Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Lia grabbed the bag and made her way back to her room, swaying her hips as she marched off. Getting out of those jeans was definitely a good idea if we had any plans of actually making it to our date.
A few minutes later, she came out frowning, holding the bag like it contained venomous snakes.
“What?” I asked.
“There is NO way in hell I am wearing those ugly things!” she shrieked, sounding like such a valley girl.
I started laughing at the look on her face. “What’s wrong with them? They’re hiking boots and you love shoes. I guess I’m missing the issue here.”
“Pink camo? Really, Cale?” she huffed.
“Lia, you’ll need them for our date. I promise it’ll be just us two. The fashion police won’t be anywhere near us. You’ll thank me later.”
She rolled her eyes and sat down to put them on. Her cute lips were still puckered into a pout, but she was complying. She’d changed into some equally sexy jeans, but these looked more comfortable. The hoodie was one I’d given her to wear. It was pink camo too, but for some reason, she wasn’t as offended by the top.
When she finished, she stood up, walked over to me, and kissed my cheek. “I’m ready for our date, handsome.” And with that, she strutted out the front door, giving me another prime view of her sexy ass.
CALE WAS UP to something for our date. He had me dressed up like a freaking redneck, but honestly, I really didn’t care. I was just excited to be going on a real date. When I’d thought about if this day would ever come with anyone, I’d been overwhelmed with anxiety. My nightmare dinner with Sam and then his creepy note stressed me out, but going out with Cale had me feeling anticipation I hadn’t felt in a very long time. For once in the past three years, I felt like a normal woman going on a normal date with a man. A very hot man.
The drive to our unknown-to-me destination was a quiet one except for Big Wreck singing a very appropriate “You Caught My Eye” in the background. Our thoughts were in other places as we drove. Yesterday, Pops had a talk with me about being careful on my date. It seemed that he had quite the protective streak in him. If he’d known about the craziness with Sam or, more terrifying, my abduction three years ago, he’d have probably forbid me to date anyone ever. Family isn’t always blood. Pops was definitely family.
I noticed that we were heading towards a more secluded area that normally would have sent me into a panic. But with Cale, this was exciting, not scary. If only he knew how much he’d saved me from my ugly past these last few days. When my mom called earlier, I was finally able to give her the juicy gossip she’d been waiting on for the past three years. She was beyond thrilled and couldn’t wait to meet the man who had managed to snag her baby girl’s interest. I missed her and Rich so much and desperately anticipated seeing them on Thanksgiving.
After driving on some old roads through the woods for a good thirty minutes, we eventually arrived at a clearing. “Ready for our date?” Cale asked.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” I answered honestly.
He smiled at me before hopping out of the truck. I followed after him to find him already pulling stuff out of the back.
“What exactly are we doing?”
“Carry those two bags right there. You’ll find out soon enough, but we need to get going before it gets dark,” he instructed.
A little while later, after hiking though several nearly impassable trails, we arrived at a small clearing completely surrounded by thick woods. Darkness was falling quickly, but with Cale nearby, my fear stayed at bay.
With impressive efficiency, Cale assembled a tent in record time. “I was a Boy Scout,” he offered when he saw my jaw hanging. After the tent was up, he gathered what he needed and started a blazing fire that illuminated our camping area.
“So, is it safe to assume we’re camping, Cale?” I asked him.
“Complete with ghost stories and all,” he smirked.
I watched him as he dragged over a huge piece of wood for us to sit on. Once I sat down, he busied himself with the small ice chest he’d brought with us. A few minutes later, he handed me a stick with a hot dog on it.
“You can’t go camping without cooking hot dogs over the campfire,” he grinned, looking very much like a little boy.
After we’d filled our bellies with hot dogs sans buns, he brought out the marshmallows. By the time I burned the third one, I was in full-on pout mode. He’d already laughed at me the entire time, but he eventually held up one of his perfectly roasted marshmallows to my lips. I leaned forward and pulled it off his fingers with just my mouth, never losing eye contact, leaving him staring at my lips. When I dipped my head back down to suck off the gooey remnants of the marshmallow on his fingers, he groaned loudly. Who’s laughing now?