Page 42 of Roughing It

In the spirit of impish mischief and a smidge in the spirit of wanting to keep the upper hand, I say, “Ah, but you didn’t deny it’s a date.” When he stops walking, I crack up. God, I love teasing him.

Shaking his head, he catches up to me, his wide, warm hand guiding me to his Jeep. Now, I really am curious.

“Where are you taking me in your sweats, with a pic—” At his frown, I laugh and amend my words. “With snacks that we need the Jeep?”

He opens the door and stands, arms crossed and foot tapping, until I roll my eyes and climb in. It isn’t until we’re both buckled and the Jeep is creeping down something that in no way resembles a road does Hudson answer me.

“Hot spring.”

I squeal. Full on piglet style. “There are hot springs out here? Why am I just now learning this?”

“It isn’t something on the regular itinerary. But I thought…” It takes him a beat to find his words. “I thought it would be a relaxing place to talk.”

“You, Hudson Bear Brooks—the man who spent the last eight days speaking in monosyllabic grunts and, I’m pretty sure, a few growls—want to talk?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re off to a fantastic start.”

The steering wheel creaks beneath his grip. “Can we wait?”

“Till we get to the springs?”

A nod is my only answer.

“Are these healing waters going to grant you the ability to speak for more than thirty seconds?”

This earns me a sigh. “No. I’d rather wait till I can give you my full attention.”

Oh. Well. I don’t have an answer to that.

He glances at me. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

It’s twenty more minutes of driving down the mountain, filled with my singing and Hudson’s occasional muttering, before the Jeep stops in a small clearing.

He clicks the locks on the door, so I can’t get out.

“If you brought me all this way to kill me, jokes on you. You could have done it at the cabin and saved on gas.”

Judging by the thin line of his lips, my joke doesn’t land. “Which direction did we travel?”

“What?”

“If something happened to me, and you had to walk to the cabin right now, which direction would you go?”

“Um, up?”

“Up?”

I point back the way we came.

He sighs like I’ve greatly insulted him, then unlocks the Jeep. “We’ll work on it later. Let’s go.”

Making a very mature face at his back, I climb out. And once again, I’m blown away by the beauty surrounding me. To our right lies the first of a series of small pools rimmed in natural stone. The framing backdrop—dipping valleys thick with pines and aspens and rising cliffs carved in oranges, reds, and browns—is beyond amazing.

I scramble for my phone because as much as I want to hoard this moment, I know clickbait when I see it. Hudson only huffs twice while I take stills for a post. The hot springs are already working their magic. Wonder if I can convince him to let me get a shot of him shirtless. Hmm, better not press it.

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