Page 114 of Axe-ing for Trouble
Face breaking into what I could only imagine was a ridiculous smile, I nodded. “Yes. I know it’s fast and crazy and we’re out in the middle of the woods, but I have no interest in hiding it. You make me want to be honest and wild.”
“I like you wild.” She gave me a much more subdued smile as she pulled me down for a kiss.
I cupped her face, lingering in the moment. I needed the contact, the connection with her.
“I think I love you too,” she said as we finally pulled back.
“You think?”
She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. “Yes. I think. I might be more certain if there was coffee.” She gave me a wink.
I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder, then jogged to the cabin.
“I’ll brew you the best wilderness coffee of your life, Trouble.”
Chapter37
Jude
The supplies for Henri and Alice’s romantic getaway were more than sufficient. Perhaps the rose petals were a bit much, but as I was quickly entering my romantic sap era, I decided that maybe it was kind of adorable. By day two, we were starting to get bored waiting for updates.
We sipped coffee at the outdoor fire pit and hiked in search of the perfect marshmallow roasting sticks so we could roast the pink marshmallows we’d found in one of the gear bags.
“Figures you’d be a great marshmallow roaster.” Mila licked a glob of the sticky substance off her fingers. “You’ve got the perfect slow rotation for equal browning.”
I admired my creation. Yes, it was just lightly browned, the sugar oozing and crusting on the outside.
“While you stick yours in the fire and char ’em beyond recognition.”
She shrugged, putting another on her stick. “I stand by my methods. Delicious and efficient.”
She leaned against me on the log that had been cut to provide a bench, and I wrapped one arm around her, inhaling the fresh mountain air.
“I’ve spent my whole life chasing adventure,” she said. “Yet now that I’m living the plot of a heist movie, I want to be normal.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. There were plenty of parts of my old, boring life that I enjoyed, but I’d be lying if I said I wanted to go back to that. Because every moment with Mila was better than even the best alone. Every one was worth the risk, the fear, and the danger.
“I can’t even think about it. I’m too scared. Let’s pretend to be normal people.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Okay, Trouble. So we’re here on a romantic weekend date.”
“You flew me out on a floatplane for a date?”
With a chuckle, I gave her a squeeze. “Anything for my girl.”
“Okay.” She sank into me, her body relaxing. “Tell me more.”
“I’d cook for you, take you on hikes, and then wrap you in the down comforter and go down on you for hours.”
She shivered, her eyes dancing in the glow of the campfire. “I love the sound of that.”
“If I really wanted to pull out all the stops, I’d gas up the ATV in the shed and take you out to the wildflower meadow.”
“What’s that?”
“Back in the ’70s, there was a massive wildfire. Took out hundreds of acres of forest. They aren’t always a bad thing. Fires clear forests and provide an ecological reset. They also release a lot of seeds that grow and scatter and flourish in the nutrient-dense soil.”
She hummed. “I had no idea.”
