Page 18 of The Marrying Kind
“I swear it’ll be worth it.”
His eyes were wide, and I didn’t know why, but I trusted him.
The truth was I’d spent the past year feeling lost and hopeless. I needed a little fun in my life right now. And Austen struck me as a whole lot of fun.
This right here was what I’d wanted. Adventure. Surprise. New experiences. Unexpected pleasures. Austen was handing it all to me on a platter.
I swallowed any reservations and decided. “I do. Let’s go.”
8
HEATING UP
Austen
Ididn’t count on Ella’s physical proximity being a problem for me, but it was. With her arms wrapped around my waist, and her body pressed up tight against me as we raced through the snow in the darkness, I realized that keeping my chill was going to be harder than I expected. Pun intended.
If there was one thing I had decided, it was that I needed to keep my hands to myself if I was actually going to win her over. If I got too cocky, I was worried she’d be flying down the freeway to her next destination in a heartbeat.
That wasn’t my plan. Instead, I needed to woo this woman. Show her romance. Give her adventure, maybe with a dash of sexual tension. But that had to be it. Leave her with a taste and wanting more. It was up to her how things went.
Tonight, I was going to show her one of the most romantic place I knew—the hot springs. A little warm bath and some hot chocolate? I had this in the bag.
When we got to the clearing where the spring pools started, I cut the engine and held out a hand for Ella. She pulled off her helmet and set it on the seat.
“That was terrifying,” she said with a laugh.
“Terrifying but fun?” I asked.
Her cheeks were rosy from the wind and her eyes were bright. “Very. My heart was beating a hundred miles an hour.”
“Maybe we can go again tomorrow, and you can drive. It’s better in the daylight, and when you haven’t had anything to drink.”
Her smile dropped a little as she thought it over. “You still want me crowding your space?”
I slung the backpack over my shoulder. We’d definitely want towels when we got out. I wasn’t about to freeze my future wife.
“I’m hardly home, anyway. I work all the time,” I said. “Stay as long as you’d like.”
In that moment, I was so grateful that I’d slacked on finishing the rental cabins. I had insisted we work them all simultaneously, but Noah had wanted to finish one at a time. If there was one done now, Ella would surely be staying in it.
I held out my hand, and when Ella took it, I wished suddenly that we weren’t wearing mittens so that I could feel her palm in mine. But this would do.
“If you really don’t mind. Your mom sold me on some things to do around here.”
Note to self: I owe Mom for eternity.
“That’s cool,” I managed to say in a casual tone while I did a little happy dance on the inside. But it didn’t last long, because doubt started to creep in as I saw the steam rising from the hot spring ahead.
What if she hated this idea? What if I looked like a creep for suggesting it?
Then again, she was wearing a bathing suit under her parka. She knew there’d be some sort of water involved. With that little tendril of knowledge, I took a breath to steady myself.
“There it is. Up ahead.” I pointed as the shallow pool came into sight.
“So, it is a hot spring,” she said in an excited tone. “I’d wondered.”
“You ever been in one?” I asked, realizing then that there are hot springs in New Mexico.
