Page 7 of Promised Adventure
I laughed and couldn’t hold myself back from throwing myself into his arms. He was naturally shocked at having a stranger hug him, but I was pleasantly surprised when he pulled me into the hug, too.
While I didn’t really care about the gender of my partners, I loved being wrapped up in strong arms that held me tight, and Jordan was the perfect hugging partner. He was so much taller and bigger than me, and he made me feel downright tiny and protected.
I sighed into his hug, and he patted my back comfortably.
“Thank you for trying so hard for my sake,” I said, looking up at him.
His eyes softened. “I’m happy to do it,” he replied, voice gruff. “But I’m worried about your work being delayed since you were on your way to shoot videos for your channel.”
“I can do that anywhere. I was going to focus on nature, and there’s plenty of that around here,” I said lightly.
“There is. Kither Springs might not have much, but what itdoeshave is plenty of vistas. I can show you around,” he replied.
His hand was now moving up and down my spine in a way that heated my entire body. I was dangerously close to leaning into him like a cat who’d found a heat source, but I managed to pull back at the last second and took a depressing step away.
Jordan’s hand lingered on my back, so I was still standing wrapped in his arms but far enough away so that I wasn’ttempted to do something indecent to my host. He made it so hard to keep my hands to myself when he was being so fucking sweet.
“I don’t want to trouble you,” I forced myself to say.
“It’s no trouble. And I want to spend more time with you.”
He said the last part so softly I would have wondered if I’d imagined it if not for the gentle gaze he was currently sending my way.
“I want to spend more time with you too,” I replied just as softly.
Jordan’s reply was a smile that made him look like he’d shed all his worries. It looked good on him, which only made me want to keep him smiling. Which I found wasn’t all that hard to do as we spent the rest of the day together.
We first went to town for an early lunch. Jordan seemed to know everyone in town as people kept stopping by to say hi to him. It was then that I learned he’d owned the biggest construction company in town. I knew he was an impressive man, but I hadn’t realized just how much.
After an enjoyable lunch, Jordan took me to see his favorite spots. First, we visited the springs the town was named after. Despite me telling him he didn’t have to help, Jordan insisted on carrying my spare camera to shoot B-roll for me.
I was so used to doing this alone that I never realized how nice it was to have someone with me on my shoots. Not just for the extra set of hands, but for the company as well. It wasn’t unusual for the loneliness to kick in when I was days into my trips, but with Jordan filling space beside me, it felt like it was us against the world.
We spent a couple of hours at the beautiful springs before heading up a mountain path Jordan said had the perfect sunset view at the top. I continued to film parts of the journey, but in between the filming, I got to know Jordan better.
He told me about his family, who all lived in Kither Springs. He had a younger brother who was around my age, which honestly made perfect sense for why he seemed so dependable.
Jordan was divorced, and while I was surprised to hear that, what shocked me even more was that he hadn’t had a relationship since the divorce.
“Someone like me, whose life revolves around work, must be boring to be around,” was the reason he’d claimed for not finding anyone else, but I called bullshit to that. Even if he was a workaholic, that didn’t mean he didn’t have other interests.
It was clear he was close to his family. And by the way he introduced the history of the springs and the trail we were walking, he obviously loved the outdoors. The man had hobbies that were far from boring.
Maybe I was way too attracted to him because nobody had ever held my interest like he did.
We made it to the peak of the mountain just as the sun was setting. Jordan found us a place to sit, and I set up my camera behind me, so it was mostly pointed at the sunset with me in the corner of the frame. I made sure Jordan wouldn’t accidentally be filmed before going to sit beside him to enjoy the sunset.
Jordan shot me a gentle smile, then turned back to enjoy the view. The light bounced off his dark skin, making him absolutely glow. I had to force myself to look at the sun, so I had some film of me enjoying the sunset instead of the man beside me.
But not even a minute later, I was turning to him again. I wasn’t the only one distracted, and my eyes met with Jordan’s. His smile turned shy, but he didn’t flick his gaze away this time.
His hand was at his side between us, and I boldly covered it with mine. Jordan smiled bright, the action somehow making his glow even more brilliant.
People used to say golden hour was the most beautiful time of day, and I never understood that until now. Cast in shades of gold and red, Jordan was slowly leaning in until I was forced to close my eyes. But even behind the darkness of my lids, I could still see the light dancing behind them. And the moment our lips touched, the lights exploded with magic.
I leaned into the kiss, completely forgetting everything but the pretty colors and the magic of Jordan’s lips dancing against mine.
Kissing him felt safe. Like I was coming home.
