Fake Boyfriend - Miley Maine Page 0,27
“So show me how to sterilize this water. I need to brush my teeth.”
As I explained how the sterilizing tablets worked, I found myself completely fixated on her. I’d never have expected someone who’d grown up with such a pampered life to be so interested in roughing it. The other women who’d come to my grandfather’s cabin for a night or two after I’d met them in a club in Anchorage, had complained bitterly about the lack of adequate electrical outlets in the bathroom, the low water pressure and the taste of the well water.
Which had irritated me a whole fucking lot, because I loved Alaska. There was no place like it. And those women hadn’t appreciated what they had. But watching Loren’s fascination with nature -- real nature -- not the sanitized version she’d been offered before, made me feel like I was seeing the wild Alaskan landscape for the first time again.
With her around, I felt better than I had in a long while. I felt more alive, like I wasn’t going through the motions. I guess I’d been stupid enough to think that just because I’d gotten laid that I would be cured of the nightmares.
Although I wasn’t sure what I’d been thinking when I’d agreed to pretend to be her boyfriend. Pretend to be her security? Sure. I could play that role. I’d even done it before. At least a dozen times, I’d helped escort a dignitary across a hostile border. I knew risk assessment. I understood how to secure a room.
Of course all of that had been in the middle of war zones, or places with extreme political strife. At a sleepy town in Alaska in the middle of a wealthy person’s wedding? My skills wouldn't be of much use. But I could still look the part.
The role of boyfriend would be much more challenging. It was one I’d never played before. I’d had plenty of hookups. But I’d never been introduced to anyone’s family. There were scads of married Army Rangers, but the ones I knew well had met their significant others before they were recruited.
The nature of our frequent deployments made dating seriously seem like more trouble than it was worth. And most of the women I met seemed more than happy to enjoy me and my body for a week or two and then say goodbye, which suited me just fine.
After all the hassle of renting the equipment and the boat, and proving that I had a fishing license and yes, I did know what I was doing, we finally made it onto the open water.
Once Loren and I were on the lake, she went to the front of the boat and just sat, staring out into the ocean “This is the best,” she said.
“I assumed you’d been out on a lot of boats a lot nicer than this one.” We were in an average-sized V-hull fishing boat with a motor. It wouldn’t even fit more than four people.
She leaned over and dipped her hand into the cold water. “I have. My dad has a yacht, and he’s done the usual schmoozing with celebrities and politicians. And I’ve been on a deep sea fishing expedition in the Gulf Coast, but the guide was hired to basically catch the fish for us. It was just an excuse for a big photo op.”
“Then you came to the right place. I don’t want anyone telling me how to fish. I read the rules, and I follow them.”
“I’m totally not surprised,” she said.
As with everything so far, she was a good student, and several hours later we had four king salmon and two rainbow trout fish to show for our work. We stored them in the cooler I’d rented, and then we just drove the boat around the lake.
“Now that you know what you’re doing, next time rent a small plane, and fly up to one of the remote lakes in the Chugach Mountain Range. You might not see another soul while you’re out fishing.”
“Have you done that?” she asked.
“Yeah. The last time two of my teammates were up here we did it.”
“Let me guess. You have your pilot’s license too.”
“Yep.” A cloud passed over the sun, and I lifted my sunglasses to stare at her. “And you could have one too.”
“I’ll have to think about that. But it’s been pretty nice down here. With the exception of the area at the marina, we’ve hardly been crowded.” She pointed to the expanse of the blue lake,