He was standing with his front leg bent and forward so Mia could see the muscular tone of his legs even through the thick denim material of his jeans. Cody was tall, but not what you’d call slim; Mia would describe him as stocky and muscular.
His sandy-blond hair hung down in the usual low ponytail, and Mia imagined herself running her delicate fingers slowly through his long locks. She was grateful when the bus began pulling over as she needed some air before her thoughts of Cody turned sexual once again.
“Right guys, we’ll be taking a short stop to let Alice have some much-needed air; those who wish to get off, do so, but please don’t wander far from the bus as this is only a quick stop,” Cody said returning to his seat next to Mia.
“Is Alice okay?” Mia asked.
“Yeah, just her greasy bacon and egg breakfast trying to put in an appearance. Some air will help her,” Cody replied.
The bus came to a stop, and most of the group climbed off. Mia saw Alice, and who she assumed to be her boyfriend go by. Alice was a natural blonde with a very pale complexion that didn’t help the way she looked right now; she’d a mass of tumbling curls falling around her face. Alice was a curvy girl with a voluptuous chest that bounced as she moved; her tops were always low-cut to accentuate her best assets.
Today was no exception, and in Mia’s mind, Alice wasn’t exactly dressed for hiking, but then again, what did Mia know about teenage fashion? Alice was wearing sneakers with skin-tight black leggings and a tight-fitting low bright yellow shirt.
Mia waited for all of those that were getting off to leave and then stood up. She looked back up the bus and noticed that most of the 12 or so teenagers had left the bus, apart from one couple who were too engrossed in one another’s lips to notice that the bus had even stopped! Young love. Mia smiled to herself as she left the bus and joined the group outside in the bright sunlight.
“Hey, Toby, make sure Alice drinks some water mate,” Cody insisted, to which Toby put his thumb up and went to join Alice. Mia noticed how Toby gently tucked Alice’s long hair behind her ear as she sipped the water, and she felt a pang of jealousy filling her body; if only she’d someone to care for her in the same way.
“Cute aren’t they?” Cody’s voice said from beside her.
“Yes, yes they are,” Mia answered, smiling up at Cody. Had he had a personality transplant? He seemed completely different to Mia. Perhaps she’d never noticed him before due to his arrogance, and now that Eliza had planted the idea of him being hot in her mind, that was it.
After a short time, Cody herded them all back onto the bus, and they were soon on their way once again with Alice looking a little better.
It didn’t take long to reach their destination, and the minibus pulled into a small car-park within a beautiful forest, and everyone piled off and gathered together. After yet another head count, Cody began talking, “Do you all know the safety rules with the Black Bear?” he asked, now standing in the middle of the small group. Mia felt important as she felt like the only adult with Cody, and the driver and the teens who were slightly older, of course. But in her mind, she felt important!
“Yeah, run away!” Shane shouted, which was unusual as he was normally very quiet.
Ripples of laughter traveled through the group. “Very friggin funny Shane; that’s actually the worse advice you could ever give. The bear will give chase, and you’ll be caught.”
“It wouldn’t catch me; I’m a terrific sprinter!” one of the girls yelled in a very cocky voice.
“Can you run at 60 kilometers an hour? And that’s uphill as well as downhill and along a flat surface,” Cody retorted. The girl was silenced. “Black Bears can also climb trees, so don’t think that’ll save you, as it won’t.”
“So what do you do if you’re confronted by one?” asked Mia, keen to learn at this point as it might just save her life. “How about jumping in Johnston’s Creek?”
“Black Bears can swim Mia, so no that’s not gonna help you either,” answered Cody, but again not adding any arrogance to his reply. “The best thing you can do is to make a lot of noise and stand up tall; never turn around and present the bear with your back, and never run away.”
“Ummm when you’re only 5’4”, how the hell do you make yourself stand tall?” Mia asked, smiling at Cody who turned to look straight at her. It was the first time Mia had really noticed his blue eyes. She’d known they were a piercing blue color but hadn’t noticed just how pale they were. A true ice blue color, quite stunning.
He smiled at her now, and she observed the way his eyes crinkled at the corners and the way his smile dimpled his soft cheeks. There was so much about him that Mia was seeing for the very first time.
“That’s a tricky one. The best way is to push your chest out and wave your arms in the air and simply make yourself look bigger than you really are,” as Cody spoke, he glanced at Mia’s chest and then turned a brilliant shade of red. There were giggles throughout the group, mainly from the girls.
Mia dropped her eyes to the forest floor as she felt her face glowing warmly. She felt someone nudge her and turned to see Eliza beside her with a stupid grin sweeping across her pretty face.
“Seems as though Dwayne was right all along, and Cody does like you after all,” she whispered in Mia’s ear.
Mia chose to ignore her, simply because it seemed the easiest solution.
Cody finished his ‘bear safety’ talk and then he began leading the group along the trail beside Johnston Creek. Mia glanced upward and smiled at the bright sunlight glinting between the tall lodgepole pine trees.
“Right guys, look how the trees change here as we enter the montane forest; here the trees are Aspen, Douglas Fir and still a few lodge poles,” Cody said, impressing Mia with his knowledge of the forest.
The pathways were wide and easy to walk along with little effort needed, and the forest was a magical place in Mia’s eyes as she didn’t have the opportunity to visit such beautiful locations very often: the birds were singing, and the creek’s water could be heard rushing along on its familiar journey.
Mia wished now that she was more of a camera shot journalist and less of a story/interview type of journalist as there were some stunning shots of the forest she could’ve snapped.
“Coming up are the lower falls,” Cody shouted.
Mia didn’t expect to reach the falls as quickly, and judging by the teenager’s faces, neither did they.
The sound of thundering water and gasps of excitement could be heard as the first waterfall came into sight. The group crossed a bridge spanning the creek that offered a perfect view of the fall. The waterfall’s drop was about 20 meters, and there was a viewing platform situated right underneath the cascading tumbling water.
To reach the platform, the group had to go through a naturally formed tunnel within the canyon; there were shrieks of laughter as the mist and spray from the fall landed gently on the group.
“Jeez, that water’s friggin freezing; the drops have just gone right down my shirt!” Alice squealed.
“I doubt there’s any room down there for the water to go,” one of the other guys retorted, making Mia smile quietly to herself.
“You been staring at my girl’s tits?” Toby snapped.
“Can’t exactly miss them mate!” came the reply, to which Mia noticed Cody making his way toward the two guys.
“Seriously, you two grow up. Can’t we all enjoy a nice peaceful walk with no hassle?”
“Sorry Cody, but he started it by looking at Alice,” moaned Toby.
“For fuck’s sake, what are you, like two-years-old?” Alice asked them both.
There was an uneasy silence, one that seemed to last an eternity. Eventually, Cody spoke, “Right are we good?”
Both guys nodded their heads but didn’t utter a word while Alice just looked awkward and embarrassed by the whole scene.
After looking at the spectacular fall, Cody moved the group along once again.
“Come on guys we
’ve got to keep moving as it’s roughly a two-hour round trip to see all of the falls; this next part of the hike is slightly harder as we’ll be climbing upward now through the forest.”
There were a few sighs and huffs of breath, but other than that, the teenagers accepted that the hike might be trickier now. On the whole, to Mia they seemed like a good bunch of kids, really. They’d only had the odd small fall out, which was to be expected when you put a group of youngsters together.
Mia soon discovered that Cody wasn’t exaggerating when he mentioned that the next part of the hike was slightly harder, as her legs soon began protesting.
Mia considered herself to be quite a fit person, she ate healthily and exercised regularly, if you could call running for the bus ‘exercise’ that is!
Of course, now she was competing against teenagers and a super-fit adventure center owner, hardly fair competition.
“Okay guys, now we’re out of the lower canyon, if you glance back, you’ll see a collection of smaller but still stunning waterfalls,” Cody said.
God, you’re not even out of friggin breath! Mia was grateful for the excuse of a quick stop to catch her breath, which seemed to be leaving her quickly.
She noticed Alice and Toby up ahead; Alice was also struggling for air and sweating profusely. Should she say something to Cody or leave it alone? Cody was in charge and seemed to know what he was doing, so Mia decided to leave it; she was certain if Toby were that concerned about Alice, he’d say something.
The small falls certainly were stunning.
“We’re taking the steeper trail of the two coming up guys as it offers a better view.”
“For fuck’s sake man, Alice is already struggling here.” Toby sighed.
“Then perhaps your girlfriend should lose some friggin weight there champ,” the same guy that made the comment about Alice’s breasts was back with another cheap comment.
Mia heard Alice telling Toby to ‘leave it’, but it was too late Toby began running toward the other guy. “Ethan look out!” someone shouted, which Mia thought was a crying shame as in her opinion someone should put Ethan on his ass and teach him a lesson.
Ethan turned, but before Toby could land his punch, Cody stepped in front of him and grabbed Toby, “Come on mate, he’s so not worth it; ignore him and be the better man here.”
“This is me being the better man—a man protects his girl and sticks up for her,” Toby shouted, trying his best to reach Ethan who was now hiding behind Cody.
“That’s true Toby, but honestly mate, Ethan’s not worth the effort; you’ve been in trouble before for your temper, and that’s half the reason that you’re here, so just leave it, eh.”
Yet another side to Cody had been revealed; he was level-headed and fair. He spoke with compassion but fairness.
Alice made her way to Toby and touched his arm gently; he turned and hugged her, asking if she was okay. She nodded, and they walked away from Ethan.
“I think all overweight people should be banned from adventure centers,” Ethan yelled after the couple.
This time, it was Alice who shouted, “And I think all ugly and dumb bastards should be banned, so I guess that’s you on two counts, Ethan!”
Everyone laughed and cheered at her comment. Ethan turned bright red and looked decidedly awkward. Mia saw Alice and Toby high-fiving and sniggering together. She also saw Cody nodding his head toward Alice as though he were congratulating her on her victory of words without displaying to the others that he supported her outburst.
“Can we now continue our hike in peace?” asked Cody, to which there was a resounding ‘yes’ from the group. They were soon moving forward once again with a rather sulky Ethan bringing up the rear of the group.
4. Chapter Four
Yep, certainly the friggin steeper trail. Mia was struggling and feeling very sorry for Alice; if she found it hard work being petite, then poor Alice must be really struggling.
“Nearly there, come on guys, keep going,” Cody called from the front of the group.
“Easy for him to say. Look at him with his long legs and super fit body,” sighed Alice, who was now walking next to Mia and breathing very heavily.
“Are you okay?” Mia asked, stopping momentarily and looking at Alice.
“Everything okay here girls?” asked Cody, who’d now joined them both. He looked every part the serious hiker with his backpack on and his light raincoat tied around his waist. There was genuine concern in his blue eyes as he looked at Alice, which Mia found to be an incredibly hot look for him. His face was square shaped with a defined jawline that could be used to sculpt granite.
Most women would die for his incredibly high cheekbones and his naturally long eyelashes. His face was sporting a light stubble that made him look even more ruggedly handsome. The pale icy-blue eyes were slightly deep-set, which leant him an air of mystery. His eyebrows were neatly trimmed and followed a fairly straight line.
Mia had a cute button nose with a slight upturn at the end, whereas Cody’s was a narrow and tapered nose. But it was his mouth that took Mia’s interest the most; his lips looked soft and full, and his mouth was certainly generously sized.
Mia could easily stand and stare at him all day.
“Hey, I asked if everything’s okay,” Cody repeated himself, and Mia realized she’d literally been simply staring at him. She’d forgotten Alice completely and drifted off into worshipping his handsome face.
“Shit, sorry, I was daydreaming!” she hurriedly said, smiling shyly at Cody.
“Typical journalist, head always in the clouds,” he replied, not looking amused at all.
“What’s that supposed to mean exactly? I’m a great journalist, by the way.”
“Come on guys, haven’t we all had enough bickering for one day?” Eliza’s voice interrupted them.
Mia glanced at the ground, feeling foolish, “Sorry, yes you’re right. I apologize Cody. Alice are you okay?”
“It’s all good, Mia,” Cody answered as he looked toward Alice once again. “Are you okay?”
Alice stood up straight, took a deep breath and sighed. “Yes, yes I think so, just a little out of breath, that’s all.”
Eliza offered Alice her arm, which she took, and the two girls left Mia and Cody behind as they strolled off. They made quite a contrast with Eliza’s short pale pink hair and Alice’s tumbling blonde curls.
“Hey, listen, Mia, I know you’re a great journalist, why else do you think I agreed to you joining us at the center?” Cody looked awkward.
“Is that an apology?” Mia asked, staring up at his chiseled face.
He scuffed his hiking boots along the forest floor like an awkward teenager and muttered, “It’s the best thing to an apology that you’re gonna get.”
Mia smiled at him, “Then I’ll take it!”
“Good,” he smiled down at her with his pale blue eyes twinkling and his face dimpling. Mia’s pulse began racing, and her legs suddenly felt weak. She wished the rest of the group weren’t there, and it was just her and Cody out for a gentle stroll through the sunlit forest, arm in arm.
Cody held her gaze for longer than he needed to and then smiled a kind of crooked hesitant smile. “We better catch up with the others or they’ll end up friggin lost!”
Mia giggled at his comment, and they walked side by side to join the rest of the group.
“Oh, yeah, where did you two run off too?” Dwayne and a few others laughed.
“Great, this will never be lived down now. Play along Mia.” Mia had no idea what Cody was on about until she felt his strong arm around her petite waist pulling her toward him; she’d no problem playing along with what she assumed was his plan.
He bent his head down, and Mia lifted her face up toward him; she felt his soft mouth touching hers as he delivered a long, drugging kiss to her beautifully swollen lips. Mia’s breathing was shallow and fast, and she felt as though she may faint. If Cody hadn’t been holding her waist still, she probably would’
ve fallen backward. Her head was screaming at her to push him away, but her body was saying otherwise as she found herself enjoying the feeling of his lips capturing hers with a lingering kiss. She was going through an intensely emotional turmoil right now, but her body won the internal struggle in the end, and she relaxed.
After what seemed like an age to Mia, his lips left hers and smiling down at her, he gently released her from his embrace. “Thank you,” he mouthed to her before leaving her standing alone and turning to face the group who were now filling the forest with whistles and cheers.
“Yeah, yeah, now enough of the questions and innuendos okay?” Cody asked the smiling teenagers.
“Way to go Mia!” Eliza shouted, approaching a very hot and bothered Mia.
“I didn’t see that one coming,” Mia gasped, trying desperately to compose herself and realizing what a newborn animal felt like trying to stand up on weak legs; hers were as shaky as fall leaves hanging onto their wind stricken host.
“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that one girl,” mocked Eliza.
They walked behind the rest of the group with Mia trying to stay hidden as best as she could; she felt embarrassed, although she didn’t really know why. She and Cody shouldn’t feel guilty as they were both adults at the end of the day. Neither of them was married, as far as she knew anyhow.
One thing she did know for sure was the fact that she’d never been kissed in such a passionate way before, and that she’d never felt a kiss in every inch of her slim body as she’d done just now.
Cody had taken her completely by surprise, and she knew he’d done it primarily for show simply to put a lid on the teenager’s teasing for the day, but she also hoped he’d enjoyed their kiss.
Surely you can’t kiss like that if you’ve got zero attraction for the recipient, can you? Her body was on fire. She felt Eliza linking arms with her and felt like a teenager walking along with her best friend.
“You okay?” Eliza whispered.
“Yeah, I’m good, just in shock, but good,” replied Mia. She saw Cody up ahead pointing to their right; she followed his finger and could see a platform.
Interview with a Billionaire: Billionaire Romance Box Set Page 3
