Unbreak My Heart (Rough Riders Legacy #1)(103)
“You trying to keep my mind occupied, McKay?”
“Not as much as I want to show you the beautiful state I was born in. There’s more to Arizona than Phoenix.”
Boone smiled—my smile—for the first time since I’d shown up. “Sounds like a plan.”
I peppered his chest with kisses. “We’ll have so much fun! But we will have to hit a discount store first thing in the morning since all I have for clothes is the dress I wore to the wedding.” I smirked. “Dude. Do you know what this means? I’ll have my first walk of shame moment in Walmart! It’s like a rite of passage. I’m totally Instagramming it.”
That actually earned me a chuckle.
“Can we take selfies? So we have pictures of us as a couple to put up in the house and at work? We could even start a photo album, scrapbook thingy to document our adventures together.”
His smile faded. “Sierra, why did you ask for permission? Because that wasn’t what I meant when we talked about boundaries.”
“I know. I asked because you wouldn’t let me take pictures of you or us before.”
“I’m not camera shy.” He slid his hand around my neck. The tips of his fingers were rough and dry against the damp flesh at the start of my hairline. He brushed his thumb across my jawline. “I didn’t want pictures of us because it would’ve been too f*cking hard to look at them. For both of us.”
“Oh.”
“Besides, admit that if you would’ve had a pic of me, you would’ve enlarged that motherf*cker and used it for target practice.”
I laughed. “Maybe.”
A knock on the door at eight a.m. had me scurrying over to slip the chain lock into place since I was still in my bra and panties. I said, “Come back later. We’re not ready to check out.”
“This isn’t the maid,” a male voice said. Then a pause followed. “This is Boone’s room?”
Boone threw back the covers and stood to yank on his jeans and a tank top. “Hang on, Dad.” He rummaged in his duffel bag and dug out a pair of athletic shorts and a T-shirt. He tossed them both to me. “Put these on.”
“Or I could just hide in the bathroom.”
He didn’t even crack a tiny grin.
As soon as I covered myself, Boone opened the door. “Hey. I wasn’t expecting to see you this morning.”
“I thought maybe we could have breakfast before we went our separate ways.” He craned his neck to see me better. “I didn’t realize you’d met a…friend.”
“Sierra is my girlfriend. She arrived last night from Phoenix and we’re touring Sedona today. We were just about to head out.”
I didn’t fault Boone for using sightseeing as an excuse to explain my presence. I waggled my fingers at Boone’s dad and said, “Hi,” knowing that’d be the extent of our interaction. I tried not to stare, but I didn’t see a family resemblance, either between him and Boone, or between him and his brothers, Chet and Remy.
Boone’s father put me under equal scrutiny. As if he should know me.
That kicked me back to a memory I’d forgotten. I had seen Dax West one time. West Construction had been doing some remodel work for my dad. Because at sixteen I was obsessed with all things Boone West, I watched the construction from the upstairs window, hoping for a glimpse of my crush. That day a truck I hadn’t seen before pulled in. The man opened the driver’s side door and stood on the running board. Then he honked the horn twice and yelled something. Chet and Remy exited the barn with Boone following behind them. Boone of the slumped shoulders, with his hair obscuring his face, his hands shoved in his pockets and his focus on the toes of his work boots.
Boone’s father pointed at his son and then the passenger side of the truck. I remembered thinking how odd it was that he never actually addressed Boone; the entire terse conversation had happened between Dax and his brothers. Then he’d gotten back in his truck and sped off.
So to watch this Boone, standing tall, looking his father in the eye and telling him no to breakfast because we had plans today, made me so freakin’ proud. Boone had become his own man—no thanks to this man.
Boone said, “Safe travels,” and shut the door. Then he faced me. “Better get your dress on for that walk of shame, baby.”
Sightseeing with Boone ruined me for sightseeing with anyone else.
We spent the entire day exploring one part of the Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness. He convinced me that instead of doing a drive through and trying to see all of the famous rock formations in one day, we should concentrate on a specific section. Setting a limit also provided us with an excuse to return because we’d barely scratched the surface of all the places to see.
He fell in love with the area, just as I suspected he would. Although the topography, rock coloration and vegetation was nothing like east central Wyoming, I knew it reminded him of Sundance and Devil’s Tower.
We hiked the eight-mile Secret Canyon trail to Maroon Mountain. The gorgeous vistas included a dazzling display of scarlet and gold foliage from the maple and oak trees that grew in the upper section of the canyon where there was water year round.
I snapped tons of pictures with my phone and ended up with several great shots of us on our first day-trip adventure.
By the time we were back in the city of Sedona, we were both tired. Boone booked our reservation for the night and I didn’t have any expectations—I just wanted a room with a shower and bed and him in it. So the luxury of L’Auberge de Sedona stunned me. We had a corner room with a four-poster canopy bed, a fireplace, a sitting area and a balcony overlooking Oak Creek.