Page 21 of Love By a Landslide

Don’t be silly.

Pulse quickening, Lucy started to feel a little warm at her core. She unzipped the new fuchsia Columbia jacket she’d picked out for the trip. That thing locked in the heat like a furnace. Pair that with her heightened libido and she’d be a baked potato by the time they reached the summit. Her lungs tightened, and her blood felt thick, as though her heart was struggling to pump it adequately through her veins. What was her problem? His ass wasn’t that great. Still not looking away, she redoubled her inspection efforts.

“Ok, itisthat great,” she mumbled, conceding to herself that Jonathan likely possessed the most bitable derrière she’d ever walked behind.

“Did you say something?” Jonathan called over his shoulder.

“What?” Lucy wheezed. “Oh, no, I was just talking to myself.” She labored to pull in a gulp of oxygen. “I was just . . . saying . . . that this place . . . is great.”

Christ.

Her cheeks were warm again, and they probably beamed scarlet shame. She might as well pin a red P on her chest for perve-who-can’t-quit-gawking-at-her-guide’s-butt.

The butt-owner in question turned around, each thumb looped through a backpack strap. “I get it. It’s such a beautiful—are you ok?”

“What do . . .” Gasping. “. . . you mean?” With another gasp for good measure, Lucy tried to slow her breath and regain an air of casual nonchalance. However, it looked like she’d have to settle for an air of trying not to drop to theground.

“You’re having a hard time catching your breath. The last half mile was a decent hill, but it’s nothing compared to the coming switchbacks or the scramble up to the summit. There’s no shame in calling it quits now,” Jonathan said, breathing steadily as though he’d been strolling down a boardwalk at the beach. “This is a challenging trail, and we’ve only just started.”

Hill? What hill?

Lucy swung her head around and sure enough, they’d been climbing for a decent stretch. Realization dawned.So, it wasn’t his ass making me go all sweaty.Ok, maybe it was partially his butt’s fault. It had distracted her, after all.

“No.” Lucy dragged air into her lungs. “. . . thanks . . . I . . . didn’t come . . . all this way . . . to . . . turn back . . . now.” Remembering the water she carried, she reached for the hydration pack bite valve at her shoulder and drank ravenously. After a moment, she added, “I just need to get acclimated . . . to the higher elevation and weight . . . of my pack, is all.” Leaning over, she planted her hands on her knees. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed the incline. They’d been moseying along on the nice flat trail, then she’d gotten distracted by Jonathan’s backside, and she’d thought he was giving her a heart attack.

“Well, this is a good spot for a quick break anyways. There’s a nice view from this offshoot trail.” Motioning to his right, Jonathan paused a second before moving to the little opening in the brush.

She nodded in agreement and followed him. He was trying to coddle her, but honestly, she didn’t give a damn. Breathing ranked higher than pride at the moment.

The offshoot was only twenty yards long and opened up to a little clearing fit for two, maybe three people. Jonathan snatched up Lucy’s pack as she set it down. He opened it and riffled through, pulling out a few of the heavier items to add to his ownpack. He cinched their packs closed and handed hers back.

“I took about ten pounds out of there, so that should help you out a bit.”

Lucy wanted to protest. She wanted to go on a rant about how she didn’t need a man to carry her stuff. She was strong. She was independent. She was a grown-ass woman. But she was also exhausted already, and they had barely made a dent in the hike. “Thank you,” was all she said.

“No problem. I am here to help,” Jonathan said with a nod as he clipped his straps back into place and took a swig from a water bottle. “Isn’t that what you paid for?”

“I didn’t realize pack mule services came with the hike,” Lucy chuckled, giving him another gentle jab on his sturdy upper arm.

“Well, seeing as how you paid for two people and there’s only one of you, I figured it was only fair to up the value of the package,” he parried back . . . playfully?

“How kind. And thanks for taking a break. I feel much better.” Lucy pulled on her considerably lighter pack and grinned. Ten pounds made a significant difference. Not that she was going to be galloping up the switchbacks, but she wasn’t quite as aggressively weighed down either. “Onward and upward.”

They made their way back to the main trail.

“So how far away is the camp again?” Lucy asked. He’d gone over some of the details in the car, but the mileage was slipping her mind. Maybe she was having amnesia brought on by exhaustion. That was a thing, right?

“The trail is seven miles from trailhead to the peak, then we hike back down two miles to the rustic campsite, so about nine miles total today,” he stated.

“And how many miles have we done so far?” Lucy really had no idea; she was so out of practice and was so wrapped up in taking things one step at a time that she’d lost all sense of distance.

“Maybe a mile. Mile and a half if I’m being generous.”

Lucy stopped in her tracks and glowered. “Are you messing with me?”

“Nope.” Jonathan sighed, stopping to turn and face her. “We have a long way to go.”

“That’s for damn sure,” she mumbled.

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