Page 44 of The Outpost (Jamison Valley 4)
“Are you going to answer my question?” I nudged his elbow with mine.
“How many kids will I have? I don’t know. I guess I’d like at least two. What about you? Do you want kids?”
Another thing about questioning Beau was that he made me answer my own questions. I tried to remember that and pick my topics carefully.
“My career has been front and center for as long as I can remember. Kids weren’t a part of that plan and the guys I’ve dated were so far from good father material that I wasn’t ever tempted to deviate from my career path.”
“And if you found the right man?” Beau asked.
“Two kids would be nice.” My answer surprised me a bit. Up until that moment, I hadn’t thought about children in detail, but all of a sudden, the mental image of two little boys chasing one another in a park popped into my head.
I was not going to let myself analyze the fact that my imaginary sons were remarkably similar to the man at my side.
Time to deflect questions away from me.
“Have you ever been close to finding the right woman?”
“Not really. I dated a girl all through college but we broke up right after graduation. Neither of us wanted to take the next step.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “We were better friends than lovers. Things between us were always easy but the spark wasn’t there.”
I had only ever had a physical spark with the men I’d dated, never wanting anything but casual sex. None of them had ever been the kind of men I’d want as a friend.
But like many other aspects of my life, things were changing. I was ready for the relationship. The give and take. The passionate kisses and the lazy cuddles. Writing my novel had taught me that too. I was envious of the love my fictional heroine had found.
Beau and I walked in silence for the rest of the short hike until he steered us around one last clump of trees and the forest opened up. Damp rocks replaced dry dirt under my feet. Fresh mist floated in the air, clearing my nose of the forest’s musky aroma. The dull rush of the waterfall filled my ears, drowning out the quiet lull of the swaying trees.
“Wow,” I whispered.
The waterfall in front of us was breathtaking. It wasn’t all that tall or wide but it had such an intricate fall pattern it was mesmerizing. The water bounced from rock to rock as it traveled sideways nearly twenty feet until it finally dropped into a round pool.
The pond itself was completely clear, giving me a perfect view of the smooth black and gray rocks under the water’s glassy surface. Like an infinity pool, the water slipped over the pond’s far edge to travel down a rocky path where it eventually formed the small creek that descended the hill we had just climbed.
“How did you find this place?” I asked Beau. “It’s incredible.”
“Just by luck. I was up here hiking a couple of years ago and stumbled upon it.”
“Amazing find.” The place was nothing short of magical.
Boone abandoned his post by Beau’s legs to climb across the rocks and drink from the pond. Beau held out his hand and mine immediately fell into his palm. He helped me across the slick rocks to a larger one that made a platform at the edge of the pool.
“Want to go for a swim?” he asked.
“Uh, isn’t it a little cold?” The spray from the waterfall was far from lukewarm.
Beau shrugged. “It’s not that bad once you get used to it.”
“You first.”
He grinned and handed me his sunglasses. His eyes sparkled beautifully in the bright sunlight before he reached behind his head and yanked off his T-shirt. Squished together on the platform, my face was inches away from Beau’s naked chest.
My knees started to sway and I willed myself not to fall fully clothed into the water. Shirtless Beau was incredible. Not one muscle wasn’t defined on his arms and chest. His pecs were covered in just the right amount of dark chest hair. The skin on his stomach was smooth across his—two, four, six, eight!—rippled abs.
And he had a happy trail.
