I offered to cancel our Sunday waterfall trip thinking Dylan would prefer to get some sleep, but he refused. He didn’t return until this morning, and I could tell he was tired.

“Thanks,” he said when I slid a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast in front of him. “This and a quick shower, I’ll be good as new.”

“It must have been a bad one if it had you out this long.” He still hadn’t told me anything, and as small as my town was, I worried that it involved someone I knew.

His eyes searched mine. “As I understand the bartender rules, you’re bound by oath to keep anything said to you while serving beers confidential, right?”

Kind of a weird question, but I’d play along. “Absolutely, and I’ve never once broken a confidence.”

“Then put yourself in bartender role and grab me a beer.”

“Sure.” Now I was really worried. I’d already noticed that Dylan wasn’t a big drinker unless he was upset about something. One or two beers or the occasional glass of wine at most, so if he wanted a beer at nine in the morning, that didn’t bode well.

“Breakfast of champs,” I said, sliding the bottle across the counter.

He downed half of it in one swallow, then pushed it aside. “I’ve ordered the cops at the scene not to talk about it, so I shouldn’t either, but you’re going to hear about it soon enough. Whatever rumors surface, here’s what I know as of now. Stephanie Jenkins and Sean Lamar were returning to her place after spending time at Hideouts. Unfortunately she wrapped her car around a tree. She’s okay, but Sean is in critical condition at Mission Hospital in Asheville.”

“Holy shit,” I whispered.

“That about sums it up.” He slid his empty plate to the side and pulled his cup of coffee in front of him.

“Sean’s a really sweet guy. God, I hope he’s going to be okay.” I noticed Dylan’s cup was empty, and I refilled it. “It’s been maybe two years since I’ve seen him. I’d heard he was back from Afghanistan. Honestly I can’t figure out why he was with Stephanie. He was never a big party person like her.”

“His parents said he’s changed since returning from his last tour. That he seemed angry and withdrawn.”

“You saw them?”

“Yeah.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “The part of my job I hate the most. Take me to your waterfall, Red. Show me something beautiful today.”

“I can do that. While you’re taking a shower, I’m going to call my parents and let them know. They’re friends with Frank and Judy and will probably want to go to the hospital to be with them. Don’t worry,” I said when he seemed about to speak. “I’ll just say he was in an accident. Frank and Judy can tell them however much they want them to know.”

He gave me a dog-tired smile. “I trust you to know what to say.”

Dylan’s shower done and my call made, we walked out to his car. I held out my hand. “Keys. I’m driving.” Without a word he handed them to me. The man was so different from others I’d dated. Chad would have argued, no matter he was dead tired and had drunk half a beer. He’d see it as an insult to his manhood or some crap like that.

“Top down?” he asked.

“Definitely.” It was another warm day, perfect for a convertible. This warm spell wasn’t going to last much longer, but I was going to enjoy while it did. I dug out a band from my purse, pulling my hair into a ponytail.

On the way out of Blue Ridge Valley, we stopped at the grocery store and bought a small Styrofoam container, a couple of bottled waters, some presliced cheeses, crackers, strawberries, a package of blackberries, a half-dozen chocolate chip cookies, and a small bag of ice. On the way to the checkout line, I spied a rack with cheap straw hats and grabbed one. Dylan chose a ball cap with a North Carolina Panthers’ logo on it.

As I pulled out of the store’s parking lot, I debated which waterfall to take Dylan to. I decided on one of my favorites, Soco Falls, which was actually a duel falls located between Maggie Valley and Cherokee, right off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Dylan fell asleep within minutes of our driving out of town. I couldn’t stop glancing over at him, thinking how much younger he looked when all his worries and responsibilities weren’t etched in weary lines on his face.

My heart ached at the thought of leaving him. But traveling the world had been my dream for so long that I didn’t know how to give it up. And then there was my promise to Natalie that I had to keep. So I would go, and I seriously doubted Dylan would be waiting for me when I got back. He was simply every woman’s dream man, and he would find someone to love him the way he deserved. And I would be happy for him. I swore it.

I turned off the ignition after parking as close as I could get to Soco Falls. I was going to let him sleep a little longer, knowing he needed it, but when the Mustang’s engine noise cut off, he jerked upright.

“Did I drool?” were the first words out of his mouth.

“Yes, and you snored, and then drooled some more.”

He lowered his chin, eyeing his shirt. “Did not.” He massaged his eyes with his fingers, then scrubbed at his face.

I knew he’d showered, but I hadn’t noticed until now that he hadn’t shaved, too intent on watching how peaceful he looked in sleep. That day-old bristle on his cheeks made me want to jump his bones, but when he’d slept, I could see the boy in him. I wish I’d known him when he mischievously drove his mother mad. I wanted him to tell me about those days, yet I didn’t because then I’d fall in love with him.

“We’re here,” I said instead of putting my mouth on his like I wanted to. We gathered our cooler and hats, and I wished we’d taken my car because I always kept a blanket in it. I had plans for him, so we’d make do.

It only took about five minutes to reach the observation deck, and I stepped back to let Dylan take his first look at the double waterfalls.

He didn’t say anything at first, then he glanced at me with awe in his eyes. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”

“I know.” I loved that he saw the beauty that I did. “Come on. We have a ways to go.” The trail down was slippery, and the only way to get to the bottom safely was to hold on to the rope the park service had put up. Dylan held our cooler in one hand, white-knuckle gripping the line with his other. We laughed like silly kids as we slipped-slid our way down.

At the bottom he dropped the cooler to the ground, snaked his arm around my waist, pulled me against him, and kissed me with the same exhilaration that strummed through my body. He’d come back to life after a horrible night, and I was glad he hadn’t taken my suggestion to stay home and get some sleep.

“Wow,” I said when we came up for air. “If this is what going to a waterfall does for you, we’ll have to do it often. I have a whole list of them we can visit.”

“It’s not just the waterfall, Red.”

He didn’t have to explain. I could see the desire for me in his eyes. I took his hand, leading him to a spot I’d seen on the way down. The rock was flat and dry, perfect for a little picnic and a little loving.

“Thank you,” Dylan said once we were seated on the rock.

“For?”

“For bringing me here, for being you.”

Just go and melt my heart, Mr. Policeman. I leaned my cheek on his shoulder, and he rested his chin on my head. We sat like that for a while, listening to the crash of the water onto the rocks. I could feel the tension seeping out of his body as the sun warmed our faces. He sank down onto his back, bringing me with him and cradling my head with his arm.

“I think I could live here if we could get pizza delivery,” he said.

“And chocolate chip cookies. And a hamburger once in a while.”

He laughed. “You’re complicating things, Red.”

There was something in his tone of voice that made me think he wasn’t talking about pizza delivery. His fingers played with my hair, and I closed my eyes, sighing from the tingles he was sending around my head.

“Mm, that feels good.”

“This world tour of yours. How long are you planning to be gone?”

“I don’t know. I’m leaving that open. A year. Two. Until I get tired of traveling, I guess.” But I was going to miss him. I almost wished we hadn’t met until after I came back. There was no way a man like him would sit around for a year or two, waiting for me to get the travel bug out of my system. I’d never expect him to or ask it of him.

There was no one else at the bottom of the falls, and we were hidden from view of anyone on the observation deck. I swung a leg over Dylan’s waist, straddling him. His eyes, hooded and half-asleep, tracked my movements. I put my hands on either side of his head, bracing them on the rock, lowered my face, and brushed my lips over his. He put his hands on my hips as I played with his mouth. I loved kissing Dylan Conrad. His lips were full, soft, and delicious.

“I wish we had a tent we could crawl into so we could strip off our clothes and make love here next to the waterfalls.” I dropped kisses to both sides of his eyes. The mountain water cooled the air around us, but my body felt like someone had turned on the furnace. Simply being near this man sent heat to every bone and nerve ending living inside my skin.

“I’m a transplanted city boy. I’ve never been camping, but I think I’d like wrestling around in a tent with you.” He smiled. “We’ll have to give it a try sometime.”

There were all kinds of things I wanted to do with him, places I wanted to take him, things I wanted to show him. When the voice in my head said that there wasn’t enough time left to check off everything on my list, I pushed it away.

We were in the here and now, and when I left, it would be with beautiful memories of this man, whether we ever got naked together in a tent or not. He slipped a hand under my T-shirt, cupped my breast with his palm, and flicked his thumb over my nipple.

“Copping a feel there, Chief?”

“Uh-huh.”

I laughed. “I love an honest cop.” His erection pressed against the vee of my shorts, and I rubbed against him, teasing him.

“You’re treading on dangerous territory, Red. You keep that up, and I won’t care that we’re out in the open and someone could come down here any minute.” Even as he spoke the words, he arched his hips, pushing back at me.

As if he’d conjured company by mentioning the possibility, I heard voices. Dylan put his hands on my waist and lifted me to the side of him. By the time the family of four reached the bottom of the trail, Dylan and I were innocently enjoying our picnic. But, mercy, those hot looks he was giving me were setting me on fire.

“I think we should go back to your place and take a nap,” I said as I popped the last bit of cheese in my mouth.

He smirked. “If you say so.”

Yeah, we might be in his bed, but we weren’t going to be napping.