Page 36 of Baked

The more time he spent with Rachel, the more she surprised him. Yes, she was full of sass and fire, as he’d always suspected, but she was also sweet and kind and affectionate. She never missed an opportunity to touch him, hold his hand, or snuggle into his side.

He’d never had this before. Not one of his relationships was comparable to what Rachel was giving him, and he never knew how much he needed it until he had it. Patience and acceptance.

“Baby”—his hand went to his thigh and covered hers—“have you not worked it out yet? I’ll do anything for you. You want something? All you have to do is ask, and it’s yours.”

And that’s how he found himself being covered in kisses. As Rachel moved her mouth over every bit of exposed skin, his hand squeezed the steering wheel and his foot hit the accelerator. There was only so long he would be able to concentrate on the road.

***

“My one is pretendingto be dead ... what does that mean?”

Hunter burst out laughing as he got a look at Rachel’s llama. It was indeed pretending to be dead and had strewn himself across the dirt and shut his eyes. She gently tugged the rope attached to him, but nothing.

Rachel was giggling too now. “Seriously? You’re not fooling anyone, buddy.”

Their laughs must have alerted the trail leader, Mike, because moments later he was taking the rope off Rachel and giving the llama his own talking to. While he was doing that, his honeybun sidled up next to him and tucked herself under his arm as she wrapped her tiny hand around his waist.

Damn, that feels good.

“This is fun,” she whispered, her gaze still locked onto the stubborn llama.

The truth was,shemade it fun. They’d been hiking for an hour now, and Hunter couldn’t remember a single instance in his life where he’d smiled more. His cheeks were actually aching from all the stretching his mouth was doing.

Dropping a kiss onto the top of her head, he pulled her even closer. “I’ll remember you said that when it comes time to use the bathroom.”

“Well, lucky for you, Mike promised me a restroom at the next stop.”

His grin grew wider, and more giggles escaped his little fairy as they watched the man in question grapple with the stubborn animal.

It was a good ten minutes before they were back on the trail, but Hunter didn’t care. After all, with Rachel in his arms, it was ten minutes well spent.

As they continued over the grassy terrain, he may or may not have been too busy staring at Rachel’s ass to notice what they’d walked into. A small gasp was what alerted him. When his gaze finally drifted back up, Hunter was greeted with the sight of wildflowers. Miles of them. Rich red, blue, yellow, and purple painting the fields.

Wow.

He had to admit, he did well with this date.

Rachel seemed to think so too. Llama rope dropped, she was striding toward him, brilliant blue eyes gleaming. The next thing he knew, she was jumping into his arms. Lucky for both of them, his reflexes kicked in, and he was quick to wrap her safely into his chest as she continued to climb him.

“Honeybun?” Was this normal?

“This is the best date ever!” Her dainty nose nudged his as she let her eyelids droop. “Thank you, Hunter. I needed this.”

So much thanks for so little. He didn’t know if he deserved this. But he was taking it anyway.

“Yeah? Better than the drive-in?”

“Can I tell you a secret?” she whispered, her legs squeezing his waist a little tighter.

“You can tell me anything.” Why was his heart racing?

She was quiet for a moment, breathing him in as he did the same, letting candy-coated vanilla fill his lungs.

“No one’s ever taken me out on a date. Like a real one.”

What? How is that possible?

Her eyes were still closed as he searched her face in disbelief.

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