Ten Mountain Men's Baby (Love by Numbers 9)

She stopped about fifty feet downstream. “Hey,” she called out.

“Hey,” I responded.

“Are you from the trail?” she asked.

I sat up and pointed upstream in the general direction from which I’d come. “Yep.”

She continued walking toward me. As she did, a cloud passed in front of the sun, dulling the bright backdrop and allowing me to get a good look at her.

Tall and slender with black hair tied in a ponytail, dark eyes, and full lips—she was gorgeous.

As she advanced, I felt an erection coming on, so I sat up and bent my leg to shield it from her view. It caught in my wet pubic hairs and pulled as it stiffened. It was painful; I badly wanted to reach into my boxers and adjust, but that surely would have sent her walking in the opposite direction, and quickly.

When she was within twenty feet of me, she said, “Hello.”

The cloud had passed, and the sun was again beaming in the background. I had to squint when looking in her direction. “Hello, stranger,” I said.

She stopped, set down her backpack, and took a seat on it. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

I kept my eyes on her, fighting the sun to get a good look. “Yes, it sure is.”

She turned to me. Her head blocked the sun, and in an instant, I could see her face clearly. She was obviously of mixed ethnicities—perhaps even Native American like me. Whatever her origins, she was exotic enough to be exciting yet familiar and comforting all the same. She wore a serious expression, all business, but her voice was light and casual.

Her gaze swept over me, from the top of my head to the tips of my feet. “You must be freezing,” she said.

I laughed. “I walked down here to take a bath, and I wasn’t about to let a little thing like common sense stop me. Now, I’m just drying off.”

“Do you need a towel?” She reached into her backpack then stopped, her eyes again sweeping over me. “Not that I mind.” Her lips didn’t stretch, but she smiled with her eyes.

I didn’t need a towel; I had my own. But I welcomed the idea of sharing with her, even if it was just a towel, to start. “Thank you.”

She handed me her towel, her eyes still perusing my body. At that moment, I was very thankful for the gym membership I’d invested in a few years back. Money well spent.

I dried my hair then handed her the towel back.

She chuckled.

“What?” I asked.

She pointed at my head. “If you’d looked like that a minute ago, I wouldn’t have come over here.”

Giving my hair a quick towel dry had made it stick up and out. I must have looked crazy lying on a rock in my boxers, wild hair sticking out in all directions. I ran my hands through my hair, flattening it and giving it a quick combing. “There. Is that better?”

She nodded.

I looked from her to the water then back. “Fancy a swim?”

She looked at me wide-eyed and shook her head. “No way. I’m a California girl. I’m already freezing out here.”

“You’re right,” I said, and I hopped to my feet. “I’m freezing, too, actually.” I stepped back onto the bank and slipped on a shirt.

“Ah,” she said, feigning disappointment. “The show’s over already?”

“I’m afraid so.” I slipped on my pants.

She pouted. “But I just got here.”

I sat back down on the rock and slipped on my socks and shoes, then I looked at her and said, “I’m sorry to disappoint. But you wouldn’t want me to freeze to death?”

She shook her head.

“Believe me,” I said, “I’m far more fun alive.”

She pulled a windbreaker from her backpack and put it on. She stood, looking upstream. “Did you come from there?” She pointed.

“Yep.”

“So, I could regain the trail up ahead?”

“Actually…” I rubbed my chin. “To be honest, I slid down a steep slope to get down here. I think it might be difficult—very difficult—to climb back up. Where did you come from?”

She pointed downstream. “There’s a path leading from the trail to the river over there, not far.”

I chuckled. “I must have missed it.”

“I suppose I’ll go back the way I came then?” She looked at me as if I should confirm her decision. Or perhaps she was waiting for me to make a move.

In Massachusetts, she would have been waiting a long while—I wasn’t shy, but I was far from what we’d call aggressive or audacious when it came to girls. But out here, in the wild of the mountains, I was feeling far more daring.

“Do you mind if I join you?”She was a fast walker, which I appreciated—not only because of the delay in my schedule but also because the temperature was dropping at an alarming rate. When we reached the waypoint, I showed her the slope I’d slid down to get to the river.