Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Good?” Rook asked, shooting me a tentative smile, like maybe he was worried it was gross.
“Really good,” I told him as I forked more food to shovel into my mouth.
So good, in fact, that I forgot all about the hike for a while.
Until Rook started to clean up.
And it was time for me to get dressed for it.
About an hour later, we were in my car parked outside of the Death Valley range.
“Ready to get engaged?”
God, no.
“Yep.”
With that, we climbed out of the car.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Tessa
Okay.
It wasn’t that bad.
I mean, yeah, my thighs were burning. And, no, I wasn’t wearing the right shoes for a hike. But it was actually kind of fun to get out in nature.
“Oh! Look at that!” I said, pointing off toward a rock where some sort of lizard was sunning itself.
“Looks like a chuckwalla,” Rook said, following my fingertip.
“Not quite as cool as those bighorn sheep, but still cool.”
“Yeah, who knew there were sheep in Death Valley?”
We were just scaling over a particularly craggy cliff when a small path opened in front of us, leading up into the colorful rocks we were looking for.
“It looks fake,” I said, stopping for a moment just to take it in.
It looked like someone had just splashed paint over the brown mountains, turning them shades of lilac, baby pink, and aquamarine. The higher up you looked, the darker the colors became until they met with the darker brown rock again.
“It really does,” Rook agreed.
My gaze slid to his profile, glad to find the same wonder on his face that I felt on my own.
“This was a great location idea.”
“Thanks,” he said. “Now, the only question is: how good of an actress are you?”
“I’m pretty sure I can fake shock and joy.”
“Good. I’ll make sure the camera is set to take like a million pictures so we can go through them and find the most convincing ones. How about we climb on top of that rock? The backdrop will be insane.”
As silly as it was, there was an unexpected twisting in my stomach as the strangest thought crossed my mind.
I wish this could be a for-real engagement.
I was glad Rook had started ahead of me to get up the steep hill because I felt the rush of water in my eyes and needed to blink it rapidly back before it leaked down my cheeks.
What the hell was that about?
I wasn’t someone who’d ever fantasized about grand romantic gestures—real or fake.
Though, if I were being painfully honest, that was because nothing in my life had ever even hinted at the idea that something like that could belong to me.
And here it was.
But it was fake.
I sucked in a deep breath and started climbing, having to bend forward to use my hands to grab the rocks so I didn’t just… slide right back down the side.
“You alright down there, babe?” Rook asked, looking down just as I lost both my footing and hold in unison.
My belly bottomed out and my heart shot up into my throat as a gasp escaped me.
But before I could slide, or—worse yet—fall, Rook’s hand closed around my wrist, yanking hard.
“I got you,” he said as I pedaled my legs, trying to find my footing. “That’s it; climb to me.”
With that, I did, getting to the top of the somewhat flat hill with my heart still thundering against my ribcage.
“Hey, you’re alright,” Rook said, his hand sliding up to grab my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I wouldn’t let you fall,” he added, hand moving up to the side of my neck as I tried to slow my breathing. “You’re okay, Tessa,” he told me, fingers gently rubbing at the tension in the back of my neck. “I probably should have gone up with you instead of ahead.”
“I’m okay,” I assured him, exhaling slowly as my eyelashes fluttered open. “Oh, wow.”
“Yeah,” Rook agreed as I looked around. “It’s perfect.”
“Can you take some pictures just for me?” I asked, having left my phone in the car. “For keepsakes,” I added.
“Definitely. I’ll get some of the landscape, then some of you in it,” he said, already going to grab his camera.
With that, he took pictures of the colorful rocks before instructing me where to stand to take pictures just of me.
Then, of course, it was time to stick the camera in the tripod and get on with the real reason we were there.
Rook looped a little handheld remote around his wrist and used it to take a few pictures of me as I looked around.
Then he approached me.
“Just act like we’re enjoying the landscape,” he said, his hand sliding around my lower back.
That wouldn’t be hard.
I was.
“Now turn to me,” he instructed after clicking his remote a few times.
I did.
I watched as he lowered to his knees and reached into his pocket.