Kissing Mr. Right

by Michelle Major

  “That’s interesting,” Kendall answered.

  “Have you ever been on an airplane?” he continued, ignoring the teacher who was shaking her head.

  “It’s ok,” Kendall told the woman then smiled at the boy. “I have. Have you?”

  “Nope.” He frowned. “They took away Mom’s car last month so now we take the bus. But when I grow up I want to be a paleontologist and fly all over the world. I’m going to discover at least fifty new kinds of dinosaurs.”

  The girl standing next to the boy jabbed him in the ribs. “Shut up, Danny. You’re not going nowhere.”

  The boy swatted at his classmate’s arm but continued to look at Kendall, his gaze both determined and self-conscious, as if he hadn’t meant to share his dream out loud.

  “I have no doubt you’ll be a great paleontologist, and even if you decide to study the dinosaurs we already know, I’ll do a story on you.” Kendall bent so that she was at eye level with the kid. “As long as you work hard at what you love, that’s the important part. You remember that, ok?”

  “Ok,” the boy answered, nodding solemnly.

  The teacher stepped forward and thanked Kendall, then instructed the class to give her a round of applause. As they filed out of the lobby, one of the mothers told her how much she was looking forward to watching the dates on It’s Raining Men. Kendall smiled and made a joke about hoping she’d attract the right kind of men, but stopped when Ty winked at her over the woman’s shoulder.

  “Thanks again, Ken,” Mary said as the lobby door closed behind the final students. “You have a real gift with the kids.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Kendall said, “but I like talking to them.” There was always one, like the boy Danny, who tugged at her own memories of childhood. Wanting more than life seemed willing to offer.

  She turned to see Ty staring at her with a mix of thoughtfulness and puzzlement that unsettled her more than his flirtation in the studio. “What?”

  He smiled. “The more I know you, the more I like you.”

  She could tell he was sincere, and that threw her off balance more than anything. Maybe she could brush off a spark, but the tenderness in his gaze was harder to ignore.

  “We should go,” she said, and moved past him, trying hard to hold onto her self-control. She led the way to the back of the building, where Steve was loading gear into one of news vans.

  “Do you need help with anything?” she asked.

  The burly cameraman slammed the rear door shut. “We’re all set. Hop in.”

  “Great.” She slid open the side door and turned to Ty. “You can sit in the front so you can give directions once we get into the burn area.” Without waiting for a reply, she scrambled into the back of the van.

  Ty had a brief moment to enjoy the sight of Kendall’s backside as she bent forward to step into the vehicle. A moment later the door closed, leaving him staring at his own reflection in the darkened glass window. He shook his head and climbed into the passenger seat.

  He didn’t know what he’d expected from this morning, but watching Kendall charm a roomful of elementary-age kids hadn’t been it. He’d seen a vulnerability in her response to the aspiring paleontologist that made him want to know more about what made her who she was.

  That proved easier said than done when she remained silent in the back seat for most of the ride. Yet the sweet, clean smell of her perfume drifted into the front seat, curling around Ty’s senses in a way that left him distracted and dazed.

  It took all his concentration to follow the conversation the cameraman started as they left behind rush-hour traffic on the interstate and cruised up the two-lane mountain highway that led to the national forest and the burn area.

  “You grow up in Denver?” Steve asked, easing the van around a turn.

  “North of the city,” Ty answered, “in Boulder.”

  “No kidding? I’m from Arvada,” Steve said, naming one of the small towns that made up the Denver suburbs. He slanted Ty a curious expression. “Did you say your last name was Bishop?”

  “Yeah.”

  “When I was in college, there was a kid named Bishop who played wide receiver for CU.”

  “My brother Charlie,” Ty said. “I played in high school but didn’t have the discipline for college ball.”

  Steve slapped a meaty hand against the steering wheel. “That was your brother.” Ty saw him glance in the rearview mirror. “You should have seen this guy, Kendall. Hands like Velcro—the ball absolutely stuck to them.”

  “Really,” was her only response.

  “Did he go pro?” Steve asked. “He had what it takes.”

  “Blew out his knee his junior year.”

  The cameraman whistled softly. “Tough break.”

  Ty shrugged. “He’s a doctor now, an orthopedic surgeon.”

  “Put those hands to better use than catching pigskin.” Steve laughed. “Good for him. Always nice to have a doctor in the family, huh?”

  “I guess,” Ty said and rolled down the van’s window to let in the crisp morning air. The truth was, he and his brother barely spoke. Both Charlie and his sister, Clare, had been as angry as their parents when Ty turned his back on the prestigious scientific career he’d been groomed for. Charlie resented the fact that he and Clare toed the family line but still had to live with the ramifications of their mother’s disappointment in Ty.

  He leaned his head toward the open window and took a deep breath, trying to clear his head of dark thoughts and the smell of Kendall’s subtle perfume. As the van climbed higher into the foothills, the conversation with Steve turned to sports in general. Ty kept up his end while continuing to watch the breathtaking scenery that unfolded around them.

  The morning was bright, the sunlight that streamed through the pine trees that bordered the road danced in wavering patterns against the pavement. The forest was thick in this area. Although they were less than an hour from the city, the dense canopy of pine and aspen trees made it feel like they were deep in the Rocky Mountain wilderness.

  Ty envied the people who lived in the scattered homes that dotted the clearings they passed. To wake up every morning to the smell of air not polluted with smog and car exhaust would be amazing. But he liked the convenience of the city, liked having friends close despite his occasional need for quiet and the solace of the mountains.

  The van rounded another bend toward the area known as Silver Creek and the first evidence of fire damage was evident. Ahead, Ty could see the blackened outlines of trees on a hillside once ravaged by the wildfire. As they drove deeper into the burn area, no one spoke. The only sound he heard was the van’s engine and the whistling of air rushing in through the open window.

  Silence seemed appropriate. Unlike the hillsides they’d just passed, these slopes were covered with blackened trunks, charred skeletons of their former selves. No underbrush surrounded the trees, only the scrubby grasses and plants that had grown in since the wildfire.

  Despite the devastation, many of the trees stood tall, their naked branches reaching proudly toward the sky, still trying to soak up the sun’s warm rays. It was as if they didn’t know their lives had been consumed by blazing flames two summers ago.

  Ty still remembered the smell of smoke that had settled over the area right after the fires were contained. He’d been among the first to volunteer to help with the regeneration of the land, and the devastation and emotions had been intense.

  “You can pull off here.” He indicated a small dirt path on the right side of the road.

  Steve swung the van onto the wide dirt shoulder next to the highway and cut the engine. One hundred yards from the edge of the pavement was a gate with a “No Trespassing” sign.

  “We can see the worst of the damage from the top of that rise,” Ty said, pointing to a nearby hilltop. “We’ll need to hike. There’s a stream that pa
sses through here a little ways in so the van won’t be able to cross.”

  Steve shifted in his seat to look at Kendall. “You two go ahead without me. I want to get some footage from the drive in while the morning light is still good.”

  She looked like she wanted to protest but said, “Sure thing. We’ll scope out the shots and you get them when you catch up.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” The cameraman turned to Ty. “Is the path clear enough to find on my own?”

  Ty nodded and grabbed his backpack, which contained the supplies he’d need to gather initial soil samples. “It leads straight up the side of the mountain. We’ll wait for you on the other side.”

  Ty heard the back door slide open and got out of the passenger side, swinging it shut behind him. Steve reversed the van until it was perpendicular with the highway and then slowly pulled forward onto the pavement, heading back the way they’d just come.

  Ty glanced at Kendall, who was studying the surrounding landscape. Birds chirped noisily in the distance, the sound carrying farther without the forest to muffle it. An occasional car sped along the highway, its engine loud in the stillness of the morning. The only other sound was the soft whistle of the wind as it blew through the burnt pine needles that clung to branches on some of the trees.

  “Nice morning for a walk.” He chuckled softly at the suspicious look she gave him. He lifted his arms, palms out. “Don’t worry, we’re all business today.”

  She nodded. “It’s better that way.”

  He walked forward and unhooked the latch on the gate, holding it open for her to pass through. “Whatever you say, Princess.”

  She muttered something as she marched by him. Ty figured it was better he didn’t hear her. He swung the gate closed and followed her up the path, content to let his gaze wander between the natural scenery and the sway of Kendall’s hips as she maneuvered around rocks and ditches along the path. It should be a crime for jeans to shape a woman so perfectly. Twice he got so distracted he almost walked off the path.

  She stopped at the edge of a small stream that cut through the underbrush. Shielding her eyes from the sun, she looked around and then turned to him. “Is there a bridge or a log we can use to cross?”

  He glanced at the brilliantly white gym shoes she wore and grinned. “I take it those aren’t waterproof.”

  She shook her head.

  “I can’t believe you don’t own hiking boots.”

  “I do. I’m just not wearing them today. Don’t ask.” She inched toward the water’s edge until her toes almost touched the rippling current and bent forward to examine the stream. “It doesn’t look that deep,” she said, straightening. “My feet won’t get too wet.”

  Before she could test her theory, Ty strode forward. Placing one arm across her back and the other behind her knees, he scooped her into his arms. Her light scent curled into his nostrils, mixing with the smell of the mountain air. He felt the warmth of her body beneath her jacket and the delicious pressure of her rounded hip pressing into his lower abdomen.

  A wisp of her hair tickled his chin as she turned toward him, their faces only inches apart. He watched her mouth open in protest and wanted nothing more than to kiss whatever objection she came up with off her lips. But she said nothing. Instead she bit down into the soft fullness.

  His knees almost buckled.

  He gritted his teeth and walked through the shallow stream, thankful when the freezing water splashed against his legs. Holding her, even for practical reasons, made him so hot he wouldn’t have been surprised to see steam rise from his body.

  What the hell was the matter with him? He didn’t get this worked up about anything, let alone women.

  When they were on the path again, he dropped her to her feet. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off with a wave of his hand. “Don’t lecture me on professional behavior. You’d have a hell of a time trekking up this mountain with wet feet.”

  “I wasn’t going to lecture. I was going to say thank you.” She flashed him a smile and continued up the trail.

  Ty stood on the bank of the stream for several moments, willing his body and mind to relax. Kendall stopped walking where the trail curved, her full attention on the charred evergreen near the path.

  “It’s so depressing,” she whispered as she stepped forward to run her fingertips along the trunk. “I haven’t been up here since right after the fires. It seemed surreal then. Now the forest looks sad.”

  He glanced at the sky through a canopy of scorched branches. “It’s the natural order of things.”

  “How can you say that?” she asked. “The fire destroyed thousands of acres of forest and started from someone’s carelessness.”

  “What do you see here?”

  She looked at him as if he’d just asked her to take off her clothes and dance a jig. Not a bad idea, actually.

  “What do I see?” she repeated. “A forest full of burned, dead trees that should be alive.”

  “Look closer.”

  She turned her head from side to side. “I don’t know what you’re getting at,” she told him. “Why don’t you spell it out for me?”

  He moved forward until he stood directly in front of her. Then he bent and picked up a bright yellow wildflower and a handful of the dirt that it grew from.

  “This forest has given us a precious gift,” he told her, reaching forward to place the bloom in her palm. He opened his fingers to let the dirt trickle out. “We get to witness the miracle of nature renewing itself.”

  “Yes, I know,” she replied, her tone indulgent. “The fire helps by giving the soil nutrients. I took biology in college.” She shrugged her shoulder in a helpless gesture. “It still seems tragic to me to lose so many trees.”

  “It is tragic,” he agreed. “But it’s beautiful, too.” He placed his hands on each of her shoulders and spun her around so that her back was pressed against his chest.

  “Let me show you,” he said, lifting his arm until it grazed the side of her cheek. “This hillside was consumed by the fire. Two years ago there was nothing here but blistered earth and blackened trees. It might as well have been the surface of the sun for all that could survive the heat. Now the ground is covered with grasses, flowers, sage, and other scrub bushes.”

  He breathed in the scent of her clean hair. “Can’t you see how vital and alive this place is? It may not look like much driving by at fifty miles an hour, but this forest is full of life. It’s a miracle, and we get to watch it.”

  Kendall turned in his arms. “You’re right.”

  He looked down at her beautiful, upturned face and knew she wanted him to kiss her. He wanted that, too. Wanted to press her tight against him and lower her gently to the soft ground.

  Instead, he took a deep breath. “This section of forest is like a lot of things in life,” he murmured, his lips almost touching hers. “At first glance, not that remarkable. The question is, are you willing to look beyond the surface and see the value of what’s underneath?”

  Kendall stared up at Ty, wishing and waiting for his mouth to brush against hers. She heard his words but didn’t register their meaning until he took a step back. Cool mountain air rushed into the gap between their bodies, washing over her like a bucket of ice water.

  “The ball’s in your court, Princess,” he said, tracing one finger along the seam of her lips. “Let me know what you decide.” He gave her a crooked smile and headed up the path toward the top of the mountain.

  Kendall stared at his retreating back. It was a fantastic view, his broad shoulders strong and his gait easy as he kicked loose rocks from the trail. It was hard to believe she’d been kissing him as if her life depended on it only a few nights ago.

  He’d offered her casual and that’s what she wanted. But she was learning there was more to Ty Bishop than she’d first expected and that made it difficult
to keep her feelings out of the equation.

  She kicked her foot against the trunk of a fallen tree. Wincing, she cursed the sooty smudge on the toe of her new shoe instead of her own weakness. Emotions were not part of the plan.

  As she followed him up the trail, Kendall admitted that she was angrier with herself than him. She knew better than to let him become a distraction. It was the same reason she’d given to him last week when she’d turned down his offer for a date.

  When she got closer, she saw Ty gathering soil samples from different parts of the hillside. He spoke about the rejuvenation efforts for this section of the forest, and she was soon caught up in his words. He had a gift for blending technical facts with personal observations to weave a compelling narrative. He would make an excellent teacher. She wondered again why he wasn’t putting his prestigious degree to better use than planting trees in suburban lawns.

  It was best he hadn’t kissed her today. If she didn’t have the willpower to resist him, at least he had enough for both of them.

  Now she could focus on the story, which was what she wanted. She tried not to notice the way his hair curled in the morning breeze, how his long legs ate up the length of trail, the reverence in his tone as he spoke about the mountains. She tried to keep her mind focused on the business at hand.

  It wasn’t easy.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Steve caught up with them soon after they reached the top. Kendall turned on the microphone he’d packed along with the other remote location equipment. With Steve shooting from behind her shoulder, she asked Ty to explain the rejuvenation work to the viewing public. The three of them spent another hour on the mountain and then hiked back down to the van. Ty remained cordial but aloof. It was what she wanted, so why did it disappoint her so much?

  When Steve parked the van behind the Channel 8 building, she and Ty climbed out simultaneously. They stood in awkward silence until the cameraman joined them.