“Oh, take my word. I am the best.”
Jordan really is gifted with the art of flirting. His innuendos have me blushing like a teenager, and my body firing up like a p**n star.
We walk around the back of the shop where I see a big red jeep waiting for us. It’s covered in dirt but looks totally cool. My excitement ramps up a couple of thousand notches.
Jordan opens my door, then helps me in as it’s so high off the ground and I’m seriously vertically challenged.
My waist and hips are still burning from the feel of his hands as he climbs in the driver’s seat. He puts the cooler on the backseat.
“Buckle up, babe. I’m about to take you on the ride of your life.” Grinning, he starts the engine, revving it loudly.
Babe.
He called me babe.
I know it’s totally stupid, but I can’t keep the smile from my face at his term of endearment.
Recovering before he notices that I’m acting like a complete girl, I laugh. “You’re a total nerd, you know that?”
He looks mock-offended. “Hey! I’m cool, and you know it.”
I roll my eyes, shaking my head.
“Come on, say it … you know you want to. Just let the words out … ‘Oh, Jordan. You’re so cool and so awesome.’ There’s no need to be embarrassed to speak the truth, babe.” He gives a cocky grin.
I let out a laugh. “I like how you’re adding to it. I’ll give you that you play cool and drive an awesome car, but underneath it all is a nerd trying to bust out.”
Throwing his head back, he laughs loud. It’s deep and manly. And wonderful.
“Wounded here.” He dramatically presses his hand to his heart. “Here I was thinking I had you learned to my awesome ways. Guess I’m just going to have to wow you with my amazing tour guide abilities.”
“Said like a true nerd.” I grin.
***
We chat with ease while Jordan drives us out to La Plata Canyon.
When we reach the canyon, I’m blown away. I’ve never seen anything like it before. We don’t have these kind of places in Boston, and it warms my heart to Colorado. I can see why my mother returned here to live.
My mother.
I haven’t thought about her in days. Not because I’d forgotten, but because Jordan has become the focus of my thoughts. When I think of my mother, and how she abandoned me, it makes things hurt. I don’t want to hurt. I just want to feel all the wonderful things that I feel when I’m with him.
I know I can’t avoid it forever. Finding my mother is what brought me here. But for today, I choose not to think about it.
“This is Lake Creek we’re crossing over,” Jordan says as he drives us over a wooden bridge. I peer out my window to look below at the water. Pretty.
“And that’s La Plata Peak.” Jordan points to mountain covered with scatterings of snow. “It’s a great place to hike up.”
“Looks beautiful,” I murmur.
“We can hike up there one day if you’d like? I’d take you today, but we haven’t got the right equipment with us.”
A promise of more time with Jordan? Um, yes, please!
“I’d like that.” I smile.
The drive through the canyon is amazing. Jordan stops often to point out certain things to me. He knows this place so well, and he sounds so enthralling when he’s telling me about the canyons history.
We stop and get out of the jeep to go look at Jordan’s favorite lake. It’s deep in the canyon and the peaks around it are snow-capped. The water is the bluest of blues that I’ve ever seen, and right in the middle of the lake is a raised rock formation.
I close my eyes and imagine what it would be like to sit out there on that rock, the water all around me.
Complete solitude. Freedom.
Peace. Just peace.
I wonder if the pain in my heart and the haunt in my head would just disappear, and I would finally be free of everything.
Jordan comes up behind and wraps his arms around my waist. His heat surrounds me. I feel safe in his arms.
“Tell me about your travels,” I murmur, content.
“What do you want to know?”
“Where you’ve been.”
He snuggles his face into the crook of my neck. “I’ve been to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.”
“Wow. That’s a lot of places.”
“Hmm. My buddies and I wanted to see the world, so we figured we’d start with South East Asia. Backpacking, working as we went, fitting in as much as we could – we stayed in a lot of dives.” He chuckles. “But I didn’t care, I just wanted to see the world.” He eases out a breath. It’s hot on my skin, flowing through me, setting my stomach to tumult. “We were about to head off to India … when I got the news about my mom.”
“I’m so sorry, Jordan.” I wrap my arms around his, holding him. “Do you ever think you’ll travel again?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
He moves his nose up my neck, inhaling. It does crazy things to my body. “You smell so f**kin’ good. Like vanilla.”
I know he’s evading, but it’s hard to care in this moment. Tingles run south, and I can feel my panties getting damp. “I use vanilla body wash.” My voice sounds breathy. Not like me at all.
He breathes me in again. “It smells amazing.” His hand frees, smoothing down the flat of my stomach, and he hooks a finger into my belt loop, pulling me against him.