CHAPTERTEN
Fairytales didn’t beginthis way.
The heroines of romantic stories didn’t spend their first date with the hero neutering cattle—working hard, sweating harder, and fending off flies. Happily ever after didn’t start with the princess covered in dust, or end with riding into the sunset on a four-wheeler.
Marisol knew all of these things, but as she clung to Robert’s waist, hanging on tight as he steered the ATV up a steep dirt trail into the mountains, it was all she could do to keep a goofy smile from her face. She didn’t care if they were both filthy, she loved the feel of her breasts pressed against his sweat-damp tee shirt, and his strong thighs nestled against her own. It felt so right to be with him like this, so good to give in, and stop fighting all the things she felt for him.
It felt better than good. It felt…magical.
The frightened voices inside of her were screaming that she knew better than to believe in magic, but right now all she could hear were the whispers from her heart that said there was no reason to be afraid. The way Robert touched her, the way he kissed her, the way he helped her off the four-wheeler once they’d stopped in a grove of live oaks, all communicated that this thing growing between them was something he intended to handle with care.
“You ready to get clean?” he asked, pressing a kiss to her cheek that sent a wave of longing shooting through her, tightening things low in her body.
Even his sweet kisses made her ache for more, and she seriously doubted their afternoon would be ending with anything as innocent as a shower. For the first time in two years she was going to feel her skin bare against someone else’s, feel warm, calloused hands roaming over her body, and look into a man’s eyes as he pushed inside of her. And that man would be Robert, the sexiest, kindest, most patient person she’d ever met, and she hadno ideahow to handle sex with a man like him.
She was used to men wanting her, but she wasn’t used to being handled with care or affection, and didn’t know how to respond to the warmth in Robert’s eyes. The jaded part of her wanted to tell him he shouldn’t look at her like that, because she wasn’t special enough to deserve it, but the hopeful part of her wanted to beg him never to stop. That part wanted to gaze into his eyes for hours, days, however long it took for her to believe he wasn’t crazy, and this fairytale was as real as all the nightmares she’d lived through.
“What are you thinking?” he asked in a hushed voice, when the silence stretched between them for long minutes, broken only by birdsong high in the trees and the rush of leaves rustling in the wind.
“I thought only women asked that question,” she said with a smile.
“I’m in touch with my feminine side.” His fingers dug into her hips through her jeans, sending another jolt of arousal zinging through her as she imagined what it would feel like when there were no clothes to separate her skin from his touch. “So are you going to tell me, or not?”
She licked her lips, wishing she were brave enough to tell him she was touched by the reflection of herself she saw in his eyes, but she wasn’t there yet. “I was thinking about that shower you promised. And how I doubt we’re going to find a bathroom in the middle of the desert.”
“Ye of little faith.” He smiled, that smitten grin that threatened to make the caterpillars spinning cocoons in her belly burst free and take flight. “Don’t you trust me?”
“More than I’ve trusted anyone in forever,” she said, the truth spilling out with an ease only magic could make possible.
Robert’s smile faded as he cupped her cheek in his palm, obviously understanding trust was a Very Big Deal in her world. “And I’m going to make sure you don’t regret it, starting with letting you go first in the shower.”
“I thought we were going in together,” she said, heart skipping a beat as he took her hand and led the way down a deer trail through the trees.
“I want to take care of you first.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I think you deserve a little pampering after all the hard work you did this afternoon.”
“I don’t know,” she said, nerves returning with a vengeance as they moved through the woods and presumably closer to where this shower—and all the rest of it—was going to happen. “I’m not really the pampering type. I wouldn’t even get manicures if I didn’t have to shake hands with people all the time.”
“What about massages?” Robert asked, ducking under a limb. “How do you feel about those?”
Marisol swallowed, the thought of his hands massaging her bare skin making her throat tight. “I-I don’t know. I’ve never had one.”
Robert grunted and cast a disapproving look over his shoulder. “Are you kidding me? What kind of assholes have you been dating?”
“Well, I haven’t been dating anyone for…” Her words faded away as they turned a corner in the trail and a pool of deep blue water surrounded by golden stones came into view. It was sheltered on one side by the sheer rock face of a bluff and most of the pool looked nature made, but the closest side had steps carved into the rocks leading into the water and a wide flat stone pulled to the edge that looked perfect for sunbathing.
Robert backed toward the pool, watching her face as he pulled her closer. “What do you think?”
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed, skin prickling as she imagined how good it would feel to sink beneath the surface and feel all the sweat and stickiness of the day drift away. “Did you carve the steps?”
“No, my dad and his friends did back when they were in high school,” Robert said, setting the duffel bag down on the flat rock near the entrance to the pool. “But I rigged up the shower over there.” He pointed to a large plastic drum attached to thick wooden poles that had been hammered into the ground about ten feet from the edge of the pool.
“There’s another, smaller spring a little ways up the bluff,” he said, motioning to a narrow trail leading around one side of the steep rock. “All I have to do is climb up and divert the water so it flows into the drum, and in ten minutes we’ll have enough water for a shower.”
Marisol's eyebrows crept higher on her forehead. “I’m impressed. Is there anything you can’t do?”
“Oh, lots of things. Better not get started with that list or we’ll be here all day.” He shrugged, but she could tell he was enjoying the chance to show off his invention. “We used to wash up in the pool when we were out camping or on a drive, but soap isn’t good for the water, or the animals who drink here when there are no people around. With the shower, the soap gets washed off down the other side of the hill and doesn’t run back into the pool. Cole and John thought I was crazy when I first built the thing, but now they use it all the time.”
Marisol nodded thoughtfully. “So your familyisopen to change, even if they’re resistant at first. Maybe your mom will be okay with your music career, too. Once she gets used to the idea.”