She stared at him, at the long, strong legs that she could see with his shorts. The dark hair along his skin, lighter on his forearms and the rugged look of his jawline since he hadn’t taken the time to shave this morning…it all added up to a virile, amazing male. An enticing, dangerous male that was starting to get to her.
“Here,” he said, handing her a paper-wrapped…something.
“What is it?”
“Just what I promised. An egg-white burrito with extra veggies and cheese. You’ll love it.”
She unwrapped the paper and looked down at the burrito. “It looks like it was just made, but you were only in there for about five minutes. Maybe even less.”
He smiled as he pulled his own out of the bag. Well, three of them, actually. “Yeah, that place is ingenious. The diner is a regular stopping point for hikers on the weekends. They make up huge batches of burritos of different kinds, put them all in a line and people just grab what they need, pay for them at the end of the line and head on out. They don’t make anything other than burritos at this time of the morning.”
She took a bite, shocked by the explosion of flavors. “Oh wow!” she breathed. “This is amazing!”
He nodded, taking a bite of his own. “Yeah, they use a lot of herbs in their eggs. That’s what makes the difference. And in this area, there’s a ready supply of organically grown vegetables as well as range raised chickens for eggs. You can taste the difference, right?”
She nodded, not bothering to say anything since her mouth was full. Swallowing, she wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Oh, this is great!”
He agreed, and they sat in the privacy of his Jeep while they ate. Looking around as she finished up her burrito, she noticed that almost every vehicle here was either a Jeep or a Subaru. “Lots of people heading to the mountains,” she observed, thinking out loud.
“There are different waves of people that come through for meals at the diner. This is just the morning wave. There are others who prefer the sunsets and will start off a bit later in the morning or afternoon, depending on their overnight options.”
“Overnight?” she asked, thinking it wouldn’t be a good idea to be out in the mountains overnight. “Doesn’t it get cold overnight?”
He laughed. “Honey, it’s going to get cold this afternoon. We’re climbing to the higher elevations. There might be a bit of snow.”
She nodded her head. “I suppose that makes sense since, even from a distance, one can see the snowcapped mountains.”
They finished their breakfast and she took the bag, tossing it into the trash as they drove out of the parking lot. “Okay, now you’re going to fall in love with hiking,” he promised.
Twenty minutes later, he pulled off of the road into a small parking lot. There was a trail that she could see disappearing into the woods and the sun was finally coming up over the mountains.
“We’re going to take this slow and easy so that you don’t get blisters from your new hiking boots, okay?”
She agreed, nodding as she tied the sweater that he’d handed her around her waist. It looked huge, but then again, anything that he lent her was going to be massive on her. The guy was about a foot taller than she was and had shoulders that seemed as if they could take on the world. Perfect shoulders, she thought with a quiet sigh.
He grabbed the heavy backpack, tossing it over his shoulders like it weighed nothing at all.
“Want me to carry that for a while?”
He grinned and shook his head. “Nah. I’ve got this.”
“What’s in it?” she asked, curious despite herself.
“Water bottles, protein bars. Another fleece pullover for each of us. Matches in case of an emergency, first aid kit, GPS and compass, two light rain coats, knife, and sunscreen.”
Her eyes widened. “Wow! All of that?”
“You learn to be prepared. There isn’t an easy escape route here in the Rockies. Even park rangers, who know these woods pretty well might have a hard time finding hikers if they get lost.”
“Sounds fair, although, even with a GPS or compass, I’m not sure if I could find my way out of a bag.”