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"Hi, Everly. Thanks for bringing lunch again," Chance said, holding the door for me as I passed through. In a routine that was becoming way too familiar, I dropped my laptop bag and purse in the living room chair and headed for the kitchen with the bags of food. While I set the table and poured drinks for us, I wondered how the local females would react if they saw how at home I was at Chance's.
"What's that grin for?" Chance ask as he slid into the chair across from me at the table.
I guess I'll never be a good poker player. "Just thinking about something from last night."
"About that," Chance said, looking down at his plate. "That's what happens when guys plan things."
I looked up from my food, but he kept his focus on his plate. "I'm sorry if we scared you. We didn't think how it might look for the three of us to corner you alone."
I laid my hand on his arm. "It was a bit creepy, but I trust the three of you." As I said it aloud, I realized how odd that was. I'm not sure there were any men left back in Georgia that I trusted as completely as I did my Idaho guyumvirate that I'd known only a few weeks.
"Thanks. Still sorry we put you on edge."
As we ate our meal, we talked about my trip back into the mountains. It was clear that either Chance and Tom had made plans before I accepted or they'd spent the morning working it out. Chance reminded me of things I packed on the last trip that I didn't need and things I should make sure I pack this trip. After we finished up in the kitchen, Chance said there was some stuff we needed to do outside, so I followed him to a large garage that I hadn't even taken notice of before. One of the three overhead doors was open, and an ATV was sitting outside.
"Tom's going to take you in a different route. You'll go the first part on an ATV like this one. Tom's is a little different, but they all work pretty much the same. Tom will drive, but after last time, we figured it would be good if you knew the basics."
I have to admit, I really enjoyed driving the ATV around Chance's property. It was kind of like an open-air version of Snickety. "Thanks, Chance", I said as I climbed off the ATV after pulling it into the garage. "That was fun. I'll leave the driving to Tom, but it's good to know how to handle it just in case."
To be honest, it warmed my heart to think Chance was concerned about my safety right up until he said, "Tom and I thought it was a good idea in case you push him off a cliff and need to haul his ass back to civilization." He laughed. I didn't. "Let's head over to the picnic table."
After pissing me off, I wasn't in the mood to spend more time with Chance. "I should probably get going."
"We can hurry if you're in a rush, but there are a couple more things we need to talk about." As we approached the picnic table I saw that there were guns laid out on top. "I understand I may not be your favorite person, but this is a little extreme, don't you think?"
"Why do you think you're not my favorite person, City Girl. You think I hold a grudge because you pushed me off a cliff and put me out of business during my busiest time of the year."
Now, I was getting a little worried. Part of me said he wouldn't have bothered to teach me to drive the ATV if he intended to shoot me. Another part of me said, there were guns on the table. "I figured you were pretty angry with me, but you've done a good job of hiding it until now." I gestured to the table. "Wish you'd told me lunch was my last meal. I would have chosen something that took longer to eat."
He looked at me and smiled, that adorable lopsided smile of his that made a dimple magically appear in his cheek. "Sorry," he said. "I guess this is another example of me not thinking about how things might look or sound to you. I want you to take a gun with you. You need to be armed when you go into the wild around here."
"Why didn't I need one when you took me?"
"I'm a better hunter than Tom."
We spent the next hour getting me comfortable with the gun Chance was loaning me for the trip. That was a laugh. I couldn't really understand how anyone could ever be comfortable with a gun, but maybe that's just my city girl showing. I could see that it might be good to be armed if you ran into a bear or something that posed a real threat. I guess I still found it hard to believe that happened all that often.
It felt ridiculous when I packed the gun case in my tote. What on Earth had I gotten myself into? Chance walked me to my car. He leaned against the driver's door as I stashed my bags in the hatch. I grinned at the sight, not sure if he made Snickety look ridiculously small or if my very small car made Chance look oddly large.
Chance didn't move out of my way when I headed for the door. I looked up and realized maybe it was a good thing Chance Munroe was moody and snarky sometimes. If not for that flaw, he might just be irresistible. He reached out and pulled me into a hug. Resting my head against his chest felt awfully good.
"You stay safe out there." He pushed me away enough that he could bend his head to mine and kiss me.
Later when I replayed that moment in my head, and I knew I would be replaying it, I knew I'd be sorry that I'd been too shocked to fully participate. I'm sure I looked as off-kilter as I felt.
His eyes caught mine, and the lop-sided grin appeared. He swung my car door open, and I got in. He closed the door and leaned in the window. "Have a safe trip, and just remember, Tom's a good guy, but he's the second string." He stood there grinning as I drove away.