Page 60 of Christmas with the Cowgirl
And then they circled into a brilliant shaft of sunlight and he saw the distinctive coloring.
“Bald eagles?”he asked.He’d never seen them in the wild, so he wasn’t certain.
“Yes,” she said.“Our population is growing, when it’s nesting season here for them.Aren’t they amazing?”
“I…yes.”He couldn’t deny seeing the fabled birds was moving.
“I saw a courtship flight once,” Riley said, still staring at them.“It was incredible.”
“A courtship flight?”Why would she bring that up now, with him?
“They fly even higher than they are now, then they lock their talons together and just tumble down, cartwheeling all the way, until they almost hit the ground.It’s amazing.”
He could picture it, almost perfectly.Maybe because he’d been feeling a bit of that tumble himself, around her.
“Sometimes,” she went on, her voice different now, almost grim, “they do hit, and it can be really bad.”
She sounded as if it would be a personal sort of tragedy.And that tugged at that spot deep inside him that she had awakened.
They watched the big raptors, circling lazily, easily, gracefully.
“Lucky us,” he murmured.“Especially me.I’ve never seen even one in the wild before.”
“I’m guessing they don’t hang out in Hollywood much.”
His mouth twisted wryly.“Too many vultures.”She gave him a surprised glance.He shrugged.“I’m under no illusions.I just try to do things the way I think is right, and if I’m lucky, it works.”
“According to Nic, the way you think is right is being honest and straightforward.”
He blinked, smiled crookedly, undeniably pleased.“I hope so.”He hesitated before asking, “Do you believe her?”
“Nic hasn’t lied to me since she was eight.”
She left it at that, and after a moment he chuckled.“That’s a story I want someday.”
The eagles had drifted eastward now, far enough that they were mere specks in the mostly blue sky on this December day.If it wasn’t for the fact that it hadn’t broken sixty degrees today, it could have been summertime.In that way it reminded him of L.A.
But he was glad he was here.Gladder that he was here with Riley.
He’d gone over and over it in his head, thought he had it all figured out, but now with her sitting right beside him all he could think of was how much he wanted to kiss her.So he did.And it was everything he’d come to expect, hot, heart-kicking and beautiful.
“Your crew come up here much?”he asked when he could breathe again, aware the words had come out almost as a growl.
She seemed to realize where he was headed immediately.
“Not usually,” she answered, and it was in that low, husky voice that set him on fire.He kissed her again, and she responded with that fierceness that always sent them spiraling out of control.
And his last sane thought as they clawed at each other’s clothes was that this, this was the bedrock he wanted to build on.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Riley would havebeen embarrassed had it not, as always with this man, been so incredible.She’d be picking dead plant life out of her hair and other interesting places later, but right now, lying here half-dressed and utterly sated in Miles’s arms, there was room for nothing but an exhausted bliss.
And what better place than this, where she’d spent so many hours contemplating her life, and telling herself what she had was enough, she should be able to quash that longing for more?
She hadn’t dared admit, even to herself, that this was what she’d been longing for.This kind of connection.Not just the physical, amazing as it was, but the man who made her feel this way.Made her want it, made her willing to take the risk of opening herself up in all ways.
“Guess we showed those eagles a thing or two,” Miles said.
