By the time he was dressed and in the kitchen, the coffee that he drank strong enough to plaster cracks on the wall was ready to go.
He was on his second cup when his phone went off and he felt his stomach pitch.
Thankfully when he looked at it, it was just Sebastian thanking him again for the night.
By nine thirty, he figured it was safe enough to head to Duke Forest and see if Adriana showed up or not.
She did. Ten minutes before ten. And he almost didn’t recognize her.
Her dark brown hair was down and loose and flowing in soft waves to the middle of her back. She had aviator sunglasses on shielding the emotions in her eyes, but he was hoping she reacted to him just the same.
It was the first time they were seeing each other outside the hospital wearing something other than scrubs.
He had on cargo shorts, a fitted T-shirt, and his hiking sneakers.
She was wearing a pair of olive-colored cargo shorts that should be illegal. A navy T-shirt was tucked into her waist, some serious hiking sneakers on her feet.
Yeah, he was right. She had one hell of a body full of curves on display.
She walked, and the muscles in her thighs flexed. Her calves were tight and toned, and her arms the same. This was the body of a woman who spent a lot of time moving.
“I’m not sure we need our sunglasses,” he said, “but I’ve got mine too.”
She took hers off and slipped one arm into the top of her T-shirt like his. She looked up at the clouds. “I guess you’re right. Maybe I’ll put them back in the car. I’ve got some water in a backpack I normally carry. Thought I’d check with you first.”
“I’ve got some too. No reason we both have to carry one unless you want to,” he said.
“How long do you think we’ll be on the trails?” he asked.
“Couple of hours,” he said. “These are moderate trails and can get pretty busy.”
“A few bottles of water should be good enough then,” she said.
He watched her walk back to her car and put her sunglasses in there, his eyes going right to her ass. Holy shit, even her hamstrings were toned. He was almost self-conscious with what great shape she was in.
He opened the door to his Mercedes, grabbed the backpack from the passenger seat and put it on. It was small enough, held three bottles of water and a few protein bars. He was always prepared even if everyone thought he didn’t take much seriously outside of his career.
They’d been on the trail about two minutes when she asked, “How was the game?”
“It was awesome,” he said. “The Hornets won so that makes it better. Sebastian had a great time so it was worth it.”
“How old is he?” she asked.
“Fourteen. Soon to be fifteen. My older brother Noah just got engaged to his aunt, who has custody of him. They are in the process of trying to adopt him. Or she is, but they might wait to finalize until after they are married so Sebastian can take Noah’s name. Noah will never give up a shot at being the first in the family to do something.”
“First off, that’s really sweet that he is willing to do that. Second of all, what does that comment mean about being first?”
“Drake is the oldest by a few minutes. Drake got engaged first. But Noah insists he’s giving my parents their first grandchild.”
“Is there a lot of competition in your family?”
“Yes and no,” he said. “Not in a bad way. We all live our own lives and do our things, but we are close too. How about you? Any siblings?”
“No,” she said. “Only child. Which sucks.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I’m sure you can tell I’m not always someone that likes to be alone. I told myself I wanted that when I moved here and found that it’s not what I want at all. It’s not who I am.”
He wanted to ask more about that but knew she’d say what she wanted and when, so he let it drop and continued to move along the trail.
“Doesn’t seem too busy here today for some reason. I expected more people.”
“I didn’t look at the weather. Do you think that is keeping people away?”
“It’s just clouds,” he said. “Guess we aren’t wusses like them.”
She laughed and he realized it was the first time she’d done that. “What?” she asked when he stopped to look at her. They’d been walking side by side.
“You’re just stunning when you smile. A genuine smile and laugh. You should do it more often.”
She looked at him for a few seconds. “I haven’t had a lot to smile about lately.”
She kept dropping these little hints and it was driving him insane that she wasn’t saying more. But he couldn’t stand the silence so he changed the subject. “How do you like the area?”
“It’s nice. Different than San Diego.”
“I’m sure,” he said. “Did you do a lot of outdoor activities there?”
“I did. I was in some basketball and soccer leagues a few years ago. It’s harder to do now though. Plus my job made it harder when I was on second or third shift. First shift Monday through Friday is pretty sweet. So once the leagues weren’t much of an option I was always biking or hiking, playing tennis. Things like that.”
“Days are sweet,” he said. “Except it gives you nights and weekends with time on your hands.”
“There is that,” she said. “Before I used to fight to find time to do things. Now I’ve got so much on my hands it drives me insane. I’ve been thinking of offering to be on-call more, but it sounds like most just stick to their scheduled two weeks in a row, then three weeks off.”
“It seems it to me. We normally have one solid week a month unless we switch with someone. I had to for Sam’s wedding so I’ll be
