When morning came, I awoke to the sound of Jake stirring around. It was only five a.m., and silvery moonlight was still gushing in through the window, giving everything a haunted house glow.
Slowly, Jake climbed out of bed and quickly slipped on a pair of underwear.
I couldn’t help but stare at his dazzling looks, his tight six-pack abs, that muscular chest, and those hard biceps. He was adorable in his tightie-whities. “Mornin’,” I said as he slipped into his jeans and walked to my bed, still shirtless.
“Good morning,” he said.
I stared at his messy, jet-black hair. “Sleep good?”
He flashed me a brilliant white smile. “Like a baby.”
“Breakfast is in an hour,” I said. “We should go take showers and get ready. I’m starving and don’t wanna be late.”
He gathered some cleaner clothes than the ones he was already wearing and headed outside to go take a shower.
After I showered, I put on a pair of jeans that fit me like a second skin, and I slipped into a matching denim shirt. I pulled my hair into a long French braid and used very little makeup, since I was sure I’d sweat it off anyway.
When Jake came back from his shower, I couldn’t help sweeping my gaze over his well-fitting jeans and white T-shirt, a classic look I’d always found sexy. The T-shirt clung to his broad shoulders, chest, and bulging biceps. His jeans fit him perfectly and emphasized his narrow waist. I knew if I didn’t stop drooling, he was going to notice.
He touched the brim of his cowboy hat and tipped it toward me. “Ya ready to go git some vittles, pretty lady?” he asked in his best John Wayne, which was humorous at best.
“I’m starving,” I said, smiling. “Let’s go.”
The scrambled eggs, bacon, and coffee was delicious and helped to wake us up.
After the scrumptious meal, I mounted my mule, and we took off on our journey out of the canyon, back to the top. The mules rested a few times as we went uphill, making for the perfect photo opportunities, allowing me to snap some fantastic pictures, memories I’d treasure forever. Again I had to be thankful for the cowboy hat, because the sun was beating down hard.
Finally, Earl had gotten me back to the top, and I couldn’t have been more thankful. We hung out for a while, walked some trails, and observed the canyon from that perspective before we headed back to the hotel.
* * *
Once we returned to our far less rustic accommodations, I unpacked, took another shower, and put on clean clothes to lounge around in. I called Nadia, only to discover that she’d been going crazy trying to run the boutique all by herself.
I looked at my watch and realized I had just enough time to call one of our vendors right before they closed. I looked up their number and dialed, only to be passed from one person to another. “Listen,” I said, “we need that material ASAP. So help me God, if this delay causes us to miss the deadline for getting this design in our collection, I will cancel all future orders and tell all of my colleagues to do the same.”
Jake peeked in his head, excitement flooding his face. “You’ve gotta see this sunset.”
“Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” I snapped.
Jake ignored my hostile tone, then motioned for me to come outside.
I just rolled my eyes at him and continued, “I need that shipment…and I need it now!”
Click.
After I hung up in a rage, Jake softly touched my arm and led me outside. The horizon truly was something to see, with vivid, flaming reds and fiery oranges in swirls spreading out as far as my eye could see, as if the whole sky was made up of some kind of psychedelic paisley pattern that I would have killed to have in a nice cotton blend. Once again, the chasm took my breath away.
I turned to face Jake. “This is spectacular.”
“You miss out on so much when you won’t get off that phone of yours,” he scolded.
I wanted to lash out at him and tell him to mind his own business while I was minding mine, but he was right.
“When was the last time you left that stupid thing at home and actually took a look at the world around you? Before this trip, when did you take time to enjoy a forest or grasslands or all the tiny details of nature? You used to love the outdoors. Heck, we even counted ridges on a leaf once, remember? When was the last time you looked at the dewdrops on an intricate spider web or walked barefoot in the sand?”
I bit my lip hard in thought. “So I’m a workaholic. What’s it to you?”
“It’s just…sad. I still love to backpack, hike, and camp. It’s my way of being out here in nature. I work hard, too, but I take time out to enjoy nature’s beauty.”