Chapter 7: Take Me To The Lake: Chapter 7

Normally, I dread Mondays, especially when I take the entire weekend off. But today cannot come soon enough. I was at the cafe as soon as it opened and was even there before Jana was. When she walked in and saw me already sitting down at what I think of as my table, she did a double take.

A few minutes later, she joins me with her own cup of coffee.

‘What the hell has you so damned cheery today?’ she grumbles as she sips her coffee.

‘I think I had a date this weekend.’

She looks at me for a moment as if I had grown a third eye.

‘You think you had a date this weekend? It’s kind of something you either know or you don’t know.’

‘Well, the other day when Cash came in here, he took me home. We sat and talked and then he asked me to go hunting with him last Saturday. Which in itself doesn’t seem like a date, but it felt like one.

I haven’t been hunting in a few years so I’ve wanted to go. He picked me up and even went as far as opening my car door. We talked and had a really good time and then when he brought me home, he kissed me. And then he asked me to have lunch with him today.’ I sit back and bite my lip waiting for her reaction.

I don’t have a lot of experience with guys. Even though I dated a guy in high school, who I was pretty serious about, but when it came time to have sex with him, I just couldn’t do it. He just wasn’t the guy I wanted to lose my virginity to.

When Jana found out I was still a virgin, I think she liked me that much more. Never once has she pressured me or hounded me about losing my virginity. So, it goes unsaid to us that I definitely do not have a lot of experience in this department.

‘Normally I wouldn’t say hunting is a date, much less a first date, but the kiss… you never know with those mountain men. They are different and maybe that was his idea of a date to see how well you would fit in up there on the mountain. But today is definitely a date. What does he have planned?’

‘Honestly, I have no idea. He said lunch, so my guess is we’ll go grab lunch down the road at the burger place.’ I shrug my shoulders because we really didn’t make any plans other than lunch.

‘That explains why you were looking all cute today in that dress and you have some curls in your hair. I like it. But I guess the big question is what do you think about him?’ she asks as she steals a bite of my muffin that I haven’t been able to finish.

‘Well, I like him. He’s really easy to talk to and actually listens. It doesn’t hurt that he’s not bad on the eyes either.’

‘Girl, all those mountain men are really easy on the eyes. They all look like they could bend you over a bed and break you and the bed in half in one easy move, if you know what I mean.’ She wiggles her eyebrows at me with a smile on her face. While I know exactly what she means, she doesn’t need to know that I’ve thought about it as well. This is all new for me, too.

‘Okay, well, let me go and get my work done so that I’m ready for this date. I promise to fill you in on all the details tomorrow.’

‘Deal.” She nods her head and then chugs down the rest of her coffee before getting back to work.

Immediately, I start focusing on work in the next book I’m editing and get lost in it like I normally do. The next thing I know, someone is sitting next to me. When I look up, it’s Cash, and he’s studying me.

‘Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even realize what time it was. I got lost in what I was working on.’ When I start putting away my stuff, he places a hand gently on my arm.

‘If you need to finish what you’re doing, I can wait. It was nice to see you so focused and I didn’t want to disturb you.’ He moves his hand from my arm, but I can still feel it as if it’s there and it’s never moved. Just that little amount of contact seems to have my body out of whack.

‘I’m good to go, I promise.’ I offer him a smile, which he returns before helping me gather my stuff and placing it in his truck.

‘I was thinking we could have lunch at the burger place down the road. Are you okay to walk?’ He asks once all my stuff is in the truck.

‘That sounds perfect.’

When I agreed to his location for lunch, a brilliant smile crossed his face. It’s one that makes my heart skip a beat and could probably stop my heart if I thought too much about it. He’s definitely a very handsome man, and he’s going to make someone an amazing husband one day. So why does that thought make me want to rip an imaginary woman’s head off her body? I don’t even want to imagine him marrying someone else.

We make it to the restaurant and once again, he opens my door and pulls out my chair. All the gentlemanly things. Even though he may not have had a conventional upbringing, he was raised right. Or maybe it’s just something men around here are born with because they seem quite different from the guys back home.

As we read over the menu, I keep looking up and finding him watching me. Though not in a creepy way, but like he’s studying me or even that he cares enough to actually pay attention.

‘Jenna has been raving about the huckleberry burgers here, so I think it’s time that I try one,’ I say as I close my menu.

‘That sounds good. I think I’ll try it too.’ One of the things I like about him is he’s easygoing. As we wait for our food, he’s constantly looking around and I get the impression that this might possibly be the first time he’s ever been in any type of restaurant.

With what I know about his background, I’m sure of it. But when he looks back at me, he relaxes a tiny bit, so I make it my mission to distract him.

‘Why don’t you tell me what you do to prepare for winter up there on the mountain?’ I ask.

Without hesitation, he launches into the topic. He’s so passionate about what he does and seems to like sharing it with me. He tells me about his hunting and how he gathers the furs that he uses and what he does when he’s snowed in.

As he talks, I can picture it all. The simple life of living off the land using what you have. I never gave it much thought, but the more he talks about it, the more appealing it seems. Though it’s not like I can do much of what he’s talking about in my tiny cabin.

After we finish dinner, he wouldn’t even hear about me offering to help pay for my half. Without a doubt, he really is one of those truly rare gentlemen that are left in this world. As we slowly walked back to his truck, we stop and look at a few shops along the way. Neither one of us want for the afternoon to end.

‘Can I give you a ride home?’ He asks, suddenly a little shy again.

‘I’d like that.’ While I don’t want the date to end, I also don’t want to come flat out and say that either.

When we get to my cabin, Mrs. Tipton is sitting on her front porch, and she gives me a small smile and nods as I climb out of his truck. Of course, after he opens the door for me.

He walks me to my door and stands there shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, looking like he wants to ask something but isn’t sure how to do it. One thing that I’ve learned is if I just give him time and be patient, he finally works out what he wants to say.

‘Are we…’ he hesitates for a moment and tries again. “Are you…’

He can’t seem to get the words out, so I gently place my hand on his arm, and he stops and stares at my hand before looking back up at me.

‘What is it?’ I ask gently. I don’t want to push him too hard, but I do want to know what he is thinking.

Taking a deep breath, he asks, ‘Are you my girlfriend?’

Why does the thought of being his girlfriend make me giddy? Even though I shouldn’t want to be, I very much do want to be his girlfriend. So, we take a small step closer to each other. His eyes are running over my face like he’s looking for the smallest hint of my reaction.

‘I’d very much like to be your girlfriend and have you be my boyfriend. Is that what you want?’

He nods his head, and I take another small step towards him. Although he watches me move, he doesn’t back up, but stays in place. It’s then it hits me how isolated he’s truly been and how lonely it must get up there now that his brother has passed. At that moment, I decide to be brave and upfront with him.

‘I’d like that too, but it has rules, you know?’

‘What rules?’

‘You don’t date anyone else, you don’t kiss anyone else, and you definitely don’t fuck anyone else. And I don’t either.’ His eyes go big for a minute, but then he relaxes, and reaches for my hand and takes it in his.

‘That’s exactly what I want,’ he says.

This time he takes a step towards me, closing the space between us pressing his chest to my chest.

‘What a coincidence. That’s what I want too.’

Then he leans in and kisses me. At first I think it’s going to be just a simple soft goodbye kiss, but then his hand cups my cheek and the kiss intensifies. But it’s only for a moment before he pulls away.

After dropping a kiss on my cheek, he turns and goes to his truck. I watch him until I can’t see his tailights. When I turn to face Mrs. Tipton’s house, I expect her to be there having watched the whole thing, but I find her front porch empty.

Something about her giving us privacy seems like she’s giving me her stamp of approval. But I know I’m still going to hear about it the next time we talk.