Once Upon a Campfire (Meet Cute Romance 6)
“So now what?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I’m here to figure out this summer.”
“I envy that. Having time to breathe, to think.”
Beckett tucked a lock of her dark hair behind her ear. “You could take the time.” He wanted her to take it. He wanted her to take it here, enough that he was prepared to talk to Michael about hiring her on. But that was getting ahead of things.
“I have a very tight schedule to finish my thesis.” She said it with the ease of a well-rehearsed excuse.
“The thesis for the degree you’re not sure you like, to go on to the PhD you aren’t sure you want.”
Her expression turned mulish, and he knew he’d probably pushed too far. But there was so little time to convince her.
“I’m just saying—that’s a lot of years to invest in something you’re not passionate about.” The idea of it made him shudder. Being trapped like that would kill him. Sarah wasn’t him, but he could see the cost down the road of her stubborn insistence about finishing what she started. “What’s the worst that could happen if you took the time to make sure it’s what you really want?”
“If I don’t roll on into the PhD program this fall, I might not get in. I might miss my chance.”
“Did it ever occur to you that if you took the time and didn’t get in afte
r this, that maybe you’re supposed to do something else?”
“What? Like fate or God intervening?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I just think the universe tends to set us on the right path, if we’re paying attention. But it’s easy to get distracted by other stuff instead of listening.”
“And you’re here to listen this summer.”
“That’s the plan.”
Sarah frowned, clearly flummoxed by the idea. “How do you deal with not knowing what comes next?”
“I’ve learned patience.” Though she was testing it. He’d been listening all week and knew what he thought was next, at least with her. But she wasn’t on the same page. Not yet anyway.
“Not my strong suit,” she admitted.
He’d pushed her far enough for one day. “Then how about distraction?”
“What did you have in mind?” She went brows up in faux innocence.
“I volunteer as tribute.” Grinning, he rolled her beneath him and took her mouth.
~*~
“You ready for a real challenge?” Beckett asked.
Sarah eyed the rock face, already mapping the path of her ascent. Her heart began to thump. This was no Boulder Mountain. But Beckett wouldn’t have brought her out here if he didn’t think she could do it.
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
They suited up, going through the checklist she’d learned by rote, checking and rechecking safety equipment and determinedly not talking about the fact that she was leaving tomorrow. Sarah didn’t know what he’d said to the Tullys so that they could spend their last day together in the adjacent state park, but she wasn’t about to complain. There was nowhere she’d rather be than right here with him.
Something else she was determinedly not thinking about.
“You take the lead. I’ll be right behind,” he said.
On a nod she started the safety protocol. “On belay?”
Beckett grinned. “On belay.” He had her locked in and ready to catch.