Page 19 of Yours To Take
She looks me over, noticing the water bottle in my hand. “Is that all you’re bringing?”
“What? Water’s important.”
Gemma shakes her head, strands of hair falling loose around her face. “At least you got that fact right, Hollywood.”
“Hey, I resent that.” I point a finger at her. “I just didn’t plan on having time to go hiking.”
“I’ll carry it for you, and if you need anything, I packed a few snacks.”
“Great.”
Gemma sets off through the cabins to a trail marker.
“How hard do you want to go today?”
“Meaning…” I quirk a brow in her direction, my mind instantly going to all the hard things I want to do with her.
“Miles. Long, short, easy, hard? We have options.”
There’s a map that shows the trails leading out of the ranch to the mountains. “Medium?”
“I have just the trail for you. It’ll give us magnificent views of the Tetons.” She squeezes my bicep, sending a jolt of heat straight through me.
Shit. That’s something new.
Not that it’s entirely unwelcome, but it’s not the reason that I’m here. Work is my sole focus. If I lose my job, it’s going to be hard to find another studio to pick up a writer with writer’s block.
It takes me a minute to realize Gemma has taken off without me, so I jog to catch up.
“How long have you lived here?” I ask as she guides me through the woods.
“I’ve lived here my entire life.”
“Really?”
Gemma holds a tree branch out of the way and motions for me to pass her.
“I love it here. Why would I leave?”
“I guess that’s fair.”
“Have you always lived in LA?”
I stop at the fork in the trail and let her pass me to take the lead.
“No. I lived in Paris with my mom for a few years before we moved to LA. She had a modeling career when I was little before she became an actress.”
“Wow, Paris? That sounds like a fun place to grow up.”
Gemma takes a turn, and the incline of the hill gets a little steeper.
“It was, and it wasn’t. My mom was always working, so I was with nannies most of the time. The ones I liked would take me on adventures, but others just stayed at home with me.”
Stopping, Gemma turns to me with a sad look on her face. “That sounds lonely.”
“It was.” I’m not going to lie to her. “But once we moved back to the states and I started school, it was easy enough to make friends.”
“And no brothers and sisters?”
