Page 37 of Things Good Girls Don't Do (Rock Canyon, Idaho 1)

“Oh yeah? I can’t wait to see where sweet Katie spent her youth.” He started the Blazer and said, “I’ll have you back on time. Wouldn’t want to miss the swimsuit competition.” He moved just in time to avoid a slap on the arm and added, “Now, now, temper, temper.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and grinned and Chase put the Blazer into gear. He drove away from town toward the farms until she told him to take a dirt road into the Snake River Canyon. The road was barely one lane, with no guardrail along the edge, and it made him a little nervous. He had never been comfortable with heights, even as a kid. Looking over the edge of a cliff was something he avoided, even in a car.

As he descended into the canyon, she pointed. “Follow the road back there. Eventually there will be nowhere left to go and we’ll just park.”

He did what she said, winding back through tall weeds and bushes until the road dead-ended in a small circle. He put the car into park and shut the engine off. Turning to her, he asked, “So now what?”

Katie leaned over and kissed him hard and fast. Before he could grab her back, she opened her door and hopped out. “Now we walk.”

“Are we going to get shot for trespassing?” he asked, getting out of the Blazer and looking around for some hidden assailant.

Laughing, she headed onto a very narrow trail surrounded by tall bushes and grass. “I haven’t, but you never know. I’d be more worried about snakes.”

Chase stopped. He hated snakes, had always been a chicken shit around them. “Yeah, I’m not much of a hiker,” he called.

She stopped suddenly and walked back to him. Reaching out, she took hold of his hand and laced her fingers through his.

So much for not holding hands.

“Stay close, city boy, and just listen for the sound of a rattle. Like a chickchick bzzzz sound,” she said. “Oh, and watch for poison ivy.”

Looking around at the jungle of vegetation, he said, “What the hell does that look like?”

She pointed to a plant about a foot from his leg and he pictured his death by poisonous snakes and oozing sores.

Chase let her lead him by the hand like a child, checking around his feet for anything slithery. Every once in a while he’d hear something scurry into the bushes, making him jump. Katie would squeeze his hand and give him a smile until he started to relax.

Suddenly, Katie stopped, leaned up to give him a kiss, and whispered, “That’s 115.”

After that he figured a little oozing death was worth it if it meant he could kiss her 114 more times.

Chapter Seven

* * *

KATIE HADN’T BEEN to Rainbow Falls since high school and she couldn’t wait to see Chase’s face when he saw it. They came into the clearing surrounded by bushes and trees and she squeezed his hand. “We made it.”

The large spring waterfall came out several feet below the canyon rim and formed a clear pool that ran down into Snake River. The sun hit the water in such a way that sprays of color arched down to the middle of the pond. She looked up at Chase’s face, delighted to find him smiling.

“Cool huh?” she said.

“Yeah.” Dropping her hand, he surprised her by reaching down to take his shoes off. “What are you doing?” she squeaked.

Tossing each shoe by a bush and pulling his socks off, he asked, “Can’t a guy take off his shoes for no reason?” As he straightened up, he started unbuttoning his jeans. “It’s hot out here. Thought maybe it would be a good time for a swim.” He pushed the jeans off his hips and said, “You did want to try skinny-dipping. Figured we could cross one more thing off the list.”

“But it’s still light out!” she said.

Katie watched him slip his jeans over powerful thighs, and when his hands reached for the bottom of his shirt, her mouth watered. “So?”

The T-shirt came up and off, revealing tanned skin with several tattoos on his biceps and one on his chest. He slipped his thumbs into the waistband of his boxers and bent over as he dropped them to the ground, his stomach muscles bunching.

Chase stood up and raised one eyebrow at her. “Are you coming?”

She stared at him, naked as a jaybird and so amazingly put together her heart kept stopping as her gaze traveled over him. He had nice arms, just the right amount of definition to make them hard, but not too bulging, and his pecs were a thing of beauty. A light, happy trail started below a set of abs that would make a saint stare, and below that . . .

Blushing, she averted her eyes. He was already standing at attention and she hadn’t even stripped yet. Besides the fact that he was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen, she’d never really been naked in front of someone in broad daylight. There had been mornings with Jimmy, but they had been under the covers and in the moment. Never just putting all her goods out for anyone to see.

And that was another thing: someone could discover them, and she was surprised that the thought was more exciting than scary. More than anything she wanted to show this man that she could be daring. That she could let loose and be wild. That she knew how to have fun.

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