Jill Shalvis - Just Try Me…

“Ah, but you’re no fun.”

“Come on, I’ll show you some fun.” With a nod to Jared, Rock pulled Rose back into their tent.

“Oh, Rock,” he heard her sigh with pleasure. “Oh, now there’s a most excellent way to distract me.”

Jared sighed, too, not exactly filled with pleasure because the cold air was seeping into parts unknown, and he had a feeling, despite his wishes to the contrary, he’d just been unceremoniously and officially dumped.

IT WAS their last day. The thought never left Lily’s mind as she led the group through Alpine Pass, slowly making their way back to the trailhead where they’d begun four days earlier.

It went well, even if Lily didn’t absorb anything they did, not the trail, nor the rugged peaks all around her, nor the way the river sparkled and raced at their side.

Jared loved her.

Loved.

Her.

She understood the concept. Hell, she’d even seen it up close and personal. Hadn’t her parents been in and out of love all her life? Hadn’t her friends found love, then occasionally lost it, and if they were particularly into torture, found it again?

It was all around her.

But she’d never imagined it happening to her. Had never really wanted it to. Her life had been adventurous and wild enough, without adding that to the mix.

Behind her Michelle and Jack held hands. At the beginning of this trek they’d been barely speaking, and now they couldn’t stop staring into each other’s eyes.

She didn’t give herself any credit for that. The mountains and the air and the sheer glory of the Sierras had done it. That, and some damn hard work and understanding on their part.

But somehow, it was just a little painful to look at them now.

What did that say about her, that she’d been able to enjoy them more when their relationship had been in trouble? It said she was a bitch, that’s what. She sighed and kept moving.

Rose laughed at something Rock said, and Lily smiled a little grimly. Rose had confided in her that Rock had been a fabulous diversion, just the extra fun she’d needed on this trip, but when it was over, it was over.

Now see, there was a woman after her own heart. Lily glanced at Rock, who didn’t look nearly as happy and carefree as Rose, or nearly as happy and carefree as he’d started out being four days ago.

Seemed Lily wasn’t the only moper around here.

She felt for Rock, she did, but damn it, hadn’t Rose laid out the ground rules, making him understand that fun was fun, and now that fun had to be over?

Bringing up the rear was Jared. She could feel his presence without looking at him. Mostly because in spite of her best efforts, her heart had been snagged by his.

Damn him.

She hadn’t wanted ties. Strings. Attachments. She’d been only looking to find herself. And she’d said so, too. She hadn’t wanted anything more than a couple of beautiful nights, which they’d had.

But-and here’s where it got tricky-somewhere along the way, things had changed. She had changed. She’d realized she wasn’t the same woman she’d been, and she probably never would be again.

But it didn’t mean she wasn’t strong. Strength could come from within, she’d learned that firsthand. She was strong. Just not the type of woman to want a forever with a man. “Damn it.”

“That’s the third or fourth time you’ve muttered that to yourself.”

Startled, she looked up into Jared’s hazel gaze. He’d come up alongside her, and she’d been so busy analyzing and stressing, she hadn’t even heard him.

He didn’t shoot her his trademark grin, and she felt compelled to say something, anything. “Jared-”

But he kept walking. A little stunned, she slowed to stare after him.

“Oooh, look,” Rose called out, and pointed to the alpine meadow that had just opened up in front of them. “A place to take a break-Ohmigod, check it out!”

She pointed to a high ridge, and they all looked up at the five big-horned bucks watching them, their taupe coats blending perfectly with the talus slopes. Beyond them, on a sheer fringe of rock, the sun created halos around their magnificent heads.

“Wow,” Jack said to Michelle. “Your dad would sure love to be here with his long-range.”

“If my daddy shot Bambi, I’d never forgive him.”

“Not Bambi,” Lily said. “Those are big boys, not babies. But I’m glad no one’s here taking shots.”

“What are they doing?” Michelle whispered, as if the deer could hear them from all the way across the valley.

“They’re just watching us silly humans walk,” Lily said, “in their woods.”

Silly, and stupid she silently added, not looking at Jared. God, she hated to be wrong.

And she was wrong, about so many things. Too bad she wasn’t any good at admitting that.

They walked some more, and after a while, stopped for lunch.

“It’s so beautiful,” Michelle said with awe, sitting on a rock eating a sandwich, for once her yellow rain gear nowhere in sight. “All of it.”

It was. The air was so clear and crisp they could see each individual jagged edge on the rocks. The river widened into yet another of the hundreds of small lakes in the area, and thanks to the rocky cliffs jutting high into the sky, shadowed by a thick growth of lodgepole pines and bush, the place was a little spot of heaven.

They begged Lily to start a little campfire so they could make s’mores with the last of the chocolate. She got a small fire going, then glanced over at Jared.

He’d moved away from her, staring into the water.

Well, damn it. Didn’t he know that this was all his fault? Throwing around those three little words that were guaranteed to strike terror into any woman’s heart-

Okay, her heart.

“Look.” Rock pointed to one of the tallest redwoods, where a huge rope swing had been set up.

“Careful,” Lily said. “We should check-”

But Rock had kicked off his shoes, grabbed the rope and took a flying leap.

“-the rope,” Lily finished with a sigh.

Rock’s momentum took him high over the water, where, with a loud “Woo-hoo” he let go with wild abandon, and hit the water with a huge splash.

Jared went next.

Jack quickly moved to join them.

“But your clothes-” Michelle began, then when Jack surfaced in the water, she just sighed. She had a sweet smile on her face. “Oh, well.”

“Come in,” he called, and splashed her.

It didn’t take much to convince her.

Or Rose.

Jared climbed out of the water, leaving the two happy couples engaged in a water fight. Standing on the shore, his back to Lily, he shook the water from his head like a shaggy dog, then pulled off his shirt.

Lily stared at the sleek muscles in his back and was nearly overcome by the urge to put her hands on him. And not just to jump his long, lean, wet bones either, although there was a good amount of that urge, as well, but also something far deeper.

She just wanted to be close, as close as possible: talking, laughing, hiking, naked or clothed…

It pissed her off.

Stalking over to him, she stood at his side and put her hands on her hips, staring into the water where the others were still playing with wild abandon. “I’d like to know what you meant by throwing that L-word around.”

He turned his head and looked at her, and damn if behind the hurt and frustration, he wasn’t laughing at her. “L-word?”

“Yes.”

“There are a lot of L-words out there,” he said. “Maybe you should be a little bit more specific.”

“You know exactly which L-word I’m talking about.”

Arching an eyebrow, he looked down at her with that smile on his lips, the one that wasn’t quite real because it didn’t reach his eyes.