Page 73 of Carry Me Home
I snagged a fistful of her shirt just under her chest and pulled her in close, because to my way of thinking, if we weren’t walking, we might as well be kissing.
She didn’t look convinced. “This trail wasn’t on any of the maps.”
“That’s because elk don’t tend to draw maps. No opposable thumbs.” At the nervous look on her face, I chuckled and brushed another kiss against her mouth. “Trust me?”
She tilted her chin to consider me, beautiful brown eyes searching mine. Whatever she found there cleared away the worry. “I trust you, Jack.”
Damn, that felt good. It was something I valued in myself, the ability to come through no matter what, and it mattered to me that people I cared about saw me that way, too. No one had warned me that the pieces of myself I valued most would be almost worthless in the low-stakes civilian life. But somehow it didn’t feel like low stakes when Janie was the one I needed to come through for. It felt like the most important thing in the world.
“Good.” I dropped a kiss on her damp forehead. It was hot out here in the midday summer sun, even with the thick-leafed aspens giving us shade. “We’re almost there. Listen.”
I cocked my head and we let the silence stretch around us until it wasn’t silent anymore. The birds called to each other, the wind rustled through the leaves. And there, underneath it all, was the low thunder of tumbling water. “Hear that? It’s the falls.”
When Janie had suggested going for a hike, I’d known exactly where I wanted to take her. An easy two-mile hike led to a secluded waterfall and swimming hole. It wasn’t the biggestwaterfall around here and there were plenty of others that were easier to get to, which meant almost no one came here. We’d have it all to ourselves.
“This way.” I took a hard right, ducking under the gnarled bough of a fir tree and lifting it so it wouldn’t smack Janie in the face. Janie followed me through and then I took the lead again.
Another quarter mile in, the trees yielded to the river. It babbled over rocks before plunging straight down in a ten-foot waterfall.
“Oh, we’re at the top of the falls!” Janie exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprised delight. She peered over the edge, holding onto a rock for balance. “Is there a way down to the pool?”
I nodded. “Follow me.”
It was a sketchy scramble over wet boulders to reach the bottom. I kept Janie behind me so that if she slipped, my body would break her fall.Be carefulwas on the tip of my tongue, but I bit the words back. Janie wasn’t dumb and she had hiked enough to know that the spray from the falls made the rocks slick. She would be careful without me reminding her like she was a kid.
This was why fraternizing was frowned upon in the military. Watching someone you loved put themselves in harm’s way was fucking terrifying. Even when it was just a hike.
Love.
The word snagged my brain and my toe snagged a rock. I would have taken the rest of the way down on my ass if Janie hadn’t grabbed my pack to keep me on my feet. I immediately braced against a boulder so we wouldn’t take each other down.
“What did I tell you?” I sent her an impish grin over my shoulder. “Girl Scouts. Always good in the clutch.”
She jerked in surprise. “You remember that?”
“When it comes to you, Janie, I remember everything.”
Her gaze shifted sideways, mouth quirking, like she was remembering something herself. “Not everything,” she murmured.
Now I was curious. “Oh, yeah? What do you think I’m forgetting?”
“We’re not having that conversation here.” She flicked my shoulder. “Eyes forward, soldier, and maybe you’ll make it to the bottom in one piece. Can you imagine the obituary if you fell here?Former Navy SEAL who survived gunshot wounds and underwater espionage dies on three-mile hike because he wasn’t paying attention.”
I faced forward again, laughing. “No chance. You’d have to make up a story about me saving you from a grizzly bear or something. Can’t have Maya defending my honor on the playground.”
“There are no grizzlies in Colorado.”
I grinned. She was rolling her eyes behind my back. I could hear it in her voice.
We were at the bottom now, safe and sound. I took her hand to help her down the last drop, and she allowed it even though we both knew it was unnecessary. I just liked touching her, and from the way her fingertips trailed my palm before letting go, it was safe to say she liked touching me, too.
Keeping our hands off each other when Maya came home tomorrow was going to be fucking torture.
Janie dropped her pack and yanked her shirt off over her head.
“You going in?” I asked. A stupid question when she was standing there in her sports bra and underwear.
My mouth went dry. Her pale, creamy skin was as blindingly bright as fresh fallen snow reflecting a winter sun. Good fucking god, it almost burned to look at her but I didn’t care. Scalded retinas were a small price to pay for all that beauty.
