Read The Path to James for Free Online Page B

I assume, to face me while we eat. I take a sip of my wine and it's sweet, some kind of moscato. Mmm, it's delicious, refreshing. I take another gulp before I can help myself.
    James is looking at me as though he has the same appetite I do. I don't know what's come over me, I've barely just met him, but I want him. And to meet someone so soon after I just left my home. So soon after everything with Jaren.
    Right now, I'm thinking nothing will deter me from my dream of reaching the other side of this country, of trekking through the wilderness to find my new home, while writing my travel books and stories. But regarding James across from me, I come to one conclusion—that if all I get of this man is lunch with a few stolen hours—I'll take what I can get.
    ***
    Alex is breathtaking sitting across the kitchen island from me. I had been thinking about her, about what I would like to do to her when she'd come around the corner. She walked into the kitchen in plain hiking shorts and a t-shirt, but somehow that was the alluring thing I'd ever set eyes on.
    Her eyes flutter closed with her first bite of food. And I find my mouth pressing into a thin line. I'd wanted to sit next to her, so close that my arm would graze hers when I reached for my utensil, but I figured she had seen enough of my erection already for one day. I really didn't want to scare her off.
    “So,” I take a bite of my food, trying not to choke as she takes a big gulp of wine, “what brings a lovely girl all the way out to my lonely property in Deschutes National Forest, with a dead cell phone and nothing but apples for food?”
    Alex regards me warily and I'm worried I might have asked something a little too personal. I didn't think I had. Maybe she's homeless? I worry to myself. Would that matter? I have more than enough money for the both of us. I'm stunned by my sudden train of thought. I can't believe I'm thinking this way about a woman I hardly know, that I had just met.
    Alex clears her throat. “I am hiking across the country, coast to coast.” She looks up at me through her lashes. She almost looks embarrassed.
    I think of this beautiful woman walking alone through the forest. Like some kind of mythical creature. The fact that I managed to catch her on my property, like some kind of unicorn, makes the feat all the more remarkable. I rest my fork down and press my palms into the countertop.
    “Traveling alone, isn't that dangerous?” Somehow I find it incredibly attractive.
    Alex responds by bending down out of her chair. I try not to stare as her ass comes up into the air and I have the impulse to run my hands along the seductive curve of her firm bottom. I hear her unclip something from her bag and she sits back up.
    “That's why I carry this,” she holds up bear mace and my eyebrows shoot up.
    “Well,” I hold my hand out to inspect the small canister. I'm surprised when she hands it over and I realize she must trust me to some extent. It must have been when I'd ran after her naked, erect and horribly vulnerable. I'm sure that didn't hurt.
    “Were you planning on using this on me?” I hand it back to her.
    She shrugs, “If I had to.”
    I look at her in feigned offense, “But I'm a nice guy.” I watch as she re-clips the mace onto her side pocket and I'm relieved that she has relaxed enough to have it there, instead of directly on her person.
    “And I'm sure Jeffrey Dahmer was quite the affable fellow.”
    I can't help myself laughing at her morbid sense of humor. It's cute. She is cute.
    “What made you want to do this?” I look at her intently. I want to know everything about this fascinating woman. “What would possess you to give up your home, and I'm assuming job and loved ones, to traipse across the country?”
    Alex looks uncomfortable. “It's a long story,” she fidgets in her chair.
    “I'm a good listener.”
    She regards me coolly. “What I'd really like to know, now that we've established that you're not an ax