Page 26 of Get Lost with You
Stepping back, she took his hand while he scooped up the cooler, and tugged him toward the grounds.
“Welcome to Get Lost,” she teased, swinging their joined hands.
Levi squeezed hers before bringing it to his lips and kissing the back of it. “I think I’m going to like it here.”
Twelve
Levi wasn’t out of shape. He did cardio and weights a few days a week, played sports when he could, and ate reasonably healthy meals. When Jillian asked if he was up for the challenge of a harder hike, he’d scoffed like the answer was obvious. He should have read into her sexy, subtle smile but he’d been seduced instead and would have, quite literally, followed her anywhere.
They stayed side by side for most of it, her chatting about Ollie and the lodge, how they’d worked their asses off the summer before to get the place up and running. He loved the sound of her voice, the way the pitch and tone changed depending on who she was talking about. About forty minutes in, he wondered how the hell she was still carrying on a conversation when he was completely winded. She took videos at different points so she could send them to the company she was giving a tour of the lodge to before lunch.
“Uh-oh,” she said, stopping in the middle of the trail. She put her hands on her hips. “Maybe this one is too much for you.”
His lungs burned even as he took the opportunity to sip water. “No one likes a smartass,” he said, unable to hide the unevenness of his breaths.
“That can’t be true. If it is then it doesn’t apply to me, because I know many, many smartasses and I like all of them,” she said,her gaze twinkling and her breathing, thank freaking God, a little heavy.
“I don’t remember you being so funny,” Levi said. He set his pack down, stretched his arms up over his head. He’d ditched his sweater a while ago and had considered hiking in his boxers just to get out of his jeans but figured he should hang on to a bit of his dignity.
Jillian’s gaze tracked his T-shirt, making his skin heat up with the blatant perusal. He lowered his arms, stepping into her despite the fact that he was sweating. So was she. That had to cancel things out, right?
She didn’t seem to mind as he stepped close enough to touch. It was hell not reaching for her, but he’d put the ball in her court. He wanted her. There was no way he could look at her and not want her. Likewise, there was no way she couldn’t know that he did. But, as his dad had pointed out, she was the one with more to lose.
Though she kept a sliver of space between them, he felt her everywhere. “I was usually too shy to talk to you.”
“Or reading a book,” he remembered, catching the scent of her shampoo and pure Jillian. His muscles tightened, ached to pull her against his body.
“I think I came into my funniness later in life.” She gave him a wide, goofy grin that made him laugh.
Fuck it. He reached out, ran his thumb along her cheek, reveled in her sharp breath. “Hmm. It looks good on you. Like everything else.”
Her smile made his heart turn over. “I don’t remember you being so smooth with the lines.”
He took her hand instead of kissing her, which is what he wanted to do. Scooping up his backpack—they’d left the cooler at the lodge—he pulled her forward at a much more leisurely pace.
“It’s not a line. Nothing I say to you is. I just tell you the truth. I try to do that in most areas in my life,” he told her.
She tugged on his hand so he turned to face her. He’d slung the pack over one shoulder, so it whirled with him when he turned.
“In which areas of your lifedon’tyou tell the truth?”
He hated the way her eyes filled with trepidation. He hated that she’d been hurt and those scars still showed; those fears still hovered. In that moment, he understood his dad watching out for Jilly. Their parents were friends. He cared about the Keller kids. But shouldn’t he give Levi the benefit of the doubt?
Levi bent his knees a bit to bring their faces closer like he was going to tell her a secret. He trailed a hand up her arm, lowered his lips beside her ear, felt her tremor, and smiled. The ball was in her court, but he could make sure she had a reason to play.
“When my mom asked if her chicken pot pie was delicious, I lied and said yes because I didn’t know how to tell her it wasn’t supposed to have lumps in it thatweren’tchicken and veggies. At the dentist, when the hygienist asks if I floss regularly, I say yes even though I don’t. In high school, I told Beckett and Gray that Jenna Meyers had a boyfriend even though I knew she didn’t because I didn’t want them to ask her out.”
He pulled back far enough to see the amusement dance over her features.
“Hmm. Didyouever ask her out?”
“Jenna?”
She gave him a deadpan look. “No. The hygienist.”
He snaked his arm around her waist, pulled her closer. “The hygienist was old enough to be my grandmother, so definite no there, and I waited too long with Jenna. She and Kyle Greggory got together about a month after I lied to your brothers.”
Jilly ran her fingers over his chest, and he liked the feelingmore than he should. At least if he wanted to concentrate on her words and not how she made him feel.
