“If you’d told me you could fuck like that, I wouldn’t have been so hesitant to get into your truck that first day,” she joked. She felt, more than heard, him laugh.
“I’ll keep that in mind the next time I encounter a woman stranded at a gas station.”
“I’m sure it will put her immediately at ease.” As much as Brooke wanted to bask in the afterglow, she knew they didn’t have all day to lie around. “What time is it?”
“Almost ten.”
“What time is checkout?”
“Eleven.”
She let out an exaggerated groan. “I don’t wanna get up.”
“Then don’t. We’ve got some time.” He pulled her closer, nuzzling into her shoulder and then kissing her neck in a way that made Brooke’s body light up with pleasure again.
Cole drifted his hand down her stomach, and his cock was hard again against her ass. He ground against her a bit before slowing his movements and then whispering that they should probably get up if they didn’t want to be charged for another day.
Brooke wanted to tell him she didn’t give a shit if the motel charged them for another month if it meant Cole’s cock could be inside her again, but she decided instead on, “Later then?” To which he enthusiastically agreed.
A few moments later, Brooke finally pulled herself up and stretched. “I guess I’ll get ready.” It might have been the least excited she’d been to do anything in her life.
“Well, at least your prep time has been cut down now that you hacked all your hair off,” Cole teased.
Brooke ran a hand through her shorter locks. “You sure it looks okay?”
Studying her, Cole squinted a little and wobbled his hand as if to say it was so-so.
Reaching over, she smacked him on the stomach, which caused his abs to tighten. The army had definitely done Cole’s body good. The definition of the phrase “rock-hard abs.”
He bolted up and wrapped his arms around her before pulling her down on top of him. “I’m kiddin’. You look beautiful. Though you looked beautiful before that too.”
“You’re just saying that so you keep getting laid on this trip.” She’d meant the words as a joke, but his expression was serious.
“Is that somethin’ we should talk about?”
“What needs to be said about it?”
“I just… Eventually we’re going to have to go our separate ways. I want to make sure that when that time comes, we don’t leave on a bad note.”
Brooke couldn’t help the smirk that took over her lips. “Is this your way of telling me not to get attached?”
“It’s not… I don’t… God, you’re a pain in the ass. I want to make sure I don’t do anything to hurt you, okay? Now that we’ve reached a truce of sorts, I don’t want to fuck it up.”
“So, you’re saying I should stop planning what flowers we should have at our wedding?”
He grabbed a pillow and hit her with it. “You drive me crazy.”
“See? All the trappings of a great wife already.” He groaned at her, which made her laugh. “I’m kidding. I know where you’re coming from, and I agree. I’m in no place for anything permanent, so we’re on the same page. But I also don’t want to act like I’m not going to jump your bones for the rest of this trip. So let’s enjoy it, and when it’s time to say our goodbyes, we’ll do so without drama. Deal?”
He studied her for a second, maybe trying to determine the sincerity of her words. But she did mean them. Eventually she would have to go home and figure out what her next steps would be. There was no way she could handle a relationship at the same time she faced the wrath of her parents and determined what she wanted from her future. This trip was a frozen moment of time for her. In a few weeks, her life would have to start moving again. But she planned to live the hell out of the moment until then.
Cole must have heard what he needed because he replied, “Deal.”
“Good.” She pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek before scooting off him and getting up. “I’m going to grab another shower.”
“Need help reachin’ your back?” he said.
“No, but there are a few other areas that could use your attention.”
Cole leaped from the bed. “Lead the way, Princess.”
Brooke ignored how much she was starting to like the nickname as she led him into the bathroom and had the dirtiest shower of her life.
A few hours later, they’d checked out, gotten a quick bite to eat at a diner, and were on the road driving into Colorado. They’d made idle chitchat so far, making comments on the scenery as they passed it, but nothing of any depth. For some reason, the fact that they both seemed to skirt personal questions began to grate on Cole. It was like they were both treading carefully, afraid of setting off a landmine in someone’s past. They’d been traveling for a bit now, and while he didn’t want to share his entire life story with Brooke, he did want them to know each other beyond what they looked like naked.
“So you said you’ve traveled a lot?” he asked, hoping phrasing it like a question would force her to give a little information about herself without him having to be too direct.
“Yup,” she replied.
So much for that. “Business or pleasure?”
He heard her release a small sigh. She didn’t reply right away, making him wonder if she was going to refuse to respond at all. Thankfully, after a few moments, she did. “I guess it was business. My parents have dragged me and my sister all over the place for as long as I can remember.”
“What for?” His peripheral vision picked up her head turning toward him, so he quickly spared her a glance.
“That’s number three,” she said.
“Three what?”
“Your third question. You only get twenty, so make them count.” She settled back in her seat. “My parents are greedy social climbers. They’d go to Mars if there was a payday at the end of it.”
“What do they do for a living?”
“They’re talent managers.”
“What kind of talent do they look for?”
“Why? Got any hidden talents you want to pitch to them?”
Cole heard the smile in her words, which caused the corners of his own mouth to quirk up. “None that are legal to do in public.”
Brooke laughed at that, which made warmth spread through Cole’s chest. He liked making her laugh more than he’d ever admit out loud.
“They mostly represent children,” she said, though her voice was so low when she said it he almost didn’t hear her over the rumbling of Mary Sue.
Cole smiled. “They ever make you audition for anything? Please tell me there’s some embarrassing commercial of you out there somewhere.” He’d said it as a joke, but Brooke went silent on him again. He looked over at her and saw how tense she was. Just as he was about to tell her she didn’t have to answer, she spoke again.
“I’ve always been a disappointment to them.”
There was a sincerity in her voice that made the words ring true, but something about it made Cole feel…unsure. Like she was holding something back even though he didn’t doubt she was being honest. He knew there was more to that story, but he also knew enough to know he’d taken the conversation as far as she wanted it to go. Probably even further, really, and he didn’t want to push. “You and your sister close?” he asked, hoping that would direct them in a safer direction.
He noticed her relax a fraction as her eyes drifted back to the road ahead of them. “Yeah. Natasha’s three years younger, but we’ve always been close. You have any siblings?”
“I had a brother. He died when we were kids.”
Brooke spun toward him again. “I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine how devastating that would be.”
“Yeah, we weren’t super close. He was older than me by a couple of years, and I more annoyed him than anything else. But he looked out for me too. When he was gone, things were…worse. In every way.” He didn’t let himself think deeply about Brett often. It brought u
p a whole host of memories that were akin to a hornets’ nest—impossible for him not to acknowledge. But he didn’t want to go poking at it either. The loss of Brett had made an already fucked-up situation even more unbearable. He’d grown up most of his life with only their father, a man who had started out as mean as a rattlesnake and turned into a viper once Brett was gone, lashing out whenever the mood struck. Which was often.
“I’m…very sorry to hear that,” Brooke said softly.
“It is what it is,” Cole replied, because even though he hated that saying, there wasn’t much else to say about it. “If you could be anything, what would it be?” He desperately wanted to get them off the subject of family. Even going there to begin with made him feel like a moron. He should’ve known it would come around to his own, and the only topic he wanted to get into less was his time overseas.
“A teacher,” Brooke replied immediately.
“Really?” He was unable to keep the surprise out of his voice, which made Brooke glare at him.
“Yes, really.”
The offended look on her face made Cole laugh, which only pissed her off more if her crossing her arms over her chest was any indication. “Sorry. I just didn’t expect you to say that.”
“Clearly,” she grumbled.
“What would you teach?”
“I dunno. One of the arts maybe. Like music or drama or actual art. Even teaching dance would be fun.”
“You can dance?”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“Any kind. Well, that’s not true. I can’t ballroom dance. You’re up to question number twelve by the way.”
“No way. I haven’t asked that many.”
“Are you questioning my counting skills now?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Princess.” They were quiet for a couple of minutes. There was really only one more question Cole wanted the answer to, but he wasn’t sure he should ask it. He wouldn’t want to answer it if the roles were reversed, which they unavoidably would be. But he couldn’t help himself. He had to know. “What are you running from, Brooke?”
She inhaled sharply and held it a second before letting it out slowly. He noticed her turn and look out the window. “Have you ever felt like your life was completely out of your control?”
“Yes,” he answered honestly.
“I guess I just… There was no moving forward from where I was in my life. Any choice I made would have been the wrong one. So instead of making one, I took off.”
“Wasn’t taking off still making a choice?”
“I guess. But it was one I was in control of.”
“Do you think it was the right or wrong choice?” Cole was almost afraid of this answer. Probably because the answer would reflect on him, and he didn’t want to be responsible for anything that hurt Brooke.
She looked over at him, and he tore his gaze away from the road long enough to lock eyes with her. There was a smile on her lips, but it seemed a little sad. “I’m not sure yet. But I have a feeling it’s going to end up being both.”
It wasn’t the reassuring answer Cole had been hoping for, but it was honest, and he couldn’t ask more of her than that.
Cole wasn’t sure what to say in response, so he took the easy way out and brought things back to the game. “I feel like that last one should count for at least eight questions.”
Brooke huffed out a laugh. “You won’t get an argument from me.”
“That’s a first.”
That caused her to snort. “Jerk,” she murmured, though she managed to make the word sound affectionate.
“So I guess that makes it your turn.”
“Nah,” she said. “I’m going to save my questions for another time.”
Relief and disappointment warred inside of him. While he was thankful for the reprieve, however temporary it may be, he was also more than a little sad Brooke didn’t want to know more about him. Cole tried to shake the ridiculousness of that thought out of his head. This was a stranger he’d never see again after this trip. He reached over and cranked up the radio, ignoring the pang in his chest at the thought of becoming a distant memory for Brooke.
Chapter Eight
“Do you want me to drive? You know I have a license, and I don’t mind taking a turn,” Brooke said.
Cole briefly diverted his attention from the road to her. “We’re a mile from Estes Park.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Should I know what that means?”
“It’s the town that will take us onto Trail Ridge Road.”
“Oh. Okay,” Brooke said as she sat back in her seat. After a few moments of silence, she continued. “I’m assuming we’ve talked about what that road is.”
Cole took a hand off the steering wheel and rubbed his forehead. “It helps to actually listen when people talk, Princess.”
“I listen. Sometimes.”
“Trail Ridge Road takes us across the Continental Divide. Do you remember talkin’ about that?”
Brooke looked uncertain but nodded anyway. “It sounds vaguely familiar, but I don’t know if that’s because you said it or because I learned about it at some point.”
“Okay, well, Trail Ridge is the highest paved road in the US and winds through the Rockies. The view’s supposed to be amazin’.”
“Awesome. I’ve never done anything touristy like this. I’m excited.”
“What do you mean? I know you’ve taken vacations before,” he said, chancing another quick look over at her, which allowed him to catch her rolling her eyes.
“Well, yeah, we’ve gone on vacations, but usually to beaches and resorts. I’ve never gone anywhere with the sole purpose to explore and take in the scenery.”
“Hmm,” Cole sounded in response.
“What does that mean?”
“What does what mean?” he asked.
“That noise you made.”
Cole shrugged. “I was just thinking about how different our lives must have been growing up.” And how different they probably still were. Cole didn’t know much about Brooke’s life, but it was clear that hers was very different from his.
“That’s probably an understatement,” she mumbled, but she didn’t say it like she was thankful for it. It almost sounded like she thought he had the better childhood, and what a laughable thought that was. There wasn’t a single person in his hometown who would’ve ever wanted to trade places with him, that was for sure.
“Estes Park is where I had you make us hotel reservations earlier. I figured we’d drive Trail Ridge, spend a few hours in Grand Lake on the other side, and then come back this way in case we missed anything along the highway the first time over it.”
“That I remember doing.”
“Good. Otherwise I’d have to have you analyzed for short-term memory loss.”
“That diagnosis is still a distinct possibility.”
Cole laughed in response. As he drove into the town, Cole was overwhelmed with how beautiful it was. With the Rockies providing a pristine backdrop, the town had a picturesque, idyllic quality that made Cole feel like he’d stepped into one of his childhood fantasies. He felt peaceful in a way he hadn’t in a long time, if ever.
“This place is seriously awesome,” Brooke said.
Cole turned to see her staring out of the passenger window, her nose practically pressed to the glass. The GPS on his phone guided them to their hotel. They checked in quickly before returning to the parking lot. Cole looked over at Brooke as he started his truck. “You want to start the trek over the Divide, or do you want to drive past the hotel that inspired The Shining first?”
Brooke’s eyes widened. “The Shining as in The ‘Redrum’ Shining?”
The look of horror on her face made him laugh. “It’s not where they filmed the movie. Stephen King stayed there, and it became his inspiration for the hotel in the movie.”
“The Overlook Hotel.”
“Guess you’ve seen the movie,” Cole said with a teasing smirk.
“It was the first horror movie I ever saw. My sister and I sneaked downstairs one night after my parents went to sleep and found it on TV. I didn’t sleep for months afterward. But in a bizarre way, I became fixated on it too. I’ll watch it whenever it’s on, even though it still scares the shit out of me.”
“You are a highly complex person.”
Brooke nodded sagely. “Totally.”
“So is that a yes to going to see it or…?”
Brooke closed her eyes, and Cole saw a small shudder reverberate through her body. “Let’s go later. I need to mentally prepare myself for it.”
Cole chuckled as he put the car in gear and made his way toward Trail Ridge Road. The highway had multiple places to pull off the road so they could get out and take in the scenery. Cole took advantage of almost every opportunity to stop. He was so…amazed by it. As they stood side by side, overlooking a particularly serene view from a substantial elevation, Cole thought he’d found the definition of paradise. They’d both pulled hoodies out of their bags, though they still crossed their arms around themselves in an attempt to hold their warmth closer to their bodies.
“It makes you feel insignificant, doesn’t it?” she asked suddenly.
Cole thought for a minute. He’d felt insignificant for most of his life, and he didn’t think that description came anywhere close to describing how he felt in that moment. “I think I actually feel the opposite.”
Her head jerked in his direction. “Really?”
“Yeah. Because I get to be here and see all of this. It makes me feel special. Lucky. Peaceful.”
She looked at him for a few seconds, and then a few more, before turning back to the mountains surrounding them. “I guess I can see where you’re coming from.” Her tone was introspective, and maybe even a little bit sad, though Cole had no idea why that would be. He was on the verge of asking when she turned and began walking toward the car.
Misadventures with a Country Boy Page 8
