“One last shot.” Rachel switched out her wide-angle lens for one that could take closeups. There was the cutest little plant popping out of the ground. She focused in on it and took half a dozen pictures at each shutter speed and focus point. When she was finished she stood up and noticed the three of them looking at her. “What?”

Adam said, “Did you seriously just take a hundred pictures of that tiny bud, that’s not even out of the ground yet?”

“Not quite that many, but yes, I did. And when you see what I do with them, I will expect the praise it will be due.”

Adam looked back down at the speck of green and then looked back at her. “If you insist.”

Alyssa and Beau looked at the tiny plant then back at each other, shrugged and started walking back to the trucks.

She looked back at the little bud and said, “I’ll show them, you’ll be a star. Now grow strong my little friend.”

Adam shook his head at her. “You’re crazy. You do know that, right?”

“Crazy like a fox, Adam.”

She started toward the truck and heard him mutter something under his breath that might have been. “Fox my ass, loon is closer.” She just grinned, the man would be eating his words when she finished with those pictures.

The rest of the drive was similar, they would stop at some point and she would take a bunch of pictures while they waited. Up above timberline it was as spectacular as Adam had said it would be. She literally could spend a whole day or two at that elevation. There were even some very brave animals popping their heads out of their burrows. Oh yes, at least two days.

When they got back into the truck after their stop at the continental divide she couldn’t contain her excitement. “You are right it’s amazing up here. To stand on the continental divide and realize all the rivers on your right flow into the Pacific Ocean and all the rivers on your left flow into the Atlantic Ocean, is kind of a cool thought.” She continued, “It’s so different from anything I’ve ever seen. And all those tiny plants and even some animals living up so high, it’s amazing. Thank you so much for bringing me up.”

He looked at her and a slow grin slid across his face. “It’s been my pleasure to watch you. It’s caused me to see things through your eyes. I’ll be interested to see your finished pictures.”

That smile changed his features from the stark expression he normally wore. He hardly looked like the same man and boy did she like what she saw. The smile softened his features and lit a spark in his eyes. Her fingers itched to take a picture of him, but she knew he wouldn’t be appreciative of that idea, so she kept still. “It will be my pleasure to show them to you.”

“Sounds good. We’ve got a couple more stops to make. We’ll be coming upon the Colorado river soon. It runs fairly close to the road, but it doesn’t look like much at this elevation, especially this year with the dry winter we had.”

“But there’s still plenty of snow,” she said glancing around at all the snow on the ground.

“Not really, we can get thirty feet up here. Which is why the road is normally closed for another couple of weeks. These little piles you see are nothing.”

“Wow that’s a lot of snow.” She’d never seen that much snow. About every five years they got dumped on for Christmas, but it was still only about three feet. Thirty feet was as tall as a house. That would be crazy to see.

“Yes, it is. Some years it doesn’t open on Memorial Day because of the snowy road conditions. And there are occasions of freak storms in the summer that can cause the road to shut down until the snowplows can get it cleared and reopened. We don’t drive it much… unless we have guests that want to see it.”

She knew he was referring to her and Alyssa and it made her feel special that they had taken the time to drive them over the road. She leaned over the console and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She whispered, “Thanks.”

His voice was gruff when he said, “You’re welcome.”

* * *

She’d just meant it as a thank you, but that little kiss on the cheek had sent fire racing through his blood. It was ridiculous if he thought about it, but his body didn’t give a damn what his head had to say about it. He didn’t know what to say or how to react, so he just kept driving.

What he wanted to do was stop the truck, drag her into his arms and kiss the living daylights out of her. Then if she was on board, strip her naked and bury himself in her. That’s what he wanted to do, but it wasn’t an option, so he just kept driving.

He cleared his throat. “There are a couple more turnouts left before we’re off the mountain. There’s still plenty of daylight to get out of the park, but we should probably finish up our exploration fairly soon. There might be deer or elk in the meadow just outside the park entrance in an hour or so as dusk settles. It’s a popular place to see them in early morning or just before the sunset. It’s not a huge herd like in Estes Park, but these won’t be quite so domesticated either. And most of the time it’s deer or even a moose on occasion.”

“Oh, a moose would be fun to see.”

“Yes, but they aren’t sighted real often. Mainly it’s a small herd of deer,” Adam said.

“That would be fun, too. I’m not picky.”

He laughed. “I noticed that when you took a bazillion pictures of the chipmunks.”

“Chipmunks are cute.”

“And the butterfly,” he said dryly.

“Butterflies are beautiful.”

He glanced at her. “It was a little white one.”

“Still I liked it.”

“And the lichen?”

She giggled. “Fine, you’ve made your point.”

That giggle tore him up. “Anyway, the point being you need to be quick at the last couple stops if you want to see the deer.” His voice had come out gruffer than he intended, and he saw her flinch. Dammit.

She said, “I’ll keep that in mind.” Then she turned to look out the window.

Now he’d pissed her off or hurt her feelings. He didn’t know what to say so he said nothing and just drove. What an idiot he was.

When they got to the next turnout, she said, “No need to get out. I’ll make it quick.”

“Rachel, I didn’t mean…”

“No, it’s fine. I know I drew this trip out much longer than was necessary. You probably just want to get home and away from all of this. I’ll be quick.”

Now he’d ruined the trip for her and she felt bad. All because her giggle had set him on fire, with a lust he didn’t want to feel for her. He sat in the truck thinking about how to fix it. Beau knocked on the window which startled him out of his thoughts. He powered the window down.

Beau said, “What’s up? Rachel looks upset.”

“I didn’t mean anything by it. I just mentioned she might want to hurry if she wants to see the deer that hang out in the meadow after we exit the park.”

“That makes sense, why would that upset her?”

Adam didn’t want to admit he was abrupt with her because of his reaction to her laugh. “I think she took it as I’m tired of driving her around. It wasn’t what I intended.”

Beau’s eyebrows lifted. “Of course not, you’ve always been a fan of driving. Since you were sixteen and got your first license.”

“She doesn’t know that.”

Beau shrugged. “Tell her, dumbass.”

“I’ll try.”

“What’s this try shit. Do I need to start quoting Yoda at you?”

Adam rolled his eyes, and saw Rachel hurrying back to the truck. “I can handle it, asshole. Go back to your truck.”

Rachel clambered in the cab and said tightly, “I hurried.”

He sighed and didn’t start the truck. He turned toward her. “Rachel, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad or self-conscious. I don’t mind driving you around. In fact, driving is something I enjoy. I just wanted you to be aware of the possibility of some pictures down lower. I didn’t mean to sound gruff about it. Please don’t let my attitude ruin your trip and photography.”

“You’re not sick of me and all my silly picture taking?”

He shook his head. “Not at all. I was attempting to tease you about that.”

“It did sound like teasing at first. But then it changed.”

He ran his hand behind his neck and looked up to see that Beau and Alyssa had left. Time to come clean. “It was your laugh.”

“What’s wrong with my laugh?”

“Nothing’s wrong with it.”

“Then what…”

In for a penny, in for a pound. “It made me want to stop in the middle of the road, drag you over the console and kiss the breath out of you. Then strip you naked and bury myself in you until next week.”

“Oh…my… I had no idea.”

He turned to start the truck. “Yeah, so I was a little agitated.”

“Adam?”

“What?”

“I think I’d like that. Not in the middle of the road or where Beau and Alyssa would come to see where we were, but... All the rest sounds like a superior idea.”

“It does?” He looked at her wondering if she really meant it.

“Yes, it does.”

“I thought you didn’t like me?”

She shrugged. “I don’t always like you, in fact I rarely do.” She shrugged again. “But what’s that got to do with a good screw. Might relieve some tension.”

He chuckled, she had to be the craziest woman he’d ever met.

She looked out the window. “But if we don’t want Beau and Alyssa coming back to see if we killed each other, we should probably drive.”

He sighed dramatically. “If we must.”

She giggled again, then gasped. “You didn’t tell Beau that, while I was taking pictures, did you?”

“Hell no. And stop giggling.” He put the truck in gear.

She giggled again. “I’ll try.”

“Woman.” He growled. Which sent her into peals of laughter, that made him grin despite himself and his inflamed body.