He whistled low. “I look like sex personified. That’s a really good one. But, beauty, you’ve seen yourself, right?”

“Looking like this takes effort, Ezra,” she said on her way past. Wearing a smile.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EZRA BREATHED DEEP. He and Tuesday had left the house just after dawn and headed out on a hike. Loopy ran past, chasing birds and squirrels, overjoyed at being outside in a new place with Ezra and Tuesday.

They paused in a pretty little meadow long enough to eat their breakfast sandwiches and some fruit and got started again.

It warmed up as they hiked. Enough that he’d tied his sweatshirt around his waist.

Mainly they said nothing as they went. The birds sang all around them. In the distance they could hear the water from a creek running to the east of the trail they were on.

The day before they’d gone out kayaking on the lake down the hill from the house and had a picnic with Paddy and Natalie, who’d chosen to canoe instead. Which had worked out because Loopy could come along that way.

One of the things Ezra liked most about Tuesday was that she never seemed to feel the need to chatter and fill up silence. She was confident in herself and her appeal.

It wasn’t taxing to be with her. It wasn’t hard. He didn’t feel trapped or that his skin was too tight. She never made him want to run in the other direction.

In fact it was the opposite. He wanted to run toward her. If something happened at the ranch he wanted to share it with her. If he was having trouble with something, he found himself reaching for his phone.

The only people he’d ever had that response with were his brothers.

That may have made him want to run away a little. It was big and scary and the way he felt about her was something beyond his experience. He liked it. She fit in his life in a way that seemed pretty effortless.

And, he thought as she headed up an incline and his gaze latched on to her glutes in those formfitting shorts she had on, she dealt well with his temperament and looked fantastic as she did it.

It wasn’t love at first sight or anything. Certainly a friendship, as they’d known one another for some time. He liked her and they were good together. They had a rhythm he really liked. She let him be who he was, even when he wasn’t sure who the hell he was.

He had reached a place where he could let himself enjoy being with her without questioning it. Too much.

She paused as Loopy approached and sat at her feet. “Do you need a break? I may have some cheese in my backpack for a certain canine as a treat for all the hard hiking you’ve done this morning.”

Loopy heard cheese and stood again, tail wagging wildly. Tuesday straightened, scratching one of Loopy’s ears as she did.

“I think that’s probably a yes.” Ezra grinned at his dog.

“There’s a pretty little overlook coming up. We can sit and look awhile as we eat. I brought snacks for us, too.”

“You’re prepared.”

“I have my moments.” She paused, looking him over carefully. “Did you bring any sunblock? You’re a little red on the bridge of your nose.”

Ezra pulled a ball cap from his back pocket. “Got it. I’ve been sweating so I’ll put more on when we stop and I cool down.”

“Too bad it’s so cold,” she called back over her shoulder as she got started up the trail again, “or we could swim.”

Too bad indeed because he bet she looked fantastic in the sunshine, water beaded like diamonds on her skin. Thanks to the hot tub on the deck outside their bedroom, he knew what her skin looked like in the moonlight.

“Next time. We’ll leave Paddy and Natalie and all D-O-Gs behind.”

“I love that you think just because you spell it, your D-O-G won’t know you’re talking about abandoning her. She’s goofy but totally in tune with her human,” Tuesday called back over her shoulder.

Loopy yipped twice and then ran up to trot next to Tuesday after a snuffle back Ezra’s way.

“Whatever. I don’t feel bad for wanting you naked and all to myself.”

She laughed and kept walking.

The beauty of the overlook she’d mentioned hit him as he came around a bend in the trail. The valley spread out below with more mountains across the divide. A lake glittered off in the distance, brilliantly, frigidly blue.

She paused to spread out the sheet on the grass. Loopy lay on a sunny patch, her belly on the cool ground.

Ezra pulled out a lightweight bowl he used to give Loopy water when they were out on an adventure. She watched him, tongue lolling as he poured water.

He petted her as she finally moved to drink. “Good girl.” It had taken a while to get her to stop rushing to her food when she’d been a puppy. She’d inhale it and puke it up, or spill water everywhere. But he’d been patient and she was a smart dog and now she had impeccable manners.

He headed to sit with Tuesday and stare out over the incredible view. She handed him an apple and then some cheese he’d seen her dicing that morning.

“This is for her?”

“Yeah. That’s how you do it, right? The size of the cubes?”

“Yeah. Yes. Thank you. That was pretty nice of you.”

She shrugged. “I like your dog. She was coming out here on this hike, too, so I figured she’d need some protein.”

“Don’t minimize it. Kindness is important and rarer than it should be sometimes.”

“I’ll make you a deal, Ezra. I will if you will.”