyway, either in the mountains or checking out the town, and the cabins have the stoves and all the dishes and pans—people can make their own lunches. And look how much it’ll save you…”

Emma plugged the numbers into the Excel worksheet she had open, since Quinn didn’t have an adding machine—or QuickBooks for that matter, although Emma told her she would need both, no question. Then she hit enter and watched the cell for the grand total.

“Whoa,” Quinn said, pointing at the figure. “Seriously? We’ll cut that much?”

Emma nodded.

“Lunch is getting the ax, then.” Quinn leaned over and hugged her. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

A quick glance at the time and Emma realized why she was so hungry. “Speaking of lunch, I need food.”

“Oh, hold up one sec.” Quinn turned to her, but then her phone rang. “Sorry. It’s Patsy Higgins. So hold up a few more secs—I don’t dare let her go to voicemail.”

“I get it,” Emma said. But when the conversation looked like it’d take a while, Emma slipped outside to grab her lunch. The rest of the crew had obviously already eaten, and she didn’t see Cam, so she headed back inside.

The second Quinn hung up, she let loose a squeal. “Oh my gosh! I just got the best news! A pipe burst and it flooded the park!”

Emma drew her eyebrows together. “I never took you for someone who’d take joy in damaged parks.”

Quinn grimaced. “Yeah, that came out wrong. It’s super bad news in some ways—the town’s going to need to dig up the pipe and replace it, and despite Patsy Higgins’s best attempts to”—she made air quotes—“‘hasten the process,’ they won’t have it done in time for the picnic auction.”

Now Emma understood the excitement, because although she loved the park and the entertainment it provided for Zoey, she experienced a major thrill over the thought of not having to deal with making a basket. “Thank goodness. I was totally dreading that stupid auction.”

Quinn frowned. “No, that’s not the good part—the auction is still happening. But instead of the park, it’s happening here!” A grin spread across her face. “It’ll be a great opportunity to show off what we’ve done and get buzz going. It’s perfect.”

Emma’s happiness faded, and she groaned. Then she sat up straighter. “Wait. You’ll probably need my help making sure things run smoothly behind the scenes, which will make me way too busy to deal with bringing a basket, right?”

“Wrong. Do you honestly think I’d risk Patsy Higgins’s anger? I’m making a damn basket, you’re making one—hell, even Sadie’s taking one. Haven’t you heard? Until we officially tie the knot, like so many other people have done this past year, it’s up to us to shoulder this fund-raiser.”

“Oh, I heard.” Emma ran a hand through her hair and then slowly pushed away from the table. “I guess I’d better go get to work so that the property is perfect before the picnic.”

“Before you go, though, I do have some good news.”

Emma narrowed her eyes. “After your last declaration about good news, I no longer trust your definition of it.”

Quinn laughed. “Okay, I might deserve that. But you and Cam deserve a long weekend away. This morning he asked me if Heath and I would watch Zoey so you two could go on an overnight camping trip.” She waggled her eyebrows.

“That’s so nice, but having Zoey overnight is a lot different from a few hours. I’ve never left her overnight before, either.”

“I realize that. But we’re loving being Uncle Heath and Aunt Quinn, and getting to know Zoey better. Plus, if I really need it, Sadie and Caroline are down the road. Caroline, who not only raised Royce, but takes care of troubled teens at Second Chance Ranch. I have your grandma’s number, too. Between all of us, we can definitely handle watching her for a couple days. And more than that, I owe you for today, and for the picnic, not to mention you’re my friend. We can do it, I swear.” Quinn stood and grabbed Emma’s hand. “Just let us do this for you.”

The thought of leaving her daughter wasn’t easy, but alone time with Cam? The fact that he’d gone to the effort to make arrangements for an overnight camping trip sent hope tumbling through her. So she nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Quinn said. “Thank the guy who wants to take you camping.”

“Oh, I plan to,” Emma said, and then she felt heat settle into her cheeks. A hint of nervousness crept in as she thought about all that time with Cam. And a night alone in a tent. But she was tired of being scared, and she didn’t want to hold back anymore.

She wanted to explore this thing between them so she’d know if she could take it into account as she started making plans for the future.

Chapter Eighteen

Emma welcomed the burn in her legs and lungs, even though it made her feel completely out of shape. When they’d taken Zoey fishing, they’d driven most of the way and then made the short mile and a half hike to the reservoir. But Cam said he wanted to take her to Blue Lake, which she’d never been to before. It was higher and deeper into the mountain range, and you could only get there by foot. She’d always felt like she knew the hills fairly well, so adventuring to a spot she’d never been made a swirl of excitement go through her, and she used that anticipation to help her push past the tired muscles.

Well, that and Cam, because watching his powerful legs eat up the distance with ease was quite the sight, one she could fully get behind. He glanced back at her. “Sorry. Am I going too fast?”

“No. I’m…” Her lack of oxygen chose that moment to show itself, and a stitch lanced her side. She bent over, hands braced on her knees. “Okay, maybe a little too fast. I’m not in as good shape as I used to be.”

“Your shape looks just fine to me,” he said, flashing her a smile that was fairly perky for so early in the morning.

She studied his face, looking to see if he was simply being nice or if there was more. She worried that she wanted there to be more so badly that she might see it even if it wasn’t there.

After Quinn had convinced her to let them take care of Zoey overnight, her friend worried aloud that maybe Cam had wanted to surprise her and she’d gone and opened her big mouth and blown it. Honestly, Emma had needed the advance warning to calm her concerns over the idea of leaving her daughter overnight. But she promised she’d let Cam bring it up.

When he did ask her, though, he didn’t call it a getaway, or even a date. He’d said he needed to test out the harder trail for tours.

Still, he could’ve gone with his brother, and instead, he’d asked her. That had to mean something.

Cam extended a water bottle to her, and she unscrewed the lid and took a large drink. A couple more breaths and the cramp in her side eased up enough that she could straighten. “Okay. I’m good.”

“Let’s just sit for a while.”

“Really, I’m fi—”

“I know. But I need a break.” Cam grabbed her hand and tugged her over to a large log. They sat down on it, the sounds of birds and rustling leaves in the breeze the only thing filling the air. This was why she used to crave heading to the hills. Peace and quiet—something she didn’t experience much with a two-year-old.

Of course now she missed her two-year-old’s constant chatter, even as she was excited to have a minibreak. Worry rose up, too. She pulled out her phone, looking at the weak signal.

“I’ve got the satellite phone in case of emergency,” Cam said, patting his backpack. “But Heath and Quinn will take good care of Zoey. I bet she’s chasing Trigger around and getting into mud puddles as we speak.”

Emma laughed. “I’m sure she is. I can’t help but worry, though.”

“I know. I do, too. But I’m glad you’re doing this with me.” He patted her leg, and she tried to let the
with me
part reassure her. “It’s been a long time since I went this far into the hills, and I swear, the air, the water…everything’s different up here.”

Emma took a deep breath of the air. That she could agree with. She wished, just once, he’d let her see a bit more inside his head and what he was thinking, especially when it came to their relationship.

What if he still doesn’t completely trust me?
There was a difference between forgiveness and forgetting, after all. And if that were the case…you couldn’t have a relationship without trust. Not a solid one.

He’d also made it clear that he didn’t want to make plans, and she didn’t want to come across as pushy—she was sure that was about as desirable as boring.

But she told herself that it’d been a month and a half, and while he might not want to make plans, she couldn’t not make some—not with her current project wrapping up, and pressing decisions about the future getting closer by the day.

So once they’d had a rejuvenating day and had settled into camp for the night, she’d take some initiative and ask him where they stood. Maybe she’d even be so bold as to tell him that she cared about him, and she was glad they’d had this time to get to know each other—she could do that much, at least.

Maybe that made her serious and a planner type, but look where she was, and what she was doing. Did boring girls traipse into the woods looking for adventure?

No, they did not.

Cam stood and extended his hand. “Ready?”

She slapped her hand in his, and he pulled her to her feet. “Ready.”

Instead of turning to head up the trail like she thought he would do, he lowered his lips to hers. She wrapped her arms around him, getting blocked by his massive backpack for a moment before settling for holding onto the sides of his waist.

He still kissed her a little too carefully, so she decided to see what’d happen if she pushed it further, even as nervous butterflies swarmed her stomach, mixing in with the happy, twitterpated ones. She slid her tongue inside and rolled it over his, releasing the moan that she’d held back.

Apparently it set
something
off inside him, because he drove his fingers through her hair, cupped the back of her head, and deepened the kiss. His other arm came around her waist, and he molded her tightly to him as he stroked her tongue with his, kissing her long enough to make the world around them spin.

When they broke the kiss, she gripped his arms, needing a moment to steady herself.
Whoa. There were the fireworks I was hoping for.

Cam rested his forehead against hers. “You keep kissing me like that, woman, and I’ll be tempted to pitch the tent right here and forget the lake.”

She bit back a smile. “But how would you demonstrate your fishing skills? After last weekend, I’m still not sure you have any.”

His mouth dropped. “I had a two-year-old sabotaging my attempts.”

“Sure,” she said, laughing. “Blame it on the two-year-old, not the fact that you were using the wrong bait.”

“You think your bait is better than mine?”

She nodded.

“That’s it.” He kissed her hard on the mouth, then took her hand and started up the trail. “Once we get there, it’s on. Whoever catches more fish owes the other…” He glanced at her, his eyebrows ticking together. Then mischief flickered in his eyes, and she wondered if she’d bitten off more than she could chew. “A striptease.”

Emma could feel the heat rising to her face. “Trust me, you don’t want a striptease from me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said, his husky voice echoing through her and putting her hormones on high alert. “But if you’re too scared…”

This is the passion I wanted—now it’s time to grab it by the horns and own it.
“When
I
win, I expect dance moves with the stripping. Just so you know.”

He laughed, and they took off at a quick pace again, with her having to take two steps for every one of his strides. But now she had a new goal: she was going to catch as many fish as possible, because there was no way she was going to have to stand in front of Cam Brantley and do a striptease. Watching him strip, on the other hand…

She nearly tripped on the gnarled roots of a tree when she thought of all the muscles hiding under his clothes.

But once she recovered her balance, her goal remained the same: win at all costs and receive a show she was sure she’d never forget.

…

Cam was so used to long treks that he kept forgetting that Emma hadn’t spent the last several years marching here to march there to march somewhere else.

Besides, he needed to save his energy for fishing. Not that it took a lot of energy, but suddenly he had a whole lot of extra motivation to catch as many fish as he could. He’d been trying to honor Emma’s request to take things slow, but that kiss had made it hard to think about anything besides having her tight little body under his again.

His mind started replaying blips from their night all those years ago—Emma running her fingers across his torso until he’d been about to explode, her short skirt and dragging his hands up her thighs, crawling over her as he laid her down on the bench seat of his truck and kissed her neck. She’d made such sexy noises, too, and she’d been the one that’d reached for the button of his jeans.

Tree branches scraped his shoulders and cheek, and he wondered when he’d strayed toward the thick group of pine trees—his thoughts were making it hard to keep his concentration on the trail. He shook his head a bit, trying to clear it, because it wouldn’t do for them to end up lost. So he forced his gaze ahead, guiding Emma back to the barely there trail.

Blue Lake was one of his favorite places, one that seemed completely untouched by man, and while he missed his little girl, he was glad to finally have some alone time with Emma, without interruption and split attention.

All of his attention was definitely on her now, from the way she kept licking her lips to the color in her cheeks and the determined way she took on the steep trail. Truth was, he probably wouldn’t take many people up to this point. There were plenty of other lakes and valleys that’d work for the tours, and some places were sacred.

They took one more break and then made the final climb. When they crested the ridge, where you could look across the bowl-shaped indention with the lake at the bottom, Emma’s jaw literally dropped—he’d been studying her, wanting to see her reaction, and it didn’t disappoint. Her gaze moved to the waterfall on the other side of the ridge, white water spilling down into the crystal-blue basin that reflected the sky.

“It’s…I can’t believe I didn’t know about this spot.” A few strands had spilled out of her ponytail, and the wind toyed with them, swirling them around her face where the sunlight caught them and adding a glowing effect. “It’s beautiful.”

Cam almost let something horribly cheesy slip and said, “It is,” while staring straight at her. He could see she loved it up here, the way he did. She’d surprised him at every turn, and day in and day out, he found his thoughts constantly drifting to her. She was beautiful, too, an effortless kind of beautiful.

She turned the smile on him, and his heart caught—he experienced that familiar tug he often felt around her, only it went deeper this time, down to his very core. “Race you down?” she asked.

“Are you sure you want to lose twice today?”

Two creases formed between her eyebrows.

“The race, and then our bet about who can catch more fish.”

Her confusion morphed into a feisty expression that heated his veins. “Oh, it’s on, soldier.”

Before he could come up with a clever comeback, she was moving down the hill, so fast he worried she’d fall and injure herself, especially with the extra weight of her backpack.

He took off after her, and when it came to balance, she had the advantage. Finally they reached the bottom—he let her win by a couple of steps, because he already felt bad that she was going to lose the fishing bet. Not bad enough to take away the terms—because thoughts of naked Emma were rolling around his head on repeat, and he couldn’t wait for the real-life version—but enough he’d decided he would give her the race.

She reached into her pack, retrieved the pieces of her fishing pole, and started to assemble it. “In a few hours, we’re going to be hungry, and let’s face it, if we wait until nightfall, it’ll be a bit chilly for stripteases, so I say we go till noon.” She glanced at her watch, and he did the same. That gave them about four hours.

After eating breakfast at six thirty and then their ninety-minute hike, they’d probably be more than ready for lunch by then. Not to mention, fish usually bit better earlier anyway. “Deal. I guess you know this means you’re agreeing to strip in daylight.”

“Turn that guessing and what you know right back at yourself, buddy.”

Of all the things he’d expected for this trip, her competitive streak wasn’t one of them. Honestly, he’d hoped there might be more kissing and even a bit of nudity, but he’d planned on playing it by ear and seeing how the rest of their day together went. He knew Emma was more of a nature buff than the other girls he’d dated, but there was still a difference between a leisurely hike and backpacking into a remote location.

There was also a difference between casting a fishing pole and actually catching fish.

As she went to bait her hook, she glanced at him, then turned away, blocking him from seeing what she was using.

Like he was going to copy her—night crawlers were where it was at when it came to this lake, he knew that much. He didn’t bother hiding as he baited his hook, pushing the worm into place so that it covered every inch of silver.

They both cast, giving each other a couple of yards’ space, and then set their poles.

After a few minutes, Emma said, “So, tell me more about the tours. What all are they going to include?”

“There’ll be a few different options. Like a simple fishing trip to the Hope Springs Reservoir, or other lakes with trails that take about thirty minutes to an hour to hike to, like Rock Lake or No Name Lake—”

“Ah, No Name’s pretty. I used to go there a lot, especially during times I knew the reservoir would be crowded.”

He loved that she knew these hills so well and that he could talk to her about it without her zoning out. “Yeah, and for those who want to avoid crowds and are willing to take more intensive hikes and pack in their supplies so they can stay a night, or even a week, I’ll bring them places like here. Once hunting season starts, Heath and I will do some tours that are more tailored to the areas and the type of game.”

Talking it all out was actually helping him not feel so overwhelmed—there were a lot of things he, Heath, and Quinn still needed to iron out, but at least the tours were solidly planned. “But if you’ve got any suggestions, I’m definitely open to them.”

“That all sounds good. When it comes to families or people wanting shorter, easier hikes, I’d say give them a lot of time to just be at the destination. Remember, a lot of them won’t be used to hiking or the higher altitude…”