Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 56831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
While we ate, he tried to lighten the mood by telling me about some of his culinary disasters over the years. At one point, he said, “My failure as a cook goes way back. When I was nine, my mom and brother were both at work, so I decided to make myself a burrito for dinner. That should have been so simple, but I ended up setting the stove on fire and calling 911.”
I got that he was going for an amusing anecdote, and I smiled appreciatively. But what I heard was a story about a lonely kid who had to grow up too fast, and it made me feel even more protective of him than I already did.
On the way back to the car after lunch, Romy froze and grabbed my hand. I thought something was wrong, and my adrenaline surged. But then he pointed and whispered, “Look over there, in the tall grass at the edge of the parking lot.”
I was surprised to see a coyote standing perfectly still and watching us, mostly because it was my second time seeing one in less than twenty-four hours. It felt like a sign in a way, especially since the first one had sent me back to town and straight to Romy.
He whispered, “Isn’t he beautiful?” Was he? An argument could be made that he was kind of cute, but I didn’t know if I’d call him beautiful. Romy was mesmerized though, and after a moment he said, “Sometimes I get tired of living in the desert. But then it offers up a gift like this, and I’m reminded there’s beauty and wonder all around us. I just have to take the time to look for it.”
When the animal turned and disappeared, Romy let go of my hand and ran after it. What the hell? I’d obviously been right when I thought he had terrible instincts. Not only had he brought me home with him, but now he was running toward a wild animal, instead of away from it.
I gave chase and finally caught up to Romy when he was about ten yards into the knee-high grass. Then I asked, “What are you doing? Don’t you know that’s a dangerous animal?”
He turned to me with a smile, and with mischief in his eyes. “Of course I do, but he wasn’t going to let me catch him.” Okay, so maybe he had a point. Then he gestured at a small ravine up ahead and said, “There’s a creek down there. Can we go take a look?”
“You can go anywhere you want.”
“I know, but will you come with me?”
I grinned and told him, “I’ll follow you anywhere. Even down a dusty hillside, to a sad little stream with a possibly rabid coyote.”
Romy grinned, too. “In other words, you’re really not the outdoorsy type.”
“Yes and no. I try to spend most of my free time outdoors. But that’s more along the lines of sitting on a balcony with a drink, not actively interacting with nature.”
He chuckled at that and took my hand again. “Don’t worry. If anything natural tries to actively interact with you, I’ll intervene.”
We made our way downhill to the creek, and it turned out I’d been right to call it sad. It just wasn’t much to speak of—unless you’d grown up in the desert, apparently. Romy was almost as enthusiastic about that little trickle of water as he’d been about the coyote. He even decided he needed to go and stand in it, after taking off his shoes and socks and rolling up the cuffs of his jeans.
Meanwhile, I sat down on the remains of a rock wall and watched him as he splashed around. His genuine happiness at such a simple thing was charming.
After a few minutes, he came over to me with a big smile and said, “You should stick your feet in the creek. It feels really good.”
“It’s more fun to watch you.”
“You could do both at the same time,” he pointed out, as he pulled his hoodie off over his head. His T-shirt rode up when he did that, and the glimpse of his belly button and a few inches of skin made my heart race. How was that so unbelievably sexy? But then, everything about him was, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
He leaned in to place the hoodie beside me on the rock wall, and when he looked up, his face was just inches from mine. Both of us became very still as he met my gaze. Then he licked his lips reflexively.
I knew he wanted me to kiss him. I wanted it too, more than anything, but my guilt held me back.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” My voice sounded so rough that I barely recognized it. “You wouldn’t want me if you knew.”