Luke steered the rental car into a parking area at Chimney Rock in North Carolina, Haley gazed at the lush green mountains surrounding the natural monolith. “I see why this location was chosen for several movies. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Can you imagine how fantastic the hiking must be around here?”
Turning off the car’s engine, he smiled. “Did I just learn another little known fact about you that I wouldn’t have guessed? Are you a hiker?”
“Not anymore.” She looked out at the panoramic view. “But I used to go hiking all the time when I was younger.”
“Let me guess. One of the college boyfriends appreciated nature.”
“Not hardly. They might have gotten their hands dirty.” Just the thought of any of them going anywhere that took them outside of a climate-controlled environment was laughable. “My passion for hiking started long before college. I went on nature walks when I joined the Campfire Girls. Then later, when I was in high school, I joined the hiking club.”
“Interesting.”
“What about you? Do you enjoy any outdoor activities?” She grinned. “Surveying the work-in-progress at a job site doesn’t count.”
He laughed. “But that’s outdoors and I do enjoy watching another Garnier project take shape.”
She shook her head. “That’s something I already know about you. Remember, we’re supposed to be sharing the unknown.”
“Right. Let’s see, Jake and I used to go on an annual camping trip in the Sierras,” he replied, referring to his twin brother. “But in the past several years, we’ve both been so busy that we haven’t had time.”
“Did you enjoy those trips to the mountains?” she asked, trying to imagine what it would be like to have a family to share things with.
Looking thoughtful for several seconds, he nodded. “We’d spend an entire week fishing and catching up on what plans we were making to advance our careers.”
“You should make the time to do that again, Luke.” If she had a brother or sister, nothing would stand in the way of their spending time together. “You know what they say about taking the time to smell the roses.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he indicated, getting out of the car to come around and open the passenger door for her. “What about you, do you have a family tradition with one of your siblings?”
Taking the hand he offered to help her out of the car, she tried not to meet his questioning gaze. If she did, he might see how truly alone and sad she’d always felt.
“I was an only child,” she revealed.
“Really?” Closing the car door, he put his arm around her waist and tucked her to his side as they walked to the edge of the scenic overlook. “I wasn’t aware of that.”
Before he could question her further about her family, she pointed to a black bear and two small cubs that waddled into a clearing on the slope below. “Aren’t they adorable?”
He snorted. “I suppose, if you like a lot of fur and really big teeth.”
“I love babies of all kinds,” she confirmed as she watched the two cubs engage in an impromptu wrestling match.
“What about alligator babies?” Turning her to face him, he pulled her close. “They don’t have fur, but they do have a lot of teeth. You don’t think they’re cute, do you?”
The feel of his arms around her sent a languid heat flowing through every part of her. “Well, they may not be as sweet as a live teddy bear, but I’m sure the momma alligator thinks they are.”
He stared at her for several long moments, then slowly lowered his head to capture her lips in a kiss so tender it brought tears to her eyes. Thoughtful and sweet, Luke explored her with a thoroughness that made her feel as if he truly cherished everything about her.
But when he slipped his tongue inside her mouth to taste and tease, the kiss became so steamy that Haley felt as if the earth moved beneath her feet. Stroking her inner recesses at the same time he pressed his hips against her belly caused an empty ache to settle deep in the most feminine areas of her body. The feel of his strong arousal and the mastery of his kiss caused her knees to give way and she clung to his solid strength for support.
“I think we’d better head back. Otherwise, I’m going to abandon my good intentions and make love to you right here and now,” he vowed, breaking the kiss. “Besides, there’s one other place I think you’d enjoy seeing.”
“Really? Where would that be?” she questioned, not really caring as long as they were together.
“You’ll see,” he promised, guiding her to the car.
Two and a half hours later, as they stepped onto the moving walkway that led through the acrylic tunnel at the aquarium in Gatlinburg, they were immediately surrounded by thousands of species of aquatic creatures. “This is wonderful, Luke,” Haley declared, marveling at the activity surrounding them. “It’s like being underwater.”
“You find this interesting, do you?”
“Absolutely.” She smiled at a couple of orange and white striped fish gliding effortlessly through the water. “Aren’t they sweet?”
Luke snorted. “I’ve never associated that word with fish.” He smiled suddenly. “Let me guess, you’re thinking of the cartoon movie that came out several years ago about a lost clown fish.”
“You know about that?” she asked, somewhat surprised. She wouldn’t have thought he’d have known anything about a children’s movie.
Nodding, he shrugged. “Arielle insisted that Jake and I had to take her to see it when it first came out. It was part of her birthday present and we couldn’t get out of it.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“I suppose it was a good kid movie,” he commented, gazing at a shark lazily gliding toward them. “But I normally prefer psychological thrillers or action/adven-ture movies.”
“Not the best for a growing child.” She paused, then glancing at him from the corner of her eye to make sure she had his attention, she went on. “You do realize that you’ll be taking in a lot of cartoon films once the baby gets old enough to enjoy them.”
He frowned and it was obvious that he hadn’t thought past grooming his heir to take over his business holdings once the child was old enough. “Why don’t I leave that part of the parenting to you?” he finally suggested.
“Why don’t we do that part together?” she shot back. “Don’t you think a child would like to go a few places and do a few things with both parents at the same time? It would be nice for our child to know her parents are on good terms. And you do want the baby to grow up to be happy and well-adjusted, don’t you?”
“Of course, but I hadn’t really given activities and the like a lot of thought.” He was silent for a moment as if digesting what she’d said. “But it probably would be a good idea for us to do things together with him.”
Satisfied that she had Luke
