Page 365 of Boots, Bucket Lists & Bad Ideas
I choke.
She laughs and tosses my Stetson off. “Make love to me, Hart.” Her voice is soft. “No kinks. No fetishes. Just you and me.”
“Okay.” I kiss her as I set her on the bed.
The old springs barely bounce. A billow of smoke sends us into a coughing spell. Then asnapfrom above cuts through the quiet.
We both look up as the ceiling light fixture swings off a cord above us.
I grab her arm and roll us just as the cord snaps with a harshpop, and the heavy fixture crashes down beside us. I use my body as a shield, covering her as metal and glass smash where we’d just been lying.
We lie there for a minute, breathing hard, then burst into another round of laughter. I haven’t laughed this much in years, and it feels great.
“We should get out of here.” She unclips the collar around my neck. “Our dogs need these.”
Our dogs.
I love how that sounds.
I cup her face. “I have somewhere I want to show you.”
62: THE HILL
JADE
WE HOLD HANDS.
I’ve become the holding-hands type of woman.
Not because I need rescuing. Not because I’m afraid of falling behind. But because this steady, quiet kind of love makes room for holding on without holding back.
We hold hands as the truck rumbles along the back roads. When we climb out of the truck, after he lets the dogs loose, he slips his hand back into mine.
“Do you recognize this place?” He tugs me along as he starts walking, and I fall in step beside him.
“I do.”
The familiar spot is surrounded by pines and mesquite’s on all sides, giving the open space a quiet, tucked-away feel. It had been our refuge. Away from my family, his, and the town. A place where we didn’t have to hide our true feelings.
“The trees are bigger now than when we were young. I almost didn’t recognize it.”
The clearing is open enough for sunlight to reach through.
“This was the only place we could breathe without worrying about everything.” He steps over a fallen branch.
The land belongs to his aunt and uncle, Wyatt’s parents.
“It was like the world didn’t exist when we were here.” I look at the hill we used to climb, then I look at him. “Race you.”
His lip cracks a grin. “You gonna call me a cheater?”
“Are you going to cheat?” I say the last word, and I charge toward the hill.
Totally cheating. Just like I did when we were young. And yeah, he’ll race me with his long legs and I’ll call him the cheater.
“Fox, I love a good chase!” I hear his boots thump, and I run faster.
Godiva and Hershey bound ahead. Their paws trample grass and wildflowers as they race up the hill, eager to reach the top first.
