Page 48 of Lavender Lake
My head was going to drive me insane.
My body, however, knew instantly that it wanted him. Tousled hair, no doubt minty breath, warm skin.
Fuck. Me.
Bowman walked over to the wall and pointed to a picture of Hadley, me and our parents.
“What’s going on here?”
I stepped closer to the photo and couldn’t stop the laughter as the memory assaulted me.
“Have you heard of the Hiawatha Trail?”
He shook his head.
“It’s a 15-mile bike trail on the Idaho and Montana border. It used to be a railway line, so you ride through old train tunnels and there are these incredible trestles with these awesome views. As you can see from this photo, I loved it. But Hadley didn’t.”
I was smiling in elation at the camera, while Hadley’s face was streaked with tears.
“Why is she crying?” Bowman asked.
“I hate riding horses and Hadley hates riding bikes. Only we didn’t discover that until this adventure.”
“Oh no,” Bowman said with a slight chuckle, his eyes devouring the framed photograph. “How old were you?”
“Ten.”
“Let me guess, you were in the front, far ahead and your parents had to call you to stay close.”
“Nah. Mom rode with me. Dad rode with Hadley.”
I reached out and touched my mother’s face.
“You look like her,” he said quietly.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Pretty sure that’s why my dad can’t look me straight on.”
He was silent for a moment, and then he said, “I wanted to apologize.”
“For entering my room without invitation?” I joked.
“No. For the stuff I said by the fire.”
“Why?” I asked, finally looking at him.
We were only a few inches apart. If either of us moved ever so slightly, we could brush our lips against one another.
“Because I spoke to you like I know you. Like I had the right to be so honest. It’s how I’d want someone to speak to me, but . . .”
“So, you’re not apologizing forwhatyou said, justhowyou said it?”
“Something like that.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay. It probably needed to be said.”
“Oh, it definitely needed to be said,” he said with a slight smile.
When my eyes slid from his, he reached out and gently grasped my chin and turned my gaze back to his. “But I’m not soft or tender.”
