That evening, Teagan and Diana sat in the backseat of Aaron’s truck, playing with Patton as the guys drove them into town. The rain came down again, but Teagan wasn’t worried. It was the Rockies in summertime; rain rarely lasted more than a little while.

They stopped at the supermarket for fried chicken, snacks, and drinks before they headed to the park. Like many Colorado mountain towns, the main drag had a western flare to it, dotted with eateries, bars, t-shirt stops, and galleries filled with southwestern art and other wares. As hoped, the rain stopped and the skies began to clear.

The town park was an expanse of bright green grass with a lake at one end and a stage perched at the lake’s edge. They joined the other families, couples, and dogs on the grass, setting up their chairs and waiting for the grass to dry a little before spreading out their blankets. Once they got settled in, they munched on their chicken, chatting away as the park began to fill up.

“What kind of music tonight?” Diana asked.

“I think it’s country,” Stovi replied. “You like country?”

“I’m a small-town girl at heart, Stovi. Of course I like country!”

Stovi grinned. “Me too.”

Later on, their stomachs full and their beer and wine poured, the music started. It wasn’t long before Stovi talked Diana into joining the others dancing near the stage.

“Come on, you guys!” Diana pleaded with her and Aaron. “It’ll be fun! We can get someone to watch Patton…”

Teagan and Aaron shook their heads. Teagan did many things, but she didn’t dance. Apparently, Aaron didn’t either. Diana rolled her eyes and left with Stovi. She glanced over at Aaron, looking relaxed in his chair, sipping his craft beer in a can, his muscular bare arms impervious to the cool air. Patton came over and perched himself next to her as she petted his shiny coat.

“So what’s next for you?” Aaron said.

“What do you mean?”

“Your life. Where do you see yourself in a few years?”

Teagan considered his question. “My dream is to make enough from my writing that I can quit teaching and hopefully move to the mountains.”

“How long will that take?”

She let out a sigh. “Longer than I hoped. And with my transmission and some other financial issues… I have to teach more classes in the fall.”

“How many?”

“A full load.”

“Do you like it, at least?”

“I like teaching, but teaching as an adjunct instructor… you only get the intro classes no one else wants to teach, with students who are just trying to fulfill degree requirements. And the pay is terrible.”

“Will you still have time to write?”

“Some, but not as much.”

“I’m almost done with the second book in your trilogy. It’s even better than the first. I’ll try to spread the word for you…”

Teagan smiled, gratitude flooding her. “That’s so sweet of you. Thank you. What about you? Where do you see yourself in a few years?”

Aaron took another sip of his beer. “At this stage in my career, I could hang on, retire from the Army in a few years, and move on to something else. But if I stick around and do some training, I could move to the next level, which would eventually lead to a promotion. That would keep me going a few more years and then I could retire at a higher grade.”

“Which option do you want most?”

“The second one. I’m bored with what I’m doing. I talked to my dad about it, and he agrees that I should move up.”

“What’s stopping you?”

“The training I need… it requires me to relocate back east for at least a month. If I lived on base, it would be easier. But I’ve got the house, and Patton. I can’t leave him with a friend or board him for that long. It’s too much to ask and I wouldn’t feel right about it.”

“What about a house sitter?”

“I looked into that. But finding someone reliable who can stay that long… it’s inconvenient for anyone in Tucson and it’s too long a commute for anyone on base. And it would cost a fortune.”

“Hmm. I’m sure you’ll find a way, if it’s what you really want.”

Diana and Stovi finally returned from their two-stepping, laughing and chattering away like they’d known each other for much longer. And when the music was over, they climbed back into Aaron’s truck and headed back to camp.

Teagan awakened to voices. Male voices. She glanced out her window and saw Aaron and Stovi talking quietly. From what she could tell, it looked like a serious conversation. She glanced at her watch—barely four in the morning. Soon, the two men hugged and Stovi got into his truck and drove away.

Teagan climbed out of her truck, hugging her arms around her in the predawn chill. “What’s going on?”

“Sorry if we woke you,” Aaron said. “Stovi got called back to base. Something… something important came up.”

Teagan nodded, sensing she shouldn’t probe. “That’s too bad.”

“He told me to tell you both goodbye and that he’s sorry.” He looked her up and down. “You’re cold. Go back to bed.”

Teagan hurried back into her warm down sleeping bag, hoping Stovi would be okay. And then she realized something: it was Saturday. Diana would leave that evening because she promised her mother she’d go to church with her Sunday morning. Diana no longer went to church, something that upset her mother greatly, so she humored her mom by accompanying her now and again. Which meant Teagan and Aaron would be alone until they left on Sunday.

When they woke up later, Aaron explained the situation to Diana, who looked disappointed. At least until Aaron handed her Stovi’s card and told her Stovi hoped she would contact him. The three of them and Patton went on another hike. Around dinnertime, they helped Diana break down her tent and get her bike attached to its rack.

“Sorry I have to go,” she said to them. “But duty calls.”

Teagan hugged her. “Drive safe. Call me soon.”

“I will.” Diana gave Aaron a hug as well. “Take good care of my girl while I’m gone,” she added with a sly smile.

“I will. It was good to meet you.”

After Diana’s Jeep disappeared, Aaron turned to her. Suddenly, she felt self-conscious. They were alone. She wondered if Aaron would want to get a head start on his long drive home now that Stovi was gone. A big part of her hoped he wouldn’t.

“What do you want to do tonight?” he said.

Teagan smiled, relieved. “Hot springs?”

“That’s right. Forgot about that. That sounds perfect.”

After dinner, Aaron drove them past town and up a washboarded dirt road through the dark forest. A sign and cars parked along the side of the road alerted them that they’d found the hidden hot springs. They gathered their bathing suits and towels and left the windows cracked for Patton, who stared at them through the window with disappointed eyes.

“Lay down, buddy,” Aaron said. “We’ll be back soon.”

They paid their fee to the old guy with the shaggy beard and went to change. When Teagan emerged from the changing tent, she hugged herself in the cold air as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. This hot springs had no artificial outdoor lighting, and the moon wasn’t up yet.

She could smell a hint of sulphur as the moist heat of the springs began to warm her. Aaron waited by the stone path leading down to the pools, swim trunks on and towel over his shoulder. She looked down in embarrassment, sure he could sense her checking out his bare chest, and she suddenly felt naked in her skimpy bikini. They took the stairs down to the pools, steam coming off three different pools surrounded by stones, each with a few people soaking away or sitting on the edge to cool off. A stream trickled by, leading to a final pool with no steam above it, a pool to cool off in. Teagan followed Aaron into the second pool, the hot water burning at first but then feeling deliciously soothing. They sat down on a built-in stone ledge.

“Damn, that feels good,” Aaron said. “I’m still sore from a workout I did right before the trip. I got a little carried away.”

“You don’t get a body like yours without working for it.” She closed her eyes for a moment. She did not just say that. Well, too late now. She glanced at him. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable by complimenting you.”

He laughed. “Am I that bad?”

“Yeah,” she said, laughing. “But it’s kind of cute, too.”

Teagan closed her eyes and soaked, the warmth seeping into the bones of her legs and feet, both fatigued from their hikes. She rubbed her legs before stretching them out before her. As she did, her leg bumped into Aaron’s, sending a tiny shockwave through her before she withdrew hers. After they relaxed in silence for a while, she spoke.

“Thank you. For inviting me and Diana to join you guys. Stovi’s a fun guy.”

“He is. Great friend, too. I’m glad you both came.” He paused. “I think Stovi likes your friend.”

She smiled. “I hope she calls him.”

“Do you think she will?”

“I don’t know. Diana has a knack for picking guys with issues.”

“Stovi’s one of the most stable guys I know.”

“That’s what worries me. Plus, they live pretty far from one another.”

Aaron hesitated. “True.”

They fell silent again. She felt a little clueless about what to say to Aaron. She hadn’t expected to even talk to him again, much less be camping with him and sitting next to him in the hot springs. The problem was, she loved camping with him, hiking with him, talking to him. She wished he’d slide off her bikini bottoms with his strong hands and press his body against hers. She shouldn’t wish it—they were separated by nine hundred miles and recovering from divorce and had little more than a hot-blooded night (and morning) in their favor—but she did. Feeling suddenly overheated, she pulled herself out of the pool and sat on the cool stone ledge, the mountain air refreshing her as her calves dangled in the pool. Aaron did the same, sitting right next to her, his leg nearly touching hers.

“I have a question,” Aaron said, his face flushed from the heat, his serious tone making her a little nervous.

“Okay.”

“Why didn’t you let me into your house after we had dinner in Denver?”

Teagan turned away, a knot forming in the pit of her stomach. She knew it. It did bother him. He’d expected to sleep with her and couldn’t believe she’d refused. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“I wasn’t offended. I just want an honest answer.” When she only stared down at her feet, with their lavender toe polish, he added, “Will you look at me, please?”

She turned to him, his gray-blue eyes boring into hers. “You want to know why I didn’t let you in? Because I knew if I did, you’d expect me to sleep with you. And I understand why, after what happened when I stayed at your house that night. So I kept us outside, where you wouldn’t get the wrong idea.” She shook her head, feeling annoyed all of a sudden. “Just because we slept together before doesn’t mean I’m on the hook for another round whenever you come to town.”

“I know that, Teagan. I told you I didn’t expect you to sleep with me.”

“Well, it sounds like you did expect it, or you wouldn’t be bringing it up now.”

Aaron paused at that. “Okay, maybe I did, a little. But it wasn’t because of what happened at my place or because you owed me anything. It was because… I sensed you wanted to. I’m not a mind reader, but I can usually tell when women are feeling it and when they aren’t.”

Teagan let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “I was, Aaron. Okay? I was feeling it. But the truth is, I don’t want casual sex. I know I just got divorced and I’m ‘off men’ and I’m not ready to jump in the deep end, but I realized that, in some idealistic part of me, I want the real thing. My marriage wasn’t the real thing. It was a sham. I want someone who wants to be with me, the real me, for more than a night or two. That’s why I didn’t let you inside.” Tears came to her eyes and she looked down at her lavender toes again.

There. She said it. She told the truth, the truth she didn’t know she felt until just then. She did want the real thing, and some hidden part of her knew it was possible to get it. She stared at her feet, waiting for Aaron’s withdrawal or some defensive response, or his telling her in a patronizing tone that she was making a big deal out of nothing and he didn’t need the drama. The crap she’d gotten from men in the past.

She felt a warm hand on her back. “Hey,” Aaron’s voice said quietly. He reached for her chin and gently turned it toward him. “It’s okay. That makes sense.”

“It does?”

“Yeah.”

Relief flooded her. “I guess I can see why you’d be disappointed. We kind of tore it up at your house, so hugging me on my porch or camping as friends must seem pretty dull.”

“I was disappointed. But not for the reason you think. I wanted to come in that night because I wanted to be with you, for as long as I could until I had to get on that plane. I invited you to camp with us because I wanted to be with you. Yeah, I want the sex too, but that isn’t all I want.”

“It’s not?”

“No. Teagan, I like you. A lot. Being with you makes me happy, happier than I’ve been in a long time. Even Stovi noticed it. But you act like you’re nothing more than some nerd that douchebag ex of yours left, rather than the way I see you.”

Teagan stared at him. “How do you see me?”

“As someone smart, and funny, and who has a good attitude about life, and who’s fun to be around. You call yourself a nerd, but all I can say is that you’re the hottest fucking nerd I’ve never seen. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since the moment you left my house.”

Teagan’s stomach did a somersault. “You haven’t?”

“No. And I’ve tried, believe me.”

“I’ve thought about you too,” she blurted out.

His eyebrows went up. “You have?”

She nodded. “A lot.”

He gazed at her in that way he had before, with the smoldering look of a man who wanted a woman. Teagan gazed back, hardly believing what she’d heard, that Aaron had kept all that hidden from her. Or that the signs were there, and she’d been too wrapped up in her own insecurity to see them.

“Why didn’t you say something before?” she asked. “If you felt this way?”

He took a deep breath. “We’re both coming off a divorce, we live in different states, and I didn’t know if you only wanted… what happened at my place. I just… I want you in my life, however I can get you.”

They sat there for a moment, staring at one another as if the pools, the people, and everything else ceased to exist. Then Aaron kissed her. Teagan melted under him, his lips hard on hers, his tongue tasting hers, his hand sliding up her thigh. How great it felt to kiss him again, to feel his hands on her again. And to know he felt the same way about her as she felt about him, even if she wasn’t aware of her own feelings until that day.

Aaron pulled away, his gaze burning her until he glanced down at her body. “You look amazing in that bikini. But I gotta be honest… all I want to do right now is tear it off you and feel those beautiful legs wrapped around me.”

Teagan blinked a couple times, her face flushed. “Then let’s go.”