Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
“I’ve been talking so much,” she says, covering her eyes in embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I say, staring at her gorgeous face and ignoring the scenic view. “I’m hanging on every word.”
“I’ve done all the talking,” she says. “Tell me about yourself. How long have you been a cop?”
We continue walking up the trail and I tell her how I joined the force when I was twenty-three. It feels like a lifetime ago but at the same time, it feels like the blink of an eye.
The path narrows and steepens, and I let her go ahead. Those legs are smoking hot. They’re making it very hard to concentrate. And that ass, moving rhythmically in those shorts? God, it’s enough to test a man’s will.
“I think the hiking shoes were a good idea,” she says as she climbs up a rocky part of the path. A few stones tumble down the path behind her.
“Those shorts were worth every penny, I can tell you that.”
She turns around and shoots me a flirty grin over her shoulder. “Eyes on the path, Mr. Gray.”
She keeps teasing me as we climb, and every time she laughs, my step gets a little bit lighter. It’s like all the darkness I’ve held in from this job is being released with each step. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this relaxed and at ease.
The trail steepens, but Ellie handles it well, moving with an easy grace. Her hair is loose under her hat and it dances in the breeze. I keep looking up at her as we climb. I’m trying to memorize every inch of this girl. I don’t know what the future holds, but I want to remember this moment forever.
I’ve hiked this mountain hundreds of times, but this path has never looked better than it does right now with this angel in front of me.
“So,” she says over her shoulder as we get close to the lookout. She’s breathless but smiling. “How come a man like you hasn’t settled down? You must be beating the women away with that long night stick of yours.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “Is that what you think?”
She raises her eyebrow as she studies me. “Yeah. I do. I bet the women of the Greene Mountains are frustrated beyond belief that no one has locked the hot Sheriff down.”
She turns away as she walks up the path. My eyes drop to her perfect ass, those beautiful cheeks swaying with each step. I don’t know if I can take this much longer. My cock is getting rock hard and it’s making it hard to hike properly.
“You sure you don’t have a wife or girlfriend hiding somewhere up here in these woods?”
“All clear,” I say.
“Well, what are you waiting for, Sheriff?” she asks, looking over her shoulder with a grin.
“I don’t know,” I say as I gaze into her gorgeous blue eyes. “Maybe I was waiting for an angel to float down from heaven.”
That gets those cheeks blushing.
“Well, I hope you find your angel,” she says as she turns back to focus on the path.
“I think I did.”
We pass the final trees and the trail opens up onto the spectacular lookout. Ellie gasps when she sees it. Icarus’ Launch Point is a large, flat ledge of stone that juts out over the valley far down below. The valley is covered in millions of colorful wildflowers with a lazy river snaking through it all. Surrounding the valley are the most majestic towering mountains on the planet. It’s breathtaking.
But I don’t look at any of it. My eyes are fixated on Ellie as she takes it all in for the first time, looking like she’s filled with a sense of wonder and awe. She’s so beautiful it hurts.
“This is unreal,” she says as she takes it all in. “So gorgeous.”
The breeze is nice and cool up here, tingling on our sweaty skin.
“I can smell the flowers,” she says as she inhales deep and smiles.
“This is my favorite place in the world,” I say as I gently take her hand and look out at the scenic view. “I didn’t think it could get any better, but I guess I was wrong.”
She smiles shyly and then rests her head on my shoulder as we stare out at the beautiful world, hand-in-hand.
I need to say some words to her. It’s probably a bad idea, and I bet Cara would tell me to wait for at least the second date before I spill my heart out, but I can’t. I’m not the kind of guy who can hold back. When I find something I want, I go for it with everything I got. And I want her. God, do I want her.
“I know this is fast,” I whisper as an eagle soars across the vast blue sky. “And I know we haven’t even finished our first date.”