Heartburn (Love By Design 3)

“So is this part of your job?” I blurted out.

He smiled at my question, kindness crinkling at the corner of his eyes. He was definitely laughing at me now.

Whit looked up at me from under thick lashes. “Job?”

God those beautiful lashes women would kill for. I prayed he wasn’t another Ryder West in disguise.

“Rescuing stupid girls who go off on hikes ill-prepared for bad weather?” I knew he saw right through me. I was never good at small talk.

“Oh.” He’s quiet, likely contemplating how honest of an answer he should give me and if I might dissolve into tears. There was no chance of that happening. I was far too logical for hysterics now that I was slowly warming up and in no danger of dying outside alone to be ravaged by wolves and hawks. “Well… I suppose search and rescue comes with the territory. I guess there is more to your story than you being a stupid girl?” He resumed stoking the fire.

Rolling my eyes earned me a genuine laugh from Whit and I was struck by his unusual name. Ignoring his question, I asked one of my own. “What’s your full name?”

“Deflecting. Nice.” He leaned back on his knees, arms crossed over his chest, which I noticed was pretty brawny underneath his jacket. He was a manbun-less version of Jason Momoa with some GQ arching brows that made me want to stare at him all night long.

“It’s Whittaker Jones. I’m named after my grandfather, crusty old bastard, but a good guy growing up. He used to take me fishing and hunting in these woods as a kid.” He was right again. Smart and good-looking, Whittaker was definitely trouble for me. “You?” he asked.

“Named after a great-aunt who never married and died with twenty cats in her house.”

“Twenty?” He chuckled like it sounded impossible. I knew it was totally possible right up until the housing authority fined you for hoarding animals.

“It sounds much worse than it actually turned out. She was sweet and despite there being twenty cats roaming her apartment with free rein she cared for them. She even brought them to work at the kitschy book store she owned.”

“Ah,” he nodded. “Where is home?”

“Brooklyn, near Williamsburg and the bridge.” He rocked back on his heels and flutters of emotion erupted under the guise of his perfect smile.

“You miss her.” Slowly he reached up and brushed a hunk of my wet hair back over my shoulder, exposing my face to him, and the light of the fire burning brightly thawed my core.

“Yeah. I ended up working there as a teen after school to give her breaks. She always baked these lemon iced cookies for me to sneak back home. I loved her.”

“Well, I wouldn’t turn down cookies if you felt inclined to bake me some once we get out of here.” He chuffed.

“Just cookies?” I inquired.

“As a thank you gesture, of course.” Winking at me, I was lost. How did I end up getting myself from the pan directly to the fire? Was this karma? Pure chance? A statistical outlier? My head ramped up all the possibilities as his eyebrow quirked waiting for my response and I blinked back to the here and now.

“Of course.” Reel me in because I was done. Blushing singed my cheeks and I would have dug up Aunt Amelia and shook her alive to get her recipe if it meant Whit would look at me like that again.

“How about chocolate chip? You get me out of here and I’ll bake you a double batch.” I had no idea how to operate the oven in my apartment, but I would find a bakery if it meant seeing him after this.

“Seems like a good deal. So tell me again what prompted you to walk off the trail with no real jacket or a phone?”

“Not giving up on that, are we?” I snorted

handing him more kindling for the fire.

“Nope. You’ve made me curious why you’d risk life and limb hiking in the dark from a perfectly good campsite rife with beer, boys, and pot.” He smirked at me.

“Fine.” Exasperated, I started to shiver again, partly from sitting so close to him and out of damp chills from my clothes. “It was about a stupid guy, but it doesn’t matter because I’m not interested in him anymore. Pretty sure my roommate, the blonde one is banging him now.”

Whit nodded seemingly fine with my answer.

“Good, because we should probably take our clothes off now.”

“What?” I screeched and Whit looked at me wide-eyed as mine focused on him shell-shocked. So much for dinner first and middle names next. I knew adults, like real adults in the next age bracket above me were a bit more casual with sex according to Cosmo where I got all my relevant sex facts, but even this was unprecedented.

“Oh shit, I didn’t mean it like that.” Holding his hands up defensively he looked kind of cute while I thought about sucker punching him in the mouth. I might have my moments, but I was a city girl and I didn’t take crap from anyone. My dad made sure his daughters took a year of karate with all our other extracurricular activities. I didn’t mind being the forward one, or seen as fickle of heart, but I drew the line at someone taking advantage of me.