“Like it? This is amazing.” The waterfall—probably about eighty feet tall—started more than forty feet above them and disappeared into the rocks below. Now in late summer, the flow had slowed to a thin ribbon, but drops still bounced over the rocks and splashed onto the surrounding ground. The air was much cooler in this area, and grass, jimson weed, and black-eyed susans flourished near the falls. The area was cool and vibrant with color—a magical spot of oasis on the warm, dry trail.
“How did you know this was here?” She mopped her forehead.
“It’s marked on the trail maps. It’s just that not many people come this far. Here, drink some more water. I’ve got another one if we need it.” Tanner handed her a bottle.
“Can we sit here awhile?” she said. “I’m warmer than I thought.”
“Me, too. Wait before you sit,” he said. “I’ll put the blanket down.”
He pulled the groundcloth out of the knapsack and spread it out over the grass near the waterfall.
“This is heaven.” Hope dropped to the ground with her water bottle and gazed at the falls. “I bet this is something in the spring.” She tilted her head back and drank the entire bottle, wiping her mouth when she was finished.
“That hit the spot,” she said, putting the empty back in the knapsack. “I didn’t know I was so thirsty.”
Tanner watched Hope drink her water, drink it so fast that some of it escaped the edges of the bottle and trickled down the sides of her mouth and dripped onto her tee-shirt. He watched her throat move as she swallowed the water, at her flushed and moist face, at her tee-shirt as it absorbed the spilled water. He watched her soft mouth as she wiped it afterwards.
He felt an irresistible urge to lay Hope back and to kiss her senseless. Heaven help me, he thought, knowing that heaven didn’t have anything to do with what he was thinking.
“I’m glad we did this,” Hope said. She unlaced her boots, kicking them off, and lay back on the blanket, closing her eyes and stretching. “I feel great. I won today, I had lunch with the uncles, I’m in a beautiful place in the mountains, what more could anybody want?”
I know what more I want, Tanner thought, as he gave in to his impulses. He leaned over and kissed her.
Hope’s eyes flew open in shock. She’d been taken completely unawares by Tanner’s kiss. Not unwelcome unawares. But a person might want to be ready.
“Whapf?” she asked, her lips compressed by Tanner’s.
Tanner raised his head an inch. “Shhh,” he said. “I’m kissing you. Show the respect that deserves.”
Hope grinned, her nose so close to his they almost touched. “You surprised me,” she said. “What was I supposed to do?”
Tanner rolled his eyes. “Pucker up. Say, ‘oh, Tanner.’ You can say that a couple of times, as needed. Kiss me back. Sheesh. Even a junior high school student knows the basic routines.”
Hope laughed. “You know, if I’d been standing up and holding, oh, say, a Ming vase, and you came up behind and surprised me like that, I’d have dropped it, and then the world would have lost a priceless artifact. Just think how sorry you’d be.”
Tanner twisted his head around, checking out the small clearing. His face was so close to hers that his hair brushed her cheek. “Yeah, Ming vase. I’m seeing that.”
“I’m just saying. So, okay, I fluffed it. Should we try again?” I want to try again.
“You want to try again?”
Hope felt a second of insecurity, wondering if she truly had fluffed her romantic moment, and then she saw the devil dancing in his chocolate-brown eyes. She felt herself grin.
“Well, we could go look at Ming vases instead. There’s an exhibit—”
She didn’t finish the sentence before Tanner leaned over and kissed her again. This time Hope was more prepared, and she still felt shocked. Tanner’s lips were soft but demanding and electric and molten, and Hope felt herself fall into kiss. Then Tanner raised himself until his face was a few inches from hers and looked into her eyes with such intensity that Hope felt the earth slip away and the stars rush forward. And then he kissed her again, with such heat that Hope thought her blood was on fire. After a few minutes, Tanner stopped again and smiled at her.
“Exhibit?” he asked. His voice held laughter, but his eyes held only heat.
“Shhh,” Hope said, feeling a little dazed. “Show some respect.” She