Page 8 of Tempted By the Mountain Man
“I’m a junior editor at this small publishing company.”
“That sounds cool. I’m sure that some other company would hire you. Hell, maybe they’d even let you work remotely and you could travel and work.”
“Maybe. I’ve been thinking about starting my own editing company. I could take the books and projects that I want, work with the authors that I want.”
“Sounds like a win-win. You should do it.”
“I need to make sure that I would be successful enough to pay my bills. Besides, it might just be too many changes at once. I mean, leave my job, my apartment, city, the friends that I’ve made.”
“But if you’re not happy,” I say as we start to walk along the trail again.
“We’ll see,” she mumbles and I let the subject go.
I hate seeing that sad look on her face, the way that her shoulders roll in. I get the feeling that it’s been her against the world for a long time. She must be lonely, bored even, which explains why she agreed with my game last night.
I can understand that. I’ve been feeling lonely and isolated since I struck it rich. It’s hard to tell who is after me for me or for my money.
I think that Camden is the only one that I would let use me. I wouldn’t even care as long as I could be with her. Talking to her and bathing in her sweet smiles.
Camden doesn’t know it yet, but I could buy her a house anywhere that she wants. She never has to work again if she doesn’t want to. I would give her the world if she would just ask for it.
The trail starts to double back toward the cabin and my stomach growls. It’s only been an hour, but I’m already starting to get hungry again.
“What about you? Are you from a small town?” Camden asks as we climb over a small grouping of boulders.
“Yeah, I grew up in a town a little farther south than here. Just on the other side of the bridge. I left and went to Lansing for college, but that’s the biggest city that I’ve lived in.”
“And you didn’t like it,” she guesses.
“No. Too much traffic, too many people.”
“What did your parents do for a living?” she asks.
“They’re farmers. We had a farm. They still have it actually, though they don’t really work it anymore. It’s all the foreman and other workers.”
“And you don’t want to take it over?”
“God no. It’s good, honest work, but it’s also a hell of a lot of work. I never liked it. I went to school for engineering and business. I always knew that I didn’t want to go back.”
“I can’t blame you. It’s got to be a lot of long days.”
I nod, offering her my hand as we climb over a fallen tree. She slips her fingers into mine, letting me help her, and I smile.
She’s starting to trust me more and it makes my heart race in my chest. This girl is my destiny and I’m glad that she’s starting to come around.
“Are your parents disappointed that you didn’t take over?”
“No, well, maybe a little, but it’s not like it was a surprise. I had told them quite a few times that I didn’t want that life when I was growing up.”
“Are you guys close?”
“No, not really. Or not as close as I’d like us to be. Their whole lives have been the farm and it still kind of is. We just don’t have much in common.”
“That’s how it is with my parents too. They love to brag about me living in New York City and working at a publishing house, but I just don’t think that they really care about how I’m doing.”
“It’s their loss,” I tell her and she swallows hard, staring out at the trees.
The roof of the cabin comes into view between the trees and Camden lets out a deep breath. She’s panting, obviously not used to such physical exertion. I’m breathing heavy too and it only increases when my eyes take in Camden’s curvy body.
