Page 150 of Untouchable
He took her head in his hands and leaned down into a soft kiss. “Well, finish it up quickly so we can spend the afternoon together. I think I can get away by two.”
He’d had a really hard day yesterday. She still remembered how shocked and worried she’d been when she’d come home from her dinner with Reese to find him tense and shaky in his office, with his computer monitor in pieces on the floor. She’d never seen him lose control like that before.
It must have been a serious blow.
He needed her. He was playing it off right now, acting like it was just a casual, spontaneous idea, but he might really need her today after what had happened yesterday.
No matter how smart and safe it would be to follow her initial plan, she didn’t want to let him down. So she heard herself saying, “Okay. I think I can finish up by then too.”
He leaned to kiss her again, smiling against her lips. “Good. I’m looking forward to it.”
She smiled too, happy that she’d managed to please him.
It was just one more day.
In the scheme of things, how much damage could one more day do?
Caleb wanted to take a hike.
She wasn’t sure what had possessed him since he wasn’t normally an outdoorsy person, except to take his dog to the parkon Saturday mornings. But he seemed to have the idea in his head, and she couldn’t think of any reason to refuse.
She actually liked to hike, as long as they didn’t hike through woods.
He knew she was scared of the woods. Now he even knew why—or at least as close to why as she was able to tell him. He wouldn’t be foolish enough to think he could take her there.
It would probably be okay.
They drove a couple of hours outside the city to a national park. Caleb was in a strange mood. He was acting light and casual the way he had that morning, but there was something tense underlying it. Like he was driven by a force he was masking with the superficial demeanor.
She assumed it had to do with yesterday. He was still upset about it, but he was trying to move past the feeling, act normal, forget the pain with a pretense of happiness.
She understood. She’d felt that way before too. As if once you acted happy long enough, you could eventually feel that way again.
They left the car in the parking lot and started out on a trail that went over hills and grassland. It was fine. Caleb obviously wasn’t going to make her do anything that was traumatic for her. He loved her and wouldn’t want to hurt her.
So Kelly was feeling relaxed and better about the whole situation about an hour into the hike when the path wound around a hill and disappeared into a forested area.
She stopped short.
Caleb stopped too, looking masculine and sexy with wind-ruffled hair and a sheen of perspiration on his skin. The day was warm, and the sun was bright.
“I guess we should turn back,” Kelly said, feeling stupid for her phobia but recognizing her heart rate’s acceleration at just the sight of the trees.
“We don’t have to.” Caleb moved a hand to the middle of her back and rested it there.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean we can try to keep going if you’re up to it.”
She bit her lip and tried to control her breathing. “You know I’m not. You know what the woods do to me.”
“Yeah. I know. But don’t you want to get over it?” His voice was level, even, very controlled, like he was trying to calm a spooked animal.
“Of course I do.” She was starting to get a little annoyed. He knew better than to push her like this. “But I can’t get over it. I’ve tried. It’s not just something you can force yourself through.”
“You went into the woods on the first day we met.”
“I know. But just the edges, and it was terrifying to do even that. I wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t challenged me the way you had.”
