Chapter 7 #2
"You're pretty great," Jo said quietly. "I kind of wish I'd met you under different circumstances."
Colton's heart leapt, although he tried to keep his voice and face relatively calm. "What kind of other circumstances?"
"Ones where you were local? Or at the very least, just arriving on your mountain vacation, instead of leaving from it. I'd like to spend more time with you," she said wistfully.
"I can be on the first plane out here once my court case ends.
" Colton spoke as lightly as he could, but he meant it from the bottom of his soul.
Some of that must have come through despite his attempt at keeping it light, because Jo's gaze darted to his.
He saw hope there, and then confusion as her eyebrows drew down.
"You're kidding. You must be kidding?"
"You just said you'd like to spend more time with me. Is it so unlikely that I'd like to spend more time with you, too?"
She laughed, an unexpectedly bitter sound. "Kind of, yes."
"That makes no sense to me," he admitted. "You're incredible. Brave, smart, prepared, beautiful, strong, determined. And that's just on the surface, from knowing you a few hours. I can't imagine how much more there is to find out, but I'd love to be allowed to."
"Oh, come on. I'm tall and skinny and have carrot hair and bad skin."
Colton couldn't help lifting a hand to not-quite ghost it across her cheek. The skin there was raw and chapped now, but it had been red from the cold and wind when he'd first seen her, too. "Not bad at all. Glowing, maybe. Outdoorsy. And your hair is the color of embers, not carrots."
"Embers," she told him drolly, "are orange. Just like carrots."
"Carrots are orange. Embers are the deepest reds and brightest golds, just like your hair." He pulled his hand back before it touched her hair, though the little flyaway strands practically begged for him to smooth them.
She was shaking her head and smiling, though the smile looked a little achy. "Boy do I wish you'd been in my high school. Although you'd probably have done the same thing everybody else did, so maybe not."
Colton, trying again to sound light and funny, said, "Do I need to swat a former quarterback or something? You'd be amazed how far I can swat something."
That got a laugh from her, bright and startled. "I don't think I'd be all that amazed! I told you, you're huge! And no, but I'm going to hang on to the idea of you doing that. No, like I said, tall, skinny, carrot-haired, and my name…" She sighed gustily. "My full name is Jolene."
"Oh, but that's a great name. Like the so—oh."
"Yeaaaaaaaah."
Colton screwed his face up, trying not to laugh but also genuinely sympathetic. "Oh. And kids are jerks. And you got the whole package. Emerald eyes and everything."
"My voice," Jo said, "is not as soft as the summer rain."
"No, it's deep. Sexy." Colton bit his tongue on the last word, but the way Jo shook her head, but also ducked it, suggested she was pleased. He still said, "Sorry. We're stuck in here, and I don't want to make it weird."
She glanced up at the orange tent walls, lit by the warm yellow lights, and then around the little tent, before shaking her head again as she met his eyes.
"Stuck, yes, but the only weird part is that I'm totally okay with being stuck in the middle of nowhere with a strange man.
With this strange man, anyway. I don't think I'd be quite as comfortable with anybody else. "
Yooooou should telllllll her, Colton's chimera sang in his head, but before he could even respond, Jo's gaze sharpened and her spine straightened.
"Did he just talk to you?"
"What? Yes! How did you know?"
"I don't know. Something in your expression changed a little, like you were listening to something very close but very quiet."
"He's not that quiet."
I am as quiet as a… His chimera's offended response petered out as it landed on the human phrase 'quiet as a mouse,' but didn't want to compare itself to teeny tiny prey. After a moment it tried again: I am VERY quiet!
"What's he saying?" Jo asked.
"That he's very quiet."
And that you should tell her you're her fated mate and you're going to live happily ever after forever and always!
Jo looked suspicious. "And?"
"And that he thinks we'd be good together," Colton hedged. "And that you feel that, too, so you feel safe."
Her shoulders relaxed a bit, although she hadn't been tense so much as intense. "Maybe that's it. It's nice, whatever it is. Lord, I'm tired," she added abruptly. "Do chimeras get worn out, stomping through snow and cold?"
"Not the way humans do. He's big, for one thing. But shifters also heal when they change shape, so it shakes some of the fatigue off. If you want to sleep, I'll keep watch for a while."
"What are you going to watch for? Bears?
They're all sleeping." Jo stripped her coat and snowpants off, but left the rest of her clothes on before she climbed into the sleeping bag.
It would be a tight fit with both of them, Colton thought, but they'd certainly be warm. Assuming he was rude enough to—
As if she'd heard the thought and where it was going, Jo lifted her brilliant green eyes to Colton's face. "Wake me up if you have to, but don't sleep outside the bag, okay?"
He nodded. "I promise. Get some rest. It's been a long day."
"Don't stay up all night." Jo rolled over in the sleeping bag, and a few minutes later she was asleep.
Colton did stay up a while, watching, as he'd promised.
Watching over her, because nothing else in the world could be as important as making sure his mate slept safely and soundly.
Eventually, mindful of his promise, he pulled his outer layer off, too, and made an attempt to climb into the sleeping bag.
Jo grunted a couple of times, squished to one side, and somehow made room, although it was physically impossible to not snuggle as they slept.
Weariness, the cold, and the events of the day made it easier to sleep than Colton had expected, though, and within another few minutes, he, too, drifted into sleep with his mate safe in his arms.