“Sexy morning mountain man?”
Presley laughed loudly. “Yeah. Lucy is funny.”
She sobered, frowning and casting her gaze down. “I’m so sorry.”
He shook his head. So what? It was a photo on the internet. No one cared. It would go away by the end of the day. Reaching out, he squeezed her shoulder, then reminded himself he should try to avoid touching her. Touching her made him want to pull her close, maybe see if she smelled like his body wash or if she’d chosen the no-name lodge stuff Jilly bought.
“It’s okay. Not your fault. At least I wasn’t full yawn or in boxers, right?”
Looking up through lowered lashes, she gave a half smile. “If you’d been in boxers, you might have broken the internet.”
Ten
She was sticky and hot in an awkwardly uncomfortable way, and still, her body buzzed with a delectable kind of tension. Guilt over parading Beckett around the internet doused it a bit, but honestly, it was like the high of finishing the hike had her wires all wonky.
Beckett’s gaze didn’t help the overheated factor. Presley stepped back, wanting to give him some space but also wanting to erase the distance between them entirely, which was definitely not a good idea. Engaging in a fling with sexy Hot Mountain Man was not on the agenda.
He sighed and turned away from cabin four. “Let’s go get you cleaned up and I’ll meet Gray here later.”
As sweet as it sounded to have him “help her clean up,” she suspected it would involve a lot of not-so-sexy whimpering when she finally took off her boots.
“You stay. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself. I’m really sorry for the post. I can remove the photo, but…”
“It’s already out there?”
She nodded, and guilt washed away the last of the tension. She’d been nothing but trouble for him so far today.
Beckett put a hand on her arm, squeezed gently. “Stop worrying. It’s okay. Jilly will probably get a bunch of emails asking about rooms and availability.”
“Which you can’t really accommodate right now,” she said on a sigh before realizing she was walking beside him back to the cabin. As he’d suggested. Sneaky.
“There’s that saying—all publicity is good or something, right?”
Turning her head as they walked, she studied his profile, his strong, full jaw shadowed with a couple of days’ growth. “Almost word-for-word,” she teased.
He turned his head so they were looking at each other, which made both of them grin. They probably looked pretty goofy walking like that, but he didn’t seem to care and, right now, neither did she. She could not have predicted that twenty-four hours after walking away from Emmett, she’d feel this light and… happy. Hell, she’d never imagined she could feel this carefree without knowing for certain what was next.You do know. A shower. A glorious, hot shower.Alone.
Beckett unlocked his cabin and she walked ahead of him, stepping into the open space. It was cozy despite not being fancy. A small corner fireplace would warm the entire place and be perfect for snuggling up on the couch. She turned and found Beckett staring at her.
“You have things to do. I’m going to shower, and tonight I’ll chat with your sister about getting out of your space.”
He inched just a touch closer and she had to stop herself from closing the distance. Presley was impressed with her ability to keep her focus on his face and not the way he looked in his track shorts. His calves suggested he liked more than hiking. Maybe soccer? His dark green hoodie saidGET LOSTin the top left corner, and Presley imagined it’d be cozy to snuggle inside of, too. Preferably while he was wearing it.
Maybe hiking overactivated her estrogen or dopamine or something. Fresh air, nature’s aphrodisiac?No. That would be Beckett. According to me and the internet.Would it be so bad toreallyenjoy her vacation? She couldn’t imagine when her next one would be. Presley had a feeling Beckett Keller would be one hell of a memory.
Like he was struggling to read her thoughts, thank goodness, he narrowed his gaze. “I’m going to put together a snack. You’re going to shower and wash the hike off of yourself. Then I’m going to cover your feet in Polysporin and Band-Aids.”
Okay, clearly too much fresh air made her frisky, because that sounded far too sexy coming out of his mouth.
She swallowed, couldn’t look away. “I don’t remember reading anything about the lodge offering that kind of service.” She was trying to lighten the pressure building between them. Hopefully it wasn’t one-sided.
“This has nothing to do with the lodge.” His eyes changed, she realized. Little flecks of gold stood out when his gaze flickered with obvious interest. Nope. Not one-sided.
“Oh.”
Beckett reached out, his finger slowly moving toward her cheek. She sucked in a breath, her eyes widening in anticipation. The pad of his index finger trailed over her skin, along her cheek, her jaw. Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips. His eyes flared, his jaw tensed.
“Go shower, Presley. Let someone do something for you.”
