“Sorry?”
He looked at her profile.
She had her pigtails again.
Shit.
“About my chair and legs,” he explained.
She glanced at him, then back to the road, and reiterated, “I’m sorry I did.”
“That’s not the point I was making. What I’m trying to say is, your question took me by surprise. To be clear, it was a good surprise. It’s annoying as hell, everyone dancing around shit I have to deal with every minute of every day.”
“Yes,” she said softly, “I can imagine.”
Her voice normally?
Killer.
Her voice soft?
It hit his balls and drove right up to his throat.
He shifted in his seat, reminded himself this was Alex, his co-worker, a woman he had a lot in common with, which meant he knew they could be friends, therefore he had to keep his mind off his balls and on building that between them.
Because the Director of Programs worked closely with the Director of Outreach, so they needed that.
But also, he liked her.
And the only reason wasn’t because she’d never known him as anything other than the man he was now, and she was that into him. Far from it.
But that reason still felt fucking good.
“So it was a pleasant surprise, but I had to wrap my head around it,” he finished.
“Okay, cool,” she replied. “But…”
She stopped talking and didn’t start again.
“But?” he prompted.
“I’m just, I mean, I know it’s not my place, but people dance around it with you in mind. Like, I thought I offended you, and that’s the last thing I want to do.”
“I get that.”
“I see it’s still going to be annoying,” she mumbled.
“Yup.”
“And you can probably sense people are curious, or worried, and you want to say, ‘Listen, I’m still Rix. If you want to know, ask. If I don’t want to talk about it, I’ll tell you.’ But it stinks, because that puts you on the spot to put that out there, and that’s not fair.”
He stared at her profile and grunted, “Exactly.”
He watched her nod then she said, “I don’t know if people say this, but they should, and I’ve, um…well, I’ve wanted to say it to you for a long time. But what you did, I mean, what you used to do, it means a lot to me. The risk you took in doing it, the price you paid. If I didn’t…if there weren’t places that you protected for me to lose myself in. Whole vast spaces where I can let all that lives in me out, I, um…” She took a second before she finished, “I don’t know what I’d do. So, thank you.”
It took him a second to respond, and when he did, he did it quietly, because he was moved, and what she said meant a lot to him. “You’re welcome, honey.”
“Did that make you…uncomfortable?”
“Not even a little bit,” he told her, then went on, “Alex, just be yourself, all right? Like you said, if I’m not down with what we’re talking about or things you’re saying, I’ll steer us clear of them. Yeah?”
“Okay.”
“And same goes for you, seeing as I’m right now going to ask about all that lives in you that needs vast space to let it out.”
It took her a second to reply, and when she did, she sounded pleasantly surprised.
“I think you know what that means.”
He gave her a break, took his gaze from her, and watched the landscape roll by as she navigated the winding, two-lane mountain road.
Then he said, “Yeah, babe, I know what that means.” He took in a breath and let it out, noting, “We got our own way of living large, hey?”
“Yeah, Rix.”
And…there.
Now he was seeing he might want her to talk, but he absolutely didn’t need it.
Because when she said his name, it was impossible not to feel that pretty much everywhere.
But the origin came from his dick.
As much fun as he was having, coaxing her out from under her shell, it was just his luck that he’d know the woman for a long time, and only realize he wanted her in his bed when her office was next to his, they had to travel together, and he couldn’t go there.
They lapsed into silence for the twenty minutes it took to arrive at Camp Trail Blazer.
Rix had researched it extensively on the Internet, so he wasn’t surprised when he saw a lot of dirt, rock, straggling trees that were beating the odds in that dry heat, bunkhouses, stables, corralled horses, outbuildings with doors opened showing they housed ATVs, cabins dotted around for staff who lived on site, and an admin building.
It was no frills, but none of it was ugly. There was landscaping. Rock formations around the buildings filled with native plants. A wide, deep, manmade crater the bottom of which he could see was a big firepit that looked significantly out of use, which was good, considering the lingering drought conditions. Even that pit being that deep, and not much around to catch fire, shit happened.
Though, it was a good place to meet, talk, teach, whatever.
Only strange thing about the place was, even though it didn’t seem abandoned, it was deserted. Not a kid or staff member in sight.
Which meant they were probably out on a ride, something they did a lot, maybe packing tents, maybe not, but everyone loading up on the back of a horse to hit the desert and learn some life lessons about nature, survival, teamwork and themselves.
As Alex drove up and parked, the screen door to the admin building opened, and the man Rix assumed was Frank strolled out.
Barrel chested, not all that tall, salt and pepper hair, face with skin that had seen a lot of sun.
Behind him emerged Hale Wheeler.
“Oh my God,” Alex breathed, “Hale’s here.”
Rix sat straighter in his seat as Alex’s excited tone hit his ears and Hale Wheeler’s good looks hit his eyes.
Brilliant.
He threw open his door as Alex did, angled out when she did, but took his time walking around the SUV, watching as Alex approached Frank and Wheeler.
“Hey…Hale…a surprise,” she burst out in a staccato beat, goofy, making sense but not, and last, fucking adorable.
He fought clenching his fists.
“Alex, hey,” Wheeler greeted, offering his hand.
She arrived at Wheeler on a skip hop Rix had never seen her make, and a vision clouded Rix’s brain that he couldn’t reel in.
His fist connecting with Wheeler’s face.
Okay.
What the fuck?
“Rix.” Wheeler turned his attention to Rix.
“Yo,” Rix said, arriving at the guy and lifting his hand.
He took pains not to squeeze as tight as he wanted to before he let go.
It nevertheless shitted him that Wheeler had a naturally strong, firm handshake.
“You probably could guess, this is Frank Rossi,” Wheeler introduced his man.
More greeting and hand shaking.
“I should apologize for the surprise,” Wheeler told them when all that was done. “But I was in LA when Judge called to postpone our meeting, still there this morning. Woke up and thought, what the hell? I’m damned proud of this place, I need a break from all that other shit that’s sucking my time. I’ll meet you two up here, horn in on showing you around.”