With breakfast finished and both of them dressed, Hope packed up a small cooler full of snacks and drinks while Gage gathered his camera equipment. They met in the entryway, supplies in hand.

“Hey, what do you think about taking old blue out today?” Hope asked. “It’s a stick shift, though, which I’m not very good at, so would you mind driving?”

His face lit up with a wide smile. “That would be fantastic. I can handle a stick, no problem, and I can probably get some great classic shots with the truck.”

“That was easy!” She laughed and pointed to a set of hooks behind him. “The keys on are on the blue keychain hanging on that third hook.”

He turned and grabbed the set off the hook before reaching down to grab his camera bag and the cooler from her. “Let’s hit the road then.”

He placed the cooler in the bed of the truck and unlocked and opened the passenger door for her. She turned and gave him a shy smile as he reached to help her up into the truck. “I’m still not used to you opening my door for me like this. It’s nice.”

“Guess you’ll have to keep me around then.” He leaned down and pecked her on the lips before closing her door and making his way over to the driver’s side and hopping in. He put his camera bag down between them and put the key in the ignition to start the truck. One turn and she came to life with a loud purr. He pressed on the gas lightly to rev the engine.

“You weren’t kidding! Walter does do a great job keeping this old girl in shape!”

Hope was smiling widely with pride. “I told you.” She pointed back toward the driveway. “If you follow the driveway to the end, then take a right, we’ll follow Route 2 down into Charlotte. I’ll show you a little covered bridge that’s kind of on the side of the lake down there. It’s pretty in the fall.”

“Okay, sounds good.” He headed out in the direction she had directed him, noticing that Walter had cut up the fallen tree that blocked their path the other night. “Looks like Walter’s been busy.”

“He’s so wonderful to have around. He makes sure this place is always in tip-top shape. We’re lucky to have him.” She reached over and turned the radio on. “Do you care what we listen to?”

He shook his head. “As long as it’s not rap, I’m good.”

“Oh my God! Me too! I can’t stand rap. I call it rap crap. My brother gets so mad at me because it’s all he ever wants to listen to.” She scanned through the stations until she found one that was playing a James Taylor song.

“This is perfect,” he stated and smiled over at her. They chatted easily about everything and nothing during the twenty-five-minute ride to the first covered bridge. As he rounded the corner of the narrow town road they were on, the bridge came in to view.

“Well, look at that! She’s an old beauty!” He pulled the truck into a small turn-off on the side of the road just before the bridge and shut the engine off.

“I told you it was pretty.” She opened her door and jumped out of the truck, meeting Gage as he rounded the front of the vehicle.

“Hey, I would have helped you out of the truck.” He set his camera bag down on the hood and turned to her.

“You don’t have to help me every time we stop. I’m a big girl. I can get in and out of the truck by myself.” She smiled over at him.

He stepped closer to her and, leaning down, cupped her cheek lightly as he brushed a kiss across her lips. “But then I don’t get to do this.” He kissed her again, this time more deeply, both of them stepping into one another’s arms. A car, beeping its horn as it drove by, had them pulling apart quickly, laughter tumbling from both of them. “Oops. I guess we don’t need to give the townsfolk a show, eh?”

Hope’s cheeks were flushed pink, but she was smiling and happy, regardless of being caught in such a passionate moment. “If they want a show, we could give them a flash of those abs of yours.” She grinned mischievously and winked at him.

He shook his head laughing and began opening the camera bag and taking his gear out. He quickly changed the lens, made some adjustments to the settings and started walking over to the bridge. She followed along beside him, watching him take in the bridge, the lake, and the overall scene with a calculating eye. He stopped abruptly, brought the camera up to his eye, and started snapping pictures.

She wandered closer to the lake, leaving him to do his thing. There was a small family of ducks just off to the left of the bridge, so she walked closer to see if she could get a better look. Then she made her way onto the bridge itself and found herself looking at all the old initials that had been carved by past visitors. People had been carving their initials in this bridge for as long as she had been coming here. Some people even carved in little poems or sayings.

“Hey,” he called from the end of the bridge. She turned to find him pointing the camera at her. “Stay just like that.” She obeyed his command and froze, just looking straight ahead at the camera. At some point through his clicking and walking closer to her, she let herself lean up against the side of the bridge, her body relaxing into it.

He finally pulled the camera away from his face and smiled serenely at her. “You are such a breath of fresh air. Do you have any idea how you make the simplest things look beautiful?”

She tilted her head and bit her bottom lip like she always did when she was slightly embarrassed. “Really? I was just reading the carvings.”

He had reached her now and ran a hand gently over her hair before resting it on her shoulder. “You’re so expressive, though. I could almost see what you were thinking as you read certain things—when one made you sad, or when you thought something was sweet. I love that about you.”

Wait? Did he just say he loved something about her? He watched as she clamped onto her lower lip hard enough to draw blood and knew she noticed it, too. Screw it. It is what it is.

He reached over and used his thumb to pluck her lip out from between her teeth and kissed her tenderly. “Show me what you were looking at.”

“Okay,” she answered softly and turned back toward the inside of the bridge. “Look at this one right here. April loves John ’56. This has been here for seventy years. Isn’t that crazy? I wonder if they’re still together?”

She watched as he moved his camera back to his face and took some shots of the carvings before looking back at her again. “Did you ever carve your name here? Or your and some lucky boy’s name?”

She shook her head, laughing lightly. “Nope. Do you believe it? I think my mom told me that her and Dad’s are carved somewhere on this bridge, though.”

“Let’s put ours then.” He said it before he even realized what he was saying and couldn’t help the surprised expression that followed. “I mean, only if you want to.”

She cocked her head, just analyzing him for a moment. “Really? You want to carve our names?”

He nodded his head, absorbing the fact that he really did want to leave his mark with her on this bridge. “Yes. Why the hell not? This has been a weekend to remember.”

Her eyes lit up as a delighted smile broke across her face. “Okay! Let’s do it!” She scrunched her mouth up and looked at him. “We need something to carve with, though. Any ideas?”

He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small Swiss army knife, holding it up, beaming proudly. “Yep. I think I’ve got just what we need.”

“Oh my God.” She shook her head in humorous disbelief. “You seriously have a knife on you.”

He shrugged. “I’m a Marine. Always prepared.” He started walking slowly down the inside of the bridge looking for an empty space to leave their mark. When he found a place he liked, he stopped and looked over at her, raising an eyebrow in silent question.

“Yeah.” She nodded and smiled. “This is the spot.”

He handed her his camera and turned back, pulled open the knife, and began carving. His body was in the way, so she couldn’t get a good look at exactly what he was carving, but she could see little chips falling to the bridge floor. She tried to be creative and sneak some shots of him carving, but she wasn’t certain if she actually got anything good of him.

Every now and then, a car would drive slowly through the bridge, and Gage would stop and pretend to be reading instead. It was silly, actually, because obviously, everyone did this, but it still seemed like they had to do it on the sly.

Finally, he stepped away, and with a wave of his hand and a broad grin on his face, he let her see. “Ta-da!”

Her eyes found his carving, and immediately, her hand came up to cover her mouth as she gave a little gasp of surprised pleasure. Inside a small hollow heart, he had carved Gage + Hope. It was perfect.

She turned back to him slowly and raised her eyes to find him staring at her curiously. “Gage, it’s so…” She threw her hands up in the air, and for a moment, Gage wondered if what he’d carved was too much. But then she shook her head, saying, “It’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me!” There! She’d said it!

He chuckled at her reaction to such a small gesture but couldn’t deny the pleasure it gave him to know how happy he had made her. When was the last time he wanted to make someone happy? He honestly couldn’t remember. But he knew he wouldn’t forget this moment—the moment that made her eyes sparkle like diamonds and her face light up like the sun. Seeing her like this filled him with a sudden, unexpected warmth, causing him to pause for a second. Was he starting to fall in love with this woman? His heart rate ratcheted up to break-neck speed as he swung his gaze back over to her again.

She was attempting to take some pictures of the carving with his camera, when she looked up and saw that his face was flushed and he seemed to be breathing heavily. “Are you okay?” Her face filled with concern as she moved to come up next to him.

He nodded gruffly and gave her a weak smile. “Yeah, yeah. I’m okay. I got warm suddenly. Could use some water, I think.”

She reached out and placed her palm on his forehead to check his temperature. He took her hand in his and moved it away but didn’t let go. “I’m okay. Really.”

“Okay,” she replied worriedly. “Let’s go get you a water out of the cooler.”

He continued to hold her hand, using it as an anchor to keep him from floating away as realization about his feelings for her sunk in. Could someone fall in love in only two days? He glanced over at her, and instead of feeling any trepidation, he felt tranquility. Fuck. He was definitely in love with her.

They had reached the truck, and Hope was trying to climb up onto the side so she could grab a water out of the cooler for him. Strong hands gripped around her waist, pulling her back off the truck, and she let out a yelp. She was spun around, and Gage’s lips were on hers before she could even scold him.

His strong arms enveloped her small body until she was flush with him, her arms slipping up and around to clutch onto the back of his neck. One large hand fisted her hair at the nape of her neck as he deepened their kiss, pushing her back until she bumped into the truck.

He ground his body into hers, his hardened length rubbing into her hip bone. One hand left her body and clutched onto the bed of the truck as he continued to press into her, their lips never leaving each other, their bodies so close they were almost one.

She finally tore her lips from his, panting, and looked up at him. “Where did that come from?”

He shook his head and grinned wickedly. “I told you I was feeling warm.” He leaned in and dropped several kisses along her neck, soft hums of approval coming from her. “This is what you do to me.”

She pulled back, smiling. “Not that I’m complaining about this sudden ravishing, but we are on the side of the road, and anyone could come by at any moment.”

He raised one brow suggestively while grinning. “Not into the thrill of being caught?”

“I think we’ve had more than enough of that between Walter and my father’s phone call yesterday.” She cocked her head at him, this time raising her eyebrows.

“Touché.” He kissed her on the nose and finally released the hold he had on her by stepping back. “I can’t seem to get enough of you. Sorry for the sneak attack.”

She looked at him coyly and closed the distance between them by pulling him close to her again. “Don’t ever apologize for wanting more of me. That’s the best thing I’ve been told in a very long time.” She kissed him then, soft and torturously slow, causing him to groan.

This time, he pulled away. “Woman, unless you want me to throw you in the bed of that truck and have my way with you, you better walk away right now.”

She laughed heartily but stepped away and held her hands up in surrender. “Okay, but we’re definitely picking up where we left off as soon as we are somewhere private!”

“Deal.”