Page 17 of Aim for Love

“Mollie…”

Pausing, she looks back.

Ididkiss her to be encouraging, at least a little. But I wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t wanted to. I’ve never felt this way about someone on one of our tours. A little protective, and also…like I want to claim something. I wanted to get there first. Before Scott, or some other guy she might have turned to for her vacation “adventure.” Was that enough? Was that all she wanted? Just a kiss?

“You’ll get there,” I mumble, falling back on my job. On being a guide who can work with anybody. Even a woman who turned my whole ethos upside down in one move.

When we rejoin the others, walking our bikes to get back to the trailhead, Mollie leaves my side with a polite smile to catch up with her friends.

“She OK?” Scott asks, pausing by my side to watch Mollie showing off her war wounds to Nora and Sophie.

Mollie seems to have bounced back from the fall—and the kiss—like it’s something she does all the time. I don’t want to assume, but maybe she does. “She’s resilient,” I say.

We close out the day’s lesson with a few more brake exercises. I make sure Mollie gets back on the bike for a final lesson, yet avoid interacting with her much. She keeps smiling at me—only in a friendly way. Not like we shared something back there that’s unusual. For me, at least.

After we herd everyone back to the center and put away their bikes, I’m walking back to my room when I hear Mollie with her two friends through the open window of the lobby. They’re filling up their water bottles at the cooler.

“It looked like you had a moment,” one of the other two women is saying. Her voice sing-songs on the word “moment” and I know instantly that they’re talking about Mollie and me. I freeze, lurking outside the window frame where they can’t see me. The amount of overhearing I’m doing lately is getting ridiculous—but I’m not about to walk away from Mollie’s response. I know this is about me. Again.

“He’s really nice,” Mollie says. “And smart. He’s so good at this stuff.”

“Annnnnnd?” one of her friends cajoles. There’s a pause.

“We kissed,” Mollie admits.

“I knew it!”

“Way to go, Mollie. Vacation fling here you come.” I can’t tell which it is, but one of Mollie’s friends sounds delighted.

“Hereyoucome,” the other one laughs. “I’ve seen you flirting with Scott.”

“Hey, this isn’t about me. How proud am I that you took my advice and actually went for it? This could be so good for you. When are you going to see him again?”

“Um…” Mollie sounds hesitant. And no wonder; she hadn’t seemed that into our kiss. I look down at my feet. I’m standing in some Indian Paintbrush. I kneel and try to fluff up what I inadvertently trampled on. Maybe I’ll look innocent if I’m caught, not like I’m eavesdropping.

“Mollie,tell meyou didnotleave it at a kiss.”

“He said he’d help me practice some of the adventure stuff.”

Both of Mollie’s friends laugh. “I bet he’ll help youpractice.”

“Did you get his number?”

“You need to go find him right now and set up your next meeting. We’ll wait.”

“But…”

“Have I steered you wrong yet? Go!”

Jumping out of my crouch, I start walking back the way I came, trying to put some distance between me and the window. As a result, I nearly run into Mollie coming out of the door of the adventure center.

“Oh, hi.” We both stop and stare at each other awkwardly.

“I wondered,” Mollie starts in a rush as I say, “Are you still interested…”

We both halt. Then we smile at each other.

“Could we do those private lessons you mentioned? I know it’s a lot to ask,” Mollie says. “I thought I’d improve a lot faster if you showed me some things one-on-one.”

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