They stood side by side as the island got closer and closer.
What was that? What’s happening here? And is it bad that I like it so much? Katrin sighed in frustration.
“Awkward?” he asked, looking ahead at the island.
She shook her head, lowering her sunglasses. “Nope.”
“Why the sigh then?”
“Sweet.” And she sighed again.
“Hmm.” She felt his eyes on her. “Can I ask you something?”
She shrugged and turned her body toward him, leaning one elbow on the railing. “Sure.”
“You and um, Dr. Martin. Martinez. José.”
“Mmm.”
Erik took a deep breath and turned away from her, staring back out at the island. “I know he likes you. That first day when I dropped you off—I mean, it was obvious. And you’ve been working with him for a few weeks, and you look better and better every time I see you. Happier. And, um, I’m just wondering if…”
Interesting, picket fences. Only one reason a man asks about another man. No way she was making this easier on him either. She stayed silent, waiting for him to ask his question, but shifted her body away, to rest her elbow back on the railing, cradling her cheek on the palm farthest from him, and moving one foot up to rest in the mesh that extended from the railing to the floor.
He scoffed. “It’s none of my business.”
“That’s true.”
He faced her in a whip-fast movement, eyes searing. “Well, are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Are you—has he touched you?”
“Many times.” She paused. “We work together.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
She turned and faced him, starting to feel annoyed. He wasn’t able to offer her, or any other woman, for that matter, any sort of respectable commitment, but he wanted to know if she was sleeping with someone else? It wasn’t fair. Not to mention, she felt a little insulted—again— that he actually thought she’d be kissing him if she was also kissing José.
“Then why don’t you just say what you mean, Erik the Blond?”
He was massaging the railing with his hands and she watched him, wondering again what in the world had happened that made it so difficult for him to open up, to be open to falling in love with someone, open to happiness.
“Forget it.”
“Oooo-kay.” She looked away from him, toward the heavily wooded island up ahead.
“Are you seeing him?” Erik’s voice was low, intense with emotion and focused in its pursuit for an answer.
Katrin considered how to respond. Take your time, she thought, and opened up a window to her thoughts. On one hand, she liked that the very thought that José made Erik jealous, but the honest truth was that aside from some pretty tame flirting, there was nothing to be jealous of. José’s eyes didn’t linger on Katrin. Aside from work, he didn’t seek her out for anything but friendly conversation. When his eyes lingered, they lingered on Gabrielle, and when he spoke to Gabrielle, it was in tauter, intense tones than he ever used with Katrin, regardless of the subject matter. Still…did Erik deserve reassurance?
“You’re right. It’s none of your business, Erik. He’s cute. He’s nice. Neither of us is with someone else.” She watched his face, set like stone, staring straight ahead, his shoulders bunched uncomfortably high. His jaw flexed and his knuckles were white, clutching onto the railing, waiting for her answer. “But, to answer your question...no. I’m not seeing him.”
He exhaled and his shoulders relaxed, but he still didn’t look over at her.
“Not yet anyway,” she finished, and his head whipped to the side to look at her again. She met his eyes with raised eyebrows and smirked. “We’ll just have to see what happens, Minste.”
***
The knuckle-dragging impulse to grab her and haul her up against his body was overwhelming. We’ll just have to see what happens. Like hell we will, Ӓlskling.
An announcement alerted the passengers that the boat was preparing to dock, and Katrin smiled at him brightly, heading for the gangway. He watched her walk away from him. The way her jeans hugged her backside made him groan.
He caught up with her quickly, pulling her backpack off of her back, and swinging it up on top of his own.
“I don’t mind carrying it,” she said.
“Neither do I.”
Katrin shrugged, gesturing to the large billboard-style map in front of them at the end of the dock where a small crowd was forming. “Do you want to figure out where—”
Erik took her hand, leading her away from the others quickly, tapping his head with his index finger. “It’s all up here. Come on.”
He pulled her along a short way until they came to a well-worn path that seemed to bend around the natural curves of Skeeko Bay. “Do you mind going off the trail?”
“No. Not as long as you know where you’re going,” she teased. “Don’t really want to get lost in the woods.”
“Kinda depends on who you’re lost with.” He smiled, lacing his fingers through hers and slowed their pace a little, confident they had put some distance between them and the other folks on the boat. “Haven’t you heard? I’m a really good tour guide.”
“About that,” she asked, falling into step beside him. “Wasn’t it hard to leave the family business?”
He shrugged. “I love my Pappa and my brothers. But, you know, I’m the youngest brother, and I think they all sorta thought I’d just follow along, you know? I mean, I love what I learned. I love being out here today, knowing what I’m doing. But I didn’t want to do it forever.”
“I’ve never been to Yellowstone.”
“What?” He stopped walking, turning to her in surprise. “What self-respecting Montana girl hasn’t visited Yellowstone?”
“This one.” She smiled at him, shrugging good-naturedly.
“Don’t like nature?” He started walking again.
“I do.
