Chapter Six
Skye
Ibounced my knee as I stared into the underbrush waiting for Kyle to re-emerge.
He had never done this before.
Normally he was on his lead. I should have put it back on when we stopped.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Maybe I had overtrusted my little furball.
Maybe the man beside me had distracted me from my cat mom duties.
The end result was the same.
I said waiting for him to come back was the right plan and was sticking to that…but it was getting harder. Losing my travel buddy was too much to even think about.
Meeting new people was fine, being alone was fine too, but once I’d adopted Kyle — or he adopted me — I couldn’t imagine being without him.
A single almost forty-year-old woman obsessed with her cat, not exactly original. It was true though. I loved his little antics and having a warm body in bed beside me. I glanced over to where Aaron was patiently letting me take the lead and my heart gave a little flutter.
I had noticed Aaron from the first time we’d met.
He was big and strong, and hot, who wouldn’t take notice?
But as we got to know each other we started butting heads, and that was more fun than I cared to admit.
Acting on my crush wasn’t an option. We were too different, too busy, he was the loner mountain man and I lived my life on my socials.
Besides, he was friends with Cliff.
Now, with just the two of us here, it was harder to ignore the pull. The priority right now was Kyle and whether sitting here while he got further away was the right thing to do.
His warm palm landed on the bare thigh of the leg I had been shaking. I looked down at his hand, then up into his eyes. “You’re calm under pressure…well, a kind of pressure. If you’re confident this will work, then don’t worry. We just have to wait him out.”
His praise was as unexpected as it was welcome.
It warmed my chest, and I gave him a half-hearted smile before my eyes dropped to the dirt.
“I know people think a cat is just a pet, but he’s my partner in crime, you know?
” I licked my lips. “I don’t know if I’ll ever find a person I can be around all the time and not get sick of.
He is the perfect compromise, someone to love and who loves me, but who won’t expect me to settle down in one place or tone down my adventure plans. ”
He squeezed my thigh, and that bit of tenderness had tears pricking my eyes. “Once he gets his furry butt back here, he is wearing that harness twenty-four seven.”
Aaron patted my leg and withdrew his hand. I wanted to grab it and put it back.
“I’m somewhat of a loner myself, so when you explain the little furball that way, I can sort of understand the desire to keep him around.”
A small smile crossed my lips. “That’s very big of you, Aaron.”
He smirked back, then we shook Kyle’s food and toy again.
The rustle of a leaf sounded from somewhere nearby, and my eyes shot to Aaron’s. He gave me a small nod, and we both stayed still. More rustling sounded, and I shook the toy again. The rustling increased and got closer.
Finally, Kyle came running out of the underbrush, the cricket he’d been chasing in his mouth.
Aaron reached down and grabbed him before he even saw it coming.
He gave a little squeak and dropped his kill.
Aaron held Kyle up so they were eye to eye.
“You had your mother worried sick. No more running off or you’re staying in the cabin next time. ”
Oh shit, sexy daddy vibes. Hello.
Great. Now my crush came with bonus competent-cat-dad energy.
I grabbed Kyle from Aaron’s oversized arms and squeezed him to my chest. “You scared me.” I buried my face in his fur, trying to pretend I wasn’t about to cry over my cat being out of my sight for a few minutes.
Aaron gave me some space to have my minor meltdown, then I wrestled Kyle into his harness…he went willingly when I gave him the cricket carcass back, and we continued our hike.
“Wait,” Aaron bellowed a half hour later. We’d slowed as the trail got steeper. I paused and looked at him over my shoulder. He had a sheen of sweat on his face and looked unfairly good despite it.
He marched past me to where there was a sign stuck in the ground with some information about a plant. “Sensitive species, my job as your official guide is to make sure you don’t step right there.” He pointed to a spot on the ground.
He stood in front of it with his arms crossed tightly over his chest like he was a bouncer, then once I walked past him…not touching the precious grass or whatever, he fell in line behind me again.
“Aaron, was that…did you make a joke?”
He grunted. “Don’t get used to it.” I laughed anyway. Normally, Aaron had a stick so far up his ass it would make his hat fall off. My brother, and the other SAR people, were the same. Maybe all first responders were. Bringing order to a chaotic situation.
The fact that he had a bit of a sense of humor and was willing to indulge my various eccentricities, not the least of which was Kyle, fanned the flames of my crush into something hotter.
I glanced over my shoulder at him. His head was down, watching where he put his feet.
He had his thumbs stuck under the straps of his pack, a move that caused the muscles of his forearms and biceps to stand out until they seemed too big to be real.
The straps of his pack rested further out than they did on a normal person because his massive man pecs pushed them to the side.
I turned back to watch where I was going, but couldn’t help but wonder if there was an opportunity I was overlooking here.
Single man. Single woman. Nothing around but trees, mountain air, and the potential for bad decisions.