Hope Falls: The Perfect Lie (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Mallory Crowe

  “Morning,” she said cheerfully, trying to sound more collected than she felt.

  “Morning.” He walked around the car. He thought she was supposed to work for him yesterday. Now he was just there to see her. But it wasn’t a date. Just a tour…

  She tucked a nonexistent piece of hair behind her ear. “I wasn’t sure what to wear. I have a swimsuit in the car.”

  “Let’s do a little hike while it’s still cool. If there’s time, I know some private places we can swim when it gets warmer.”

  She imagined him taking that t-shirt off in front of her, but shook the image away when she realized she was drooling. “Well, fearless tour guide, lead the way. I’m yours for the day.”

  He looked her over. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

  She bit her lip and followed him as he started down the trail. Josh was different than yesterday. He was confident and sexy and…flirty. Josh was flirting with her. But that wasn’t the surprising thing. What was surprising to her was how she was responding to it.

  Back home, she and Willa had guys throwing themselves at them all the time. Most of them went after Willa because she had more money, but neither of them were lacking for options. But it had always been so easy to go home alone at the end of the night. Yet, going back to the picturesque Mountain Meadows Bed and Breakfast alone last night had left her …wanting.

  But when Josh flirted with her, it made her feel elated. Charged. Wired. She walked alongside him, not touching but a tad closer than she would be to someone who was just a friend. “So, you haven’t always lived here?”

  “Nah. I’m actually a California export.”

  “California? Which part?”

  “LA.”

  “Fancy.”

  He snorted. “Not the nice part of LA.”

  “So we’re both from the city.” At least they had that in common. She didn’t know much about him, but she supposed she hadn’t told him much about herself, either. “Though she didn’t really want to rehash the embarrassment of her parents. Maybe there were parts of his past he was hiding, too? Considering they’d just met, he was more than welcome to keep things from her, but she found herself desperately curious. “Tell me more,” she said.

  “More what?”

  “Something about you. Anything.”

  He squinched his face. “Hate to break it to you, Steph, but I’m boring. Very boring. CPA levels boring.”

  She rolled her eyes at the obvious lies. “Sure.”

  “It’s true. What about you? You who rolls into strange towns and makes up a fake identity. You have to have a cool story.”

  Well, she had a story, but she wasn’t sure how cool it was. But if she wanted to know about him, she’d have to be honest with him, so she was going to start with the worst bit. “Well, I’m a bad person.”

  He let out a laugh. Not exactly the reaction she was expecting. “Not a lot of bad people lead with that.”

  “Well, I don’t want you to hate me when I tell you so I wanted to lead with that.”

  “Okay. So tell me what makes you so bad.”

  “I’m an unemployed trust fund baby who is currently running away from her parents’ messy divorce. I’m basically a first-world problem walking.”

  “You thought I wouldn’t like you because you come from money?”

  “No… Yes… It changes things. Back in Chicago, a lot of guys hit on me because of my family. It’s part of the reason I almost never date. It’s part of the reason I felt so bad about yesterday. I didn’t want you to think I was some bored rich girl.”

  “Or maybe you just feel bored and you happen to be a rich girl and that makes you feel guilty.”

  “Well, I guess I don’t need my therapist when you’re around.”

  “Shit. I shouldn’t have overstepped,” he said.

  “No. Overstepping can be okay when you’re right. I left because I wasn’t happy with myself and I guess I’m still not there.”

  “Well, you might be spoiled and rich, but so far I like you.”

  His very uninformed approval made her feel better than it should.

  “Because you feel bad even when you shouldn’t, and that’s a good sign.”

  “Well, I like you too,” she offered.

  “So does that make this officially a date?”

  She glanced behind them to the winding trail they had walked down. “Did you purposefully wait until we were this far away from the car to ask?”

  He glanced behind them and back to her. “No, but that is a happy coincidence now that you point it out.”

  “All my reasoning from last night still stands.”

  “Fine. It’s not a—”

  “Shut up. We both know it’s a date.”

  He threw both arms up in the air in victory. “Boom! Nailed it.”

  She shook her head at his overstated joy but a second later, he was reaching for her. She let out a little shriek as an arm went over her shoulders and pulled her close. She lost balance for a second, but he held her well enough that she didn’t fall and soon she was stable enough to walk alongside him with his arm still around her.

  “We’re in date mode now,” he warned.

  “Oh, God. What have I gotten myself into?”

  They reached a fork in the trail and he stopped. “Right is the stables and left is the experienced trail.”

  “Experienced trail? I don’t know if I’m good enough for that.”

  “Let’s put it this way. The experienced trail is going to be very secluded. The stables will be busier, but there are also horses.”

  “Well… The horses will be there later today, right?”

  “They don’t move all that far.”

  She took a few steps to the left. “So…experienced trail? I do have the best tour guide on staff, don’t I?”

  “The best. I’ve gotten lost so you don’t have to,” he said with a wink as he took her hand in his and led her down the trail.

  “No, you haven’t!”

  “Not really lost. That’s what makes me a good guide. When I get lost, I know what to do.”

  “Way to fill me with confidence.”

  He gave her hand a little squeeze and pulled her on. She soon realized that the reason the experienced trail was experienced was because it was very narrow and sometimes hard to figure out what was trail and what was random patches of dirt. There were other rocky bits where someone could really fall and hurt themselves. She wondered whether she was supposed to sign a waiver before doing this…

  She carefully set her feet where Josh set his and about forty-five minutes later, they were at the top of the large outcropping that looked out over the property. “Wow.” Steph gazed out over the mountains and forest. A beautiful river meandered through the trees, leading to a babbling stream. All this was bordered by the majestic mountains that gave Mountain Ridge its name. “Wow,” she said again. This view warranted a second wow.

  “Not a bad place to work,” said Josh, the pride evident in his voice.

  “I can see why you like it so much.”

  “I can see why you stayed.”

  She bit her lip and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “I think we both know the scenery isn’t the reason that I stayed.”

  “I don’t do one-night stands either,” said Josh.

  “Where does that leave us then?” Because she had no idea what to do. She did not want to taste him and never get a chance to have another bite. But at the same time…

  “I can’t not kiss you up here. You know that, right?”

  She sucked in a breath. Hell, at least they’d be confused together. “I got that.”

  “Good.” He turned to face her and there was something special about knowing she was about to be kissed here at this perfect spot. “Why did you kiss me last night?” he asked suddenly.

  She frowned as she looked up at him. “Well, I guess I couldn’t not kiss you.”

  He leaned in closer. “This is weird.”

 
“Well aware.” She set her hands on his chest and stood on her tiptoes.

  “As long as we understand each other.”

  “I don’t understand a thing,” she admitted. But then she didn’t care because he was kissing her.

  Their kiss last night had been desperate and needy. This was different. Josh seemed to know they had all the time in the world. As much as she enjoyed the soft, chaste kiss, she couldn’t help closing the small gap between them. She melted against him and enjoyed the press of his muscular form against hers. Running her hands along his shoulders and back, she appreciated the feel of him.

  Then he tilted his head and started to take control of the kiss. He cupped her face with his hands and his tongue pushed through her lips. Without hesitation, she opened for him.

  For a brief moment, she remembered how unlike her this was. How they’d only met a day ago. How this was never going to last. But then she pushed the thoughts away as she upped the urgency of the kiss. She knew exactly what she was doing, and she didn’t want to stop for anything. As his tongue explored more, she met him with just as much urgency, rubbing her hips against him; his erection was obvious, even through his pants.

  She did manage to pull herself away for the briefest moment to ask, “How secluded is this place?”

  “Very.” He bent down to nuzzle her throat as his hand pressed into the small of her back before his palm moved lower.

  A little thrill shot through her at the bold move. She decided to do some exploring of her own as she moved her fingers to the hem of his shirt and pulled up. He had to break away from her for a second as she pulled the shirt over his head but it was totally worth it.

  She ran her fingers over the ridges of his abs and lower until she reached the belt.

  She heard a muttered curse and then he gripped her ass tighter as he lifted her firmly against him. Squeaking in surprise, she wrapped her legs around his waist as he started to carry her away from the edge.

  “I think it was getting dangerous,” he said as he carried her effortlessly.

  “Am I making your knees week?” she asked softly as she bent to nibble on his earlobe.

  Instead of answering, he let out a little growl as he pressed her against a smooth rockface. It was gentle enough so she wasn’t hurt but firm enough that she knew she wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. But before he totally let her go, she started to press her hips against him. Where he had her, his hard cock was positioned right at her core, except there were far too many clothes between them still.

  “Josh,” she breathed, trying to figure out a way to tell him that she wanted him naked but also unable to form sentences.

  One hand hooked around the back of one knee, keeping her legs tightly wrapped around him; the other firmly kneaded her ass while supporting the rhythm as she ground herself against him. Her head fell back against the stone and her breasts rose and fell with her heavy breaths. His mouth trailed down her neck, pausing briefly at her collarbone and then continuing down the valley between her breasts. But the v-neck of her shirt stopped him before he got too far. She heard a muttered curse and then Josh was pulling away from her.

  “I need you naked,” he said in a clipped voice. “Now.”

  Well, who was she to argue with that? She reached for her shirts at the same time he did. They each worked both the cover-up and tank up and over her head at the same time until she was only in her deceptively innocent white bra with small pink flowers on it. However, he wasn’t looking at her as though she were sweet. He was looking at her as if he were the Big Bad Wolf and she was about to get eaten alive. Why had she not had woods sex sooner? She really needed to get out of the city more often.

  “Naked,” she reminded him as she hooked her fingers in her shorts and panties and pushed them over her hips with a few shimmies. Instead of pulling his pants down, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a little foil packet. Condom. Would she have even remembered? She’d yell at herself later. For now, she was not going to leave the moment.

  Of course, right after that, she leaned back on the rock. The sudden cold was a shock to her system and she gasped and jumped away from the wall. “Whoa. Cold.”

  Josh’s brow furrowed. “We can move.”

  Steph shook her head as she leaned back, this time more prepared for the sudden chill. “I have a better idea. Let’s warm it up.”

  The corner of his mouth hooked up and he finally pushed his pants down, freeing his cock to the air. She caught her breath as she finally got to see all of him. “Adonis,” she breathed.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” she muttered. His thighs were big and strong, just like the rest of him, and the perfect frame to the more than generous cock he was rolling the condom over. She could practically feel herself get wetter at the sight; she reflexively clenched her thighs together, already anticipating what he would feel like inside her.

  “You didn’t listen.” He set a hand on either side of her, caging her against the rock.

  “Huh?” She rested her wrists on his shoulders and ran her fingers through his hair as she waited for his next move.

  “You’re not naked.”

  She glanced down and confirmed that she was still wearing a bra. Instead of explaining what happened, she decided to show him by reaching down and wrapping her fingers around his cock. “I was distracted.”

  He sucked in a breath and clenched his jaw. It was as if he was torn between thrusting into her hand and ripping it away. He then cupped her face and kissed her. It was an all-consuming kiss that made the cold behind her fall away and the world seemed to spin. When the world tilted on its axis, she thought it was just her mind playing tricks. But when she felt his erection at her wet heat, she knew he’d lifted her against him.

  This time there were no clothes between them. Her lids fluttered open and she met his eyes as he went in just a fraction of an inch and kept his gaze as he ever so slowly pushed deeper until he was fully inside. She bit her bottom lip as she adjusted to his size; he winced as his breaths came faster, even though he wasn’t moving.

  “God, you’re tight.” A vein stood out in his neck with the effort it was taking him to not move.

  It had been so long, but all she could think right now was how happy she was that she was here. That Josh was holding her in his arms and that they were alone in this little slice of heaven in the mountains. She’d left on this trip of self-discovery, consumed with thoughts about all of her regrets, but this one perfect moment would never be a regret to her.

  She gazed at Josh. There were beads of sweat on his forehead and his jaw was tensed. For a brief second, she wondered whether she was too heavy for him but then he bit out, “You feel so fucking good, Steph.”

  A little bolt of thrill shot through her that she could cause this perfect slice of man to lose control. That she could have the same effect on him that he was having on her. But right now, that same effect demanded he start to move. Because words were still hard, she wrapped her arms tighter around him and nudged him just slightly, causing them both to gasp for breath. Then she managed out a ragged, “Please…”

  That was all he needed to hear. He slowly slid out of her heat before he pressed back in. As he repeated the action, the pleasure started to mount within her. She was hyper aware of everything right now. The slight breeze, the rock behind her that was now considerably warmer. The sweet heat of his breath against her neck. Her breasts crushed against his hard chest. And every excruciating inch of him as he thrust in and out.

  He moved faster and faster as all the sensations suddenly became too much. All at once, it exploded and sent her right over the edge. As she tumbled over the peak, she cried out with pleasure, convulsing around him as his fingers bit into her ass, holding her still as he continued his assault on her body. It was as if as soon as he’d made sure she came, he let the leash on his control go and the tension exploded as he found his own release, letting out a sexy-as-hell growl as his own climax ripped over him.

&n
bsp; And that’s when she heard footsteps approaching.

  Chapter Four

  Josh tensed but stayed right where he was. If he ran to get dressed, Steph would be bared to the world and he didn’t want to leave her naked and in plain sight of whoever was walking nearby.

  He bent his forehead down and pressed it against hers, both of them still breathing heavily and trying to stay as quiet as possible as they waited for whoever was approaching to find them…

  Then there was the sound of voices. It was too far away to hear what they were saying, but one of the speakers was angry about something. All of the sudden, the footsteps retreated.

  Steph let out a little laugh. “I guess they needed an experienced guide,” she whispered.

  He pressed a kiss to her forehead before he finally disengaged from her. Even though the day was heating up quickly, he already missed her warmth surrounding him.

  It took a few minutes for them to find where all their clothes had gone, but soon enough Steph was, sadly, fully clothed again. He had absolutely no regrets about what had just happened but he really wished they were somewhere near a closed bedroom so he could really take his time with her.

  Next to where her shorts had been on the ground, he noticed that her phone had fallen out of her pocket during the rush to undress. He bent to pick it up, but right before his fingers touched the smartphone, it lit up. It must’ve been on silent mode because it didn’t ring or vibrate. Someone named AJ was calling.

  “You’ve got a call.” He handed the phone to her.

  Steph, who had been so carefree and wild a second ago, stiffened as he said the words. He wondered whether he should just chuck the phone over the cliff. But he went ahead and handed it over.

  She glanced at the screen before she ignored the call and put it back in her pocket. “Thanks.” She walked back to the rockface they had just been resting against. She ran her hand along the smooth surface. “How did this happen?”

  Well, she didn’t want to talk about the call. That was the price he paid for sleeping with someone he just met, he supposed. He had no right to ask her about who was calling her and why. Was AJ a boyfriend? God, he’d never even asked whether she was single. He couldn’t imagine her being with anyone who wasn’t him, whatever that meant. She mentioned she rarely dated. That had to mean she was single. Right?