Page 46 of Objection to Love

“Something tells me the pace was not for a bad reason.” She looked pointedly down the trail.

Garrett smiled a little sheepishly. “You aren’t wrong about that. But still, I’m sorry.”

She raised her eyebrows. “If you’re really sorry, you’ll sit next to me so I don’t feel like such a bum. And so I can stop craning my neck to look at you.”

His mouth lifted a little at that. “You know, I do think I’m feeling a bit fatigued.” He sat down beside her with a healthy dose of dramatic exhaustion. Only his dramatics got in the way of his positioning, and he ended up knocking her onto her side as he came down beside her. “Oh, crud, I’m sorry, Em!”

She pushed herself back up to a seated position, brushing dirt off her arm and out of her hair. “Funny enough, that didn’t make me feel much better.”

He felt the moment she realized how close they were. Her eyes caught his, and she stiffened. But surprisingly, she didn’t scoot away. She stayed right there, her leg pressed against his.

Some hairs had escaped her ponytail, and without thinking, he brushed them back behind her ear, lingering a little longer than he probably should have.

She watched his every move, and then, almost imperceptibly, her gaze darted down to his mouth. Could she be feeling the same electric pull as he was? Despite the fact that this wasnota date?

He needed to remember that.

Her eyes strayed to his mouth again, and despite all the warning signs going off in his brain, that was all the invitation he needed. What was he supposed to be remembering? Nothing important. Bracing his hand on the ground behind her back and ignoring the small rocks digging into his palm, he leaned closer. Slowly, he tilted his head to the side to allow her plenty of time to pull away should she choose to.

But she didn’t pull away. Her eyes fluttered closed as Garrett brushed his thumb down her jaw and toward her hairline. Even after the exertion, he could still smell the flowery scent that was her perfume. He felt the pull between them intensify. He was a breath away. Less, even.

“There you two are!” Noah’s overly loud voice pierced the fog that was Garrett’s thoughts.

Em blinked and jerked backward, jumping to her feet with athletic ability Garrett would swear she didn’t actually possess.

He stayed seated, running a hand through his hair and cursing his friend. And the ridiculous woman trotting along beside him. If looks could kill, they’d both be gone in a heartbeat. But, unfortunately, the hot frustration born of Jenica’s presence and Em’s sudden distance didn’t translate into superpowers, so the unlikely couple caught up with them in mere seconds.

“I thought we’d lost you two in the woods. I was worried your mother would have my head,” Noah joked, but it fell flat.

Garrett felt a brief twinge of guilt at abandoning his friend to the wolves—or wolf—but easily snuffed it out.

“Tired?” Jenica smiled pityingly at Em, but Garrett didn’t miss the beads of sweat marring her makeup or the way her breath came quickly.

Garrett opened his mouth to respond affirmatively, so Em could rest a bit longer, but Em beat him to the punch. “Nope,” she said. “Just waiting for you two to catch up. Shall we?”

Garrett saw Jenica’s nostrils flare before her sickly-sweet smile returned. “Yes, let’s. Garrett, I wanted to talk to you about your mother. Is she still having Sunday sundae nights?” She stepped close to him, putting herself between him and Em.

“Yes.”

“Oh, wonderful. She always made the best vanilla ice cream.” With a push to the back of his elbow, she maneuvered him down the trail.

Garrett clenched his jaw. Every inch of him wanted to just leave the irritating woman behind and stalk back to his friends. But his mother would be horrified at such a show of rudeness, and he’d been raised to be kinder than that. He understood a little bit of how Noah must have felt when bullied into bringing her along.

So he waited a full thirty seconds before he ditched Jenica. A full thirty seconds in which Jenica talkedathim. How had he ever liked this woman?

He left her to walk by herself and dropped back to Noah and Em. Noah was asking Em what sorts of things qualified as misdemeanors. Apparently, they’d been little criminals in high school. Trespassing, criminal mischief—which was an awesome name for a crime—even disorderly conduct. His mother would be mortified.

He walked in front of them, half listening to their conversation—half reliving that almost-kiss. It was probably a good thing they’d been interrupted… right? These weren’t dates. He and Em weren’t particularly compatible, no matter how much he was coming to like her and enjoy being around her.

Still. He could confidently say he wished theyhadn’tbeen interrupted. Shoot him.

They came up over a rise to see a fair-sized lake nestled into the base of the mountain. Tall trees surrounded it, reflecting in the deep-blue, shimmering water. Garrett was perfectly positioned to turn around and watch Em’s reaction.

She stopped in her tracks, and her eyes widened, looking back and forth, presumably taking everything in. For the first time since Garrett had met her, she didn’t appear to have any façades, walls, or frustrations in her expression. As she stood there, breathing heavily and looking entirely exhausted, Garrett caught a glimpse of contentment behind her eyes. He knew the feeling. Subconsciously, he moved toward her, elbowing Noah out of the way.

“This is stunning, Garrett.”

He folded his arms, unable to take his eyes off her as her gaze swept the area, taking in the crystal blue water, lush green foliage rimming it, and snow-peaked mountains in the distance. “Worth the hike?”

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