Rocky Waters (Lovers Lake)

“I’m almost gone.” I continue to stuff my shoes in my suitcase. Both are already full, so I hope I haven’t forgotten anything. I have six different outfits for the shoot, plus two regular ones for me. We’re only going to be there for the weekend, so I have plenty of clothes, but I also had to pack my makeup and hair tools just in case. Since I’ve never had a photoshoot out of the state, I don’t have any idea what to bring with me.

“No getting carried away by the rough waters,” Lydia chides, wagging her finger like I’m a little girl. I’m the oldest, after all. Leaning on my suitcase, I tug the zipper around, getting it to close. This is going to be like one of those can of worms things. I hope it goes straight through the luggage check without an issue.

I huff and lift my duffel off the chair and swing it over my shoulder with my bag and pop up the handle on my suitcase, dragging it to the door. “Goodness. I’m going to the shoot with a couple of people. It’s not like I’m going to be alone.” I love my sisters, but they can be pains.

“Still, you’re pretty quick to tip over. Stay off cliffs and peaks and stuff. Pleeease!” Lydia presses her hands together, begging me.

She moves just out of my reach as I swipe at her. Shaking my head, I let out a light laugh. “Shut it. I will. Now give me a hug because I’m supposed to catch a plane to Colorado by three.” Both of them crowd me, squeezing hard and hugging me before I choke out, “Let me go, dorks.”

“Be good, and don’t go falling for some mountain man,” Lydia wags her finger at me but then tosses me a wink.

“You need to stop reading those books, Lydia.” One man comes to mind, but he’s not a mountain man. He was born and raised in the area we’re shooting in, but he doesn’t live there anymore. I hoped to run into him, by chance, get him to fall madly in love with me instantly, and sweep me off my feet, but that will never happen. The odds of meeting Bennett Lake are astronomical.

“Well, maybe you need to start,” she tosses right back.

“One day, but for now, I’ll stick to the crime books. Be good and be safe,” I say before rushing out of the apartment and down the street to the train station.

I hurry over to the Orange Line platform and hop on the train just as it pulls into the station. I take that as a sign of good luck. Lydia texts me right away to make sure I haven’t fallen off the platform. I’ve never even gotten close to the edge, but they’re brats.

Me: Yep. Totally fell off. Using my last energy to text you goodbye, assholes.

Lydia: At least you had a good run.

Georgie: Don’t listen to her. Good luck. Don’t trip. Unless it’s in the arms of a single, hot guy.

I love having sisters. Even bratty ones.

I take a seat with the open space for my luggage in front of me. Right now the train’s relatively empty, but I know it won’t last as we get closer to Midway. I send a text to Michael who should already be in Denver.

The shoot is going to be just north about two hours around Bennett Lake. I’ve read all his books and supposedly from his author profile he’s from around that area. Maybe that’s where he got his pen name. There isn’t much information on the tall handsome bastard, so I don’t know if he’s married or has a family of his own, but I sure as hell imagine him giving me a family. Ashamedly, I have a crush on him after seeing his author profile and his Facebook author page which I’m sure he has nothing to do with. Most of the posts relate strictly to his works. It says he moved to Texas a while back, so meeting him is probably out of the question, but a girl can fantasize.

I pull out his last book, hoping that he’ll release another soon, but I know that’s not how it works. Supposedly he has something in the works for the winter, but that’s only the buzz and nothing definitive has posted as of this morning.

The train comes to a stop at Midway, halting my reading, but it’s so freaking good that I can’t wait to sit down and pick up where I left off. My flight’s not for another hour, so hopefully I can get to my terminal and relax and move on to the next chapter.

I get to the halfway point when they call us to board the plane. Settling into my seat with a smile, I buckle myself in and pull out my book, flipping it to my bookmarked page and continue on reading.