Page 36 of Shared By the Mountain Men

“I’ve given it plenty of thought,” Noah said carefully. “I think through everything I do. But at some point, you have to stop thinking and actually live life.”

He stood up and stabbed a finger toward me.

“Maybe if you stopped overthinking things, you could pursue what you want in life.” The accusation hung in the air, and Noah’s tone softened. “Sam’s gone, Jackie. She’sbeengone. You seem like you want to move on, picking up strays and putting yourself out there emotionally, but then you get scared and put your walls up.”

“I’m not scared—”

Noah held up a hand to stop me. “You don’t need to convince me, Jackie. You need to convince yourself.”

He held my gaze a few seconds longer, then left the office.

Noah wasn’t a blunt person, so his comments rattled me.

And, deep down, I knew he was right.

18

Melissa

I wasn’t sure what I had expected from my date with Noah. As a bare minimum, it was an opportunity to get back out there and practice dating now that I was single again. Like hitting the batting cage before the real game. The stakes were low, which made it feel like the upside was also low.

Boy, was I wrong!

Once I was back at the cabin, I allowed myself to debrief on the past day. The date with Noah went amazing, and that wasbeforeI went home with him. Obviously, the sex was incredible. And then rather than it ending the next morning, the date was extended with a kayak trip. He took me upriver until we reached a secluded little beach, where he surprised me with a picnic from his cooler—sandwiches, lemonade, and homemade brownies that heclaimedhe baked himself, but were so good I was certain he’d bought them from a bakery in town. It was all so fun and refreshing that falling in the water at the very end couldn’t ruin my mood.

And the kiss he gave me when he dropped me off at my cabin? It made me wish we could extend the date even longer.

Too bad he was going to be in Ouray for the next two days.

The only part that was bumming me out? I was going to leave town within the next week. I probably wouldn’t see him again after that. Our fun little tryst had an expiration date.

Maybe that’s what made last night—and today—so much fun, though. The fact that neither of us were worried about where it would go, or what we both wanted long-term.

I was determined not to allow myself to overthink this, though. Noah was great, our date was great, and it was going to still be great when he got back from Ouray.

Now I just needed to figure out what to do with myself until he returned.

I took a shower, then hopped on Ash’s bike to go into town for an afternoon coffee. I didn’t see Jack by the office or around camp, which was kind of a relief. I still felt weird about him knowing I’d been on a date with Noah. I pictured him asking how it went, and maybe even grilling me about the details. Although now that I thought about it, he was usually sitting on the porch drinking late at night. He would have noticed that I didn’t come home last night.

Whatever. It didn’t matter. Despite giving me a free place to stay, Jack hadn’t been particularly friendly to me. I didn’t have to care about what he thought. My love life was my business.

I got a latte at one of the coffee shops I hadn’t visited yet, then sat inside since it was a little windy outside. It was a grungy place, hip and different, and I loved the vibe. There was a bulletin board on the wall covered with fliers for bands that were playing in town, none of which I recognized. One of them was next weekend; maybe I would check it out if my ankle wasn’t healed by then.

There was another flier that caught my eye:

VIA FERRATA - $49.99

217 MAIN STREET

CALL FOR INFORMATION

I wasn’t sure what via ferrata meant, but a quick Google search showed that it had to do with rock climbing. But not like the kind of rock climbing I knew about in Toledo, Ohio. This was climbing up an actual mountain.

I gulped down the rest of my latte and walked two blocks to the climbing office. A college-aged girl behind the counter brightened at my appearance.

“You’re just in time—we stop bookings for the day at three. Looking to do some climbing today?”

“Yes!” I said excitedly. “I’ve never done this before, though. Can you tell me how it works?”

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