Lincoln leaned back, shifting in his seat. The further they drove, the more relaxed he became. As far as he was concerned, life was pretty damn good right about now. He had Kinsley next to him for an indeterminate period of time and the road ahead was wide open with opportunities. What more could a man want? Right now, he felt as if he were in heaven.
Chapter 13
Lincoln now understood what hell was. Because he was in it!
Standing down by the water’s edge, he braced himself. Any moment now, Kinsley was going to step through the door of the camper and smile. Or scream. Or do any number of things that would make him smile.
The first night, he’d pulled onto a relatively flat area about five miles off the highway. It was quiet, with trees all around them. He’d checked the GPS to ensure that he wasn’t on private property, then started setting up the site. She’d been adorably helpful, almost excited to take on any task he gave her.
Until she’d spotted a spider.
The damn thing had been maybe the size of a penny, but she’d freaked out, stomping and screaming, running towards him like a serial killer was after her. When he’d finally calmed her down and discovered what had scared her so badly, he’d laughed until his sides ached. Yes, he’d killed the spider for her. At least, he’d killed the spider she’d seen. He didn’t mention that there were probably fifty more spiders lurking around, not to mention perhaps a few snakes, and a whole host of other creatures. And he definitely didn’t point out the bats flying over the campfire. He’d just continued to heat up their dinner that night, insisting she tell him stories.
The second day, they’d crossed over the state line into Idaho. She’d literally bounced with excitement. The whole rest of the day, she’d looked up interesting facts about the state of Idaho on her phone. When she’d announced that one third of the potato crop for the entire United States was grown in Idaho, he’d pulled into a diner and ordered a plate of fries. When she’d announced that Wallace, Idaho was the “center of the universe,” he’d changed directions and headed towards the tiny town, just so that she could see the manhole cover. He’d laughed at her excitement, then rolled his eyes when she’d taken a picture.
And since they were so close to Hells Canyon by that point, a spot that is deeper than the Grand Canyon, he’d driven that way too, stopping for the night beside the river with high mountains on each side of their campsite.
He’d tried to convince her to fish in the river, but she’d squinched up her nose and put her foot down on that one. But when he’d brought back a fish for dinner and fried it up over the campfire, she’d eaten the fish as if she’d been starved for the previous week.
For the first four days, she’d religiously put on makeup and even brushed her hair, pulling it up into a neat, tidy ponytail. But over the past few days, she’d slowly stopped with that effort and…damn, she looked fresh and beautiful! Her hair was a mess, her lips looked a bit raw from a lack of moisturizer. But her cheeks had bloomed with color and she looked…fresh and alive!
Hence why he was standing by the bank of the river, waiting for her to emerge. He slept in the back of the camper in the main bed, even though he’d tried to convince her to take that space. But she’d resisted and slept in the pull out bed in the living area. Thankfully, because his camper was custom built, there was a second door in the back for emergencies so he didn’t have to climb over her when he came out before her in the morning. Still, they shared a tiny bathroom and he had to smell her shampoo after she showered. He saw her sleeping when he peeked out of the bedroom in the morning. And even worse, he had to see her smiles of amazement as he showed her new things each day.
They’d crossed into Montana yesterday, after traveling around Idaho for the past several days, enjoying the mountains and rivers, the sunshine, and even the rainy days. At the beginning of the trip, he’d assumed that he’d have to pull into a hotel every couple of days so that she could pamper herself.
But Kinsley had slowly taken to the outdoors as if she were born to it. She was an expert at setting up the camp and building fires now. She knew how to make camp coffee and boil water, cook over the fire pit, and she’d even come closer to the water when he fished for their dinner. She wouldn’t stay close when he cleaned the fish, but she was appreciative of his efforts.
What the hell was he doing? He was out here in the open air, supposedly trying to come up with ideas for what his next project might be. But he didn’t want to work. He liked just…being with Kinsley. He loved traveling with her and, so far, other than the spiders, she was the perfect traveling companion.
He didn’t need to work. Hell, he wouldn’t need to work for the rest of his damn life, although he knew that he’d eventually feel the urge to fix something that didn’t work properly. Even as they’d traveled, he’d tossed around some ideas. But nothing that really grabbed his imagination.
No, he was simply enjoying his time with Kinsley. Too much. She was engaged, damn it! Well, engaged to be engaged.
That’s
