Page 30 of Heart & Hope

Well, fuck.

A breathy huff chokes from my throat as we reach the elevator. Despite my rules and this being a temporary fake relationship, the butterflies in my belly are very real. The way my body responds to him being in the same room as me. Too goddamn real.

When the elevator dings, and he leads us back to our room, I fall back and admire that perfect ass in those Levi’s. The door beeps and we are inside a moment later. I pull my sneakers from my bag and slip them on. Reed inspects one of the black heels I was wearing, running a hand over the four-inch narrow heel like some sort of connoisseur.

“Don’t think they’ll fit you,” I quip.

His eyes meet mine, darkened and piercing. And the heat that washes through my body burns.What the hell is he thinking about?

Breaking eye contact, I slide my phone into my back pocket. “You ready?”

He drops the stiletto on the bed with one hand and runs the other through his hair, arm flexing. His hair falls into his face as he turns and swoops up his cap, fixing it on his head. “Yup.”

We walk in silence all the way to the front desk, where Reed requests his truck. Mary-Sue makes polite conversation with him. He drawls back about his drive out here, making it sound as though he drove from another city, not a couple hours away from his new ranch.

He charms the older woman with a few lines about the beauty of Great Falls and her magnificent inn before his black truck rolls into the driveway.

“Thanks, darlin’.” Reed waves to Mary-Sue, and we head outside.

“Darlin’?” I scoff, getting into the truck as he holds my door open.

“Jealous, Ruby?”

“Huh. You wish, Reedsy.”

He shuts the door, but his face flattens as he walks around the front to get in. The rumble of his truck is deep and heady. And when Reed lets it roll onto the street and accelerates, it’snothing short of pure thunder. And the smile that blooms over his face tells me everything. He loves this truck.

I chuckle at him, and he turns to look at me. “What?”

I study him for a moment. “It’s true, then, what they say about cowboys and their trucks?”

“I thought it was cowboys and their horses?”

“I don’t know, you seem more of a truck man to me.”

“You got it, baby.”

I smile at him, and he shifts his focus back to the road. Ten minutes later, we are at a park of some sort. He pulls up and kills the engine. The second I open my door, I hear it. Gushing water.

“Where are we?” I call over the hum of the turbulence.

“Giant Springs State Park. Mary-Sue suggested it.”

“So you haven’t been here before?”

“Nope. You wanna wander around?”

“Sure.”

He takes my hand, and we meander down the first pebbled path we come across. The springs are spectacular. Calming and wild all at once. When we reach the edge of the stream that is fed by the springs, Reed releases my hand.

“This is stunning, thank you,” I say.

Reed sinks onto the ground, knees up, and pats the grass beside him. I drop down and pull my phone out, resting it next to me.

“You seemed stressed out.”

“Focused. I don’t stress, I get busy.”

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