Page 60 of The Hang Up
“Holy shit,” he breathed.
She laughed and planted a tiny kiss on his shoulder. “No kidding.”
“Well,” he said. “I guess you’ve got me beat with product demos. Headlamps and canoe paddles have nothing on your gear.”
She giggled and nuzzled closer, pretty sure she’d never been so sated in her life.
* * *
The next morning,Miriam rolled over to see Jason fast asleep in a sunbeam drifting through a slat in his blinds. The stubble on his jaw was even thicker than yesterday, and he had one muscular arm thrown over his eyes. The other hand was beneath the sheet, covering her thigh as though claiming her even in sleep.
She gave a little shiver of pleasure.
Last night had been amazing. Not just the sex—though that was obviously mind-blowing. It was the knowledge that his sense of adventure spanned from the bedroom to the boardroom to mountaintops and beyond. He was smart. Passionate. Funny. Successful. Sexy as hell.
In other words, everything she’d been looking for in a man.
Uh-oh.
She clutched the sheet closer to her breasts, not willing to go down that path. Yes, he was everything she wanted. But he was also everything shedidn’twant. The last thing she needed was a guy who got off on risking life and limb for the adrenaline rush. Been there, done that, spent six months crying herself dry at Holly’s kitchen table and in a cemetery outside of town.
She thought about her father, which was a weird thing to think about in bed on a Sunday morning with a guy who’d made her come her brains out all night long.
That was the thing about grief. It didn’t always hit at convenient times.
She remembered her father’s laugh, deep and booming like a foghorn. She remembered his eyes lighting up as he cracked the spine on another travel guide or sorted through his climbing gear as he prepared for his next big adventure.
Yes, her dad had died, leaving her with a big, aching hole in her heart.
But her dad had also lived. He’d seized life by the balls, conquering mountains and chasing dreams and living every day to its fullest no matter what the cost.
He would have wanted you to do the same, you know.
Jason’s phone buzzed on the nightstand, startling Miriam from her thoughts. She watched his eyes flutter open, then brighten as his blue gaze skimmed her bare shoulder.
“Good morning,”she said, smiling a little self-consciously.
“Morning.” He angled up on his forearm to kiss her. One hand slid from her thigh to her backside, caressing her as she shivered with pleasure beneath his palm.
The phone buzzed again with the sound of an incoming text message.
She broke the kiss and glanced at the nightstand. “Do you need to get that? It could be work or Henry or something.”
“Henry.” Jason sat up, the sheet sliding down his torso. He reached past Miriam to grab the phone off the nightstand, and she watched as his face creased into a frown. “Dammit,” he muttered.
“What is it?”
He raked his fingers through his hair and looked up at her with guilt in his eyes. “I totally forgot I promised Henry I’d take him hiking today near Mount Hood while Ellie has brunch with one of the moms she met through that support group of cancer parents.”
Miriam glanced at the clock. “You can still go, right? It’s only eight thirty.”
“Yeah,” he muttered, still staring at the phone. “I can’t believe I forgot in the first place. I’m usually good about my commitments to Henry.”
“You’re still good,” she said as she gave his leg a reassuring squeeze. “Just give me a second to wash my face and I’ll get out of your hair so you can?—”
“Come with us.” He grabbed her hand under the covers.
“To Mount Hood?”
