Ty stood looking out the window, rubbing his unshaven jaw. The weather was still spotty, the weather-alert station was predicting it would get worse as a large front approached, and they were warily monitoring an unsettled jet stream. But he thought they could risk a walk outside, at least out to the point and back. She hadn’t complained, but they hadn’t been out in a couple of days, and to his surprise, he found he missed trekking around with her.
Of course, if she knew that what sleep he’d gotten last night had been decorated with dreams where he hadn’t pulled back from her, where he’d gone ahead and kissed her and his world had gone up in flames, she likely wouldn’t come anywhere near him.
“Cliché much?” he muttered under his breath.
“Problem?”
He nearly jumped as she spoke from right behind him. Some bodyguard you are. He didn’t look at her. He didn’t dare. Because he was afraid those dreams would somehow show in his eyes.
And when did you turn calf-eyed, Colton?
The self-lecturing wasn’t working too well. He made himself answer casually. “Thinking about a walk out to the point, if you wanted to go. I think the rain will hold off for a while.”
“I’d like that,” she answered quickly.
“Gear up, then,” he said. “I don’t know how long it’ll hold.”
She was ready more quickly than he would have expected, but he’d already seen she wasn’t one of those women who took hours to get ready to simply step out into the world.
As they walked, he updated her. “Elite has been watching Sanderson steadily. He’s been relatively quiet. No more direct threats.”
She seemed oddly troubled by what he’d thought would be good news for her. “Indirect ones, then?”
“Not really. He’s changed tacks, it seems. Maybe he realized he went too far.”
He half expected her to suggest that this was overkill then, that she didn’t need to be tucked away here, didn’t need to be protected. By him.
But she didn’t. Instead, she merely asked, “What’s he doing now?”
“Now he’s touting the benefits of his development in the way of jobs, housing, bringing money into the economy.”
He’d intentionally kept his tone neutral, but she reacted rather defensively. “And you agree with that?”
“I agree those are valid points and should be considered. Looking for a fight?”
To his surprise—again—she gave him an almost sheepish look. “I sounded that way, didn’t I?”
“Pretty much.”
“Sorry. I don’t want to fight.” She lowered her gaze to the narrow trail they were walking. “Not with you.”
She said those last words so softly he wasn’t sure he was supposed to hear them. But hear them he had, and it knotted him up inside. He didn’t dare risk answering her. Because he was starting to realize just how much trouble he was in here.
Then they were at the point that jutted out into the lake north of the cabin. He showed her to his favorite spot, where the sandstone had been shaped by wind and water into a serviceable place to sit and look out over the lake.
“This is lovely,” she said, as she sat on the stone, apparently not caring that it was wet in spots from the earlier rain.
“I did a lot of my teenage thinking here.”
“I can see why.” She gave him a sideways look and a smile. “Although some would say the terms teenage and thinking are mutually exclusive.”
“Not me,” he said, holding up his hands in mock defense. “I did a lot of thinking.” He couldn’t hold back a grin. “Of course, most of it was crazy wrong, but it was thinking.”
She laughed, and he had the thought he’d rather hear that laugh than just about anything. And that had him remembering that moment again, when he’d nearly kissed her.
Talk about crazy wrong thinking...
“That’s Kanopolis State Park over there,” he said abruptly, pointing across the lake and not caring if he sounded like a tour guide. Not now, when he was trying not to look at her, at that luscious mouth that was too damned tempting. “It was the first state park in Kansas. They’ve got a full-on prairie dog town over there, makes ours look like an outpost.” She smiled at that, and he went on. “And some serious hiking trails. About thirty miles’ worth. Horsethief Canyon’ll kill you on a hot day.”
“Sounds challenging.”
“The wildlife viewing area is a lot easier. And fun, really.”
“What kind of wildlife?”
“Anything from woodchucks to wild turkeys. Porcupines. Mule deer.”
She looked at him rather intently for a moment, he wasn’t sure why. “What’s your favorite?”
He had to think about that for a moment. “Bobcat, maybe. Or kestrels. I like the way they hover like oversized hummingbirds.”
She laughed at that. “So, the higher-ups on the food chain you were talking about, then?”
His brow furrowed. “I hadn’t thought about it like that, but I guess so. I admire getting the job done.” He gave her a sideways look. “I suppose you’re more for the prey than the hunters?”
“I think an eagle—or a bobcat—on the hunt is a beautiful thing. But I also think the mouse has his place.”
“Then we agree,” he said quietly.
She smiled at that. “I’d like to see this refuge sometime.”
And I’d like to take you there. He bit back the thought before it made it into words. “It’s a great place. Two ponds, a marsh, a bunch of photo blinds and an observation deck.” He raised a brow at her. “But what I think you’d like best is what it used to be.”
“What did it used to be?”
“A motorcycle racetrack.”
She blinked. “What?”
He nodded. “It hadn’t been in use in a while, so some area folks donated the money and it was converted to a natural sanctuary.”
“That’s wonderful!”
He’d known she’d like the idea, but he hadn’t quite expected the delight that shone in her eyes.
And he couldn’t quite stop the wish that he could put that look in her eyes in another, much more personal way.
Usually in a place like this, Ashley would be more aware of her surroundings than anything else. She would be looking at everything, plants, animals, birds, smiling at the familiar while searching out those she didn’t know, filing the image of them away in her brain to research later. Normally she would have pulled out her phone and done it right then, but to her surprise, she didn’t miss it. She had belatedly realized that her prodigious brain gave her an advantage others might not have: the ability to remember exactly what she’d seen later and track it down.
Usually in a place like this, her focus would be on where she was, not who she was with.
But nothing with Ty Colton was usual. Not for her. And that was unsettling enough that it had her completely off balance. Which in turn was startling enough that she didn’t quite know how to deal with it.
She tried to focus on other things. What he’d told her about the sanctuary they’d built over there in the state park. But that just made her think about how he’d known what that would mean to her. So she tried thinking about the fact that the creatures he admired most were the predators, and what that said about him.
I admire getting the job done.
So did she, didn’t she? Her entire life was about getting the job done; it was merely a different sort of job. She—
“I wonder,” he murmured, staring out over the lake as if he were seeing something else entirely.
“You wonder what?” she asked after a moment when he didn’t go on.
He still didn’t look at her, but he answered, in a tone that sounded like her father when he was thinking out loud. “If Sanderson would be willing to move his development back a little, and maybe put some effort into improving the wetlands, or maybe building a sanctuary of sorts, or a bird study center. Maybe the county would trade him some land to do that.”
She nearly gaped at him. That was exactly the sort of compromise she always worked toward, and he’d come up with it just like that.
“He could make it a selling point,” he murmured, even more quietly now, brow furrowed, still staring out over the water. “Give buyers a stake in preserving the wetland, maybe even put part of homeowner’s association fees toward maintaining them. I’m sure there are people who would buy into it just for those reasons.” For another long moment, he kept looking out over the lake. Then he gave his head a sharp shake. And glanced at her. “Sorry,” he muttered. “Just thinking out loud.”
She was certain she was still gaping at him but couldn’t help it. “Don’t apologize. It’s a perfect solution. Exactly what I work toward.” He smiled then, looking pleased, although there was a touch of surprise in it. “Do you think the county would do that? Could they afford it?”
“No idea,” he answered. “There might be some Chickadee Checkoff funds available, since it’s essentially to protect wildlife.” She was familiar with the term in some states for the checkboxes on tax returns that sent taxpayer donations to specific causes. “Problem would be convincing them, since everyone thinks their cause is the most important.”
She smiled at back at him. “I’m very good at convincing.” She was looking right at him then and didn’t—couldn’t—miss the flare of something hot and almost intimate in his eyes.
“I know you are,” he said, and his voice sounded as his gaze had looked. A strange combination of heat and chill swept over her, and feeling a shiver go down her spine at the same time, her cheeks flushed. It was an experience she’d never had before.
But she’d never met a man like this one before. And certainly never one who did such crazy things to her, when they’d never even kissed.
Yet.
The single short word echoed in her mind. And she knew that on some level her mind had already decided it would happen. She also realized that if left up to him, it would not. Because he wouldn’t. He would see it as a violation of his duty. She almost blushed all over again at the thought, which seemed old-fashioned to her very modern mind, but she couldn’t deny it was very appealing.
It also meant it would be up to her.
A challenge. She was always up for a challenge.