Page 4 of Promised Adventure (Promises, Promises)

Chapter Four

WREN

I woke up on what had to be a cloud. There was no other explanation for why this bed was so soft that it was tempting me to never leave it.

After living in the city for so long, the quiet of being out in the middle of the woods was a nice change of pace. I could hear the morning chirping of the birds and the soft rustle of the wind as it hit the bedroom window. It was all very serene, and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.

I lay there, basking in the sounds of nature, when I heard the clank of something that was definitely not natural. I curiously followed the noise to the front of the house and was met with quite the morning view.

The upper half of Jordan’s body was leaning over Marge’s hood, and his sexy ass was practically in the air, giving me a show. I leaned against a porch beam and whistled.

Should I be checking my host out when he’d been nothing but kind? Probably not, but I was only a man.

Jordan straightened and spun around at the sound. He looked surprised to see me. I only smiled back.

There was a beat of silence that I used to study his appearance. He was handsome, there was no doubt about that. His hair was cropped short, and he’d shaved last night too, which gave me better access to his face so I could appreciate his handsomeness.

He told me last night he was thirty-five, but he didn’t look eight years older than me.

He exuded maturity and a coldness that had me wondering if something was troubling him.

But there was also a youthfulness in his expression, especially as he stared at me wide-eyed and all adorable, as if he’d been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing.

“How’s Marge?” I said, walking to his side. I peeked into the hood too, but everything looked normal to me.

Jordan smiled. It was a soft thing that only had one corner of his lips lifting in a small curve.

He patted the front bumper of the van and said, “Marge’s fine. Her serpentine belt broke, but she’ll be as good as new once we have that changed out.” He hesitated, then added, “Sorry, I should have gotten your permission before poking around under the hood of your van.”

“It’s fine. You can bend over like that whenever you want,” I said with a wink.

The utter look of surprise he gave me had me laughing. “Sorry, I’m just teasing. You’re cute when you’re shocked.”

Ah, and there was that adorably shy look again. It was one I could get addicted to.

Jordan flicked his gaze to stare at the trees in the distance. He couldn’t meet my eyes as he said, “I’ll order a new belt and get your van fixed in no time.”

“You don’t have to. You’ve already helped me so much by letting me stay the night. I can tow the van to a garage and get it fixed.”

Jordan met my eyes. “I want to help.”

There was a firmness in his voice that told me he wasn’t just being courteous by offering and had actually meant it. Why he wanted to help was beyond me, but I wasn’t about to turn down spending more time with the man.

I liked the little flutters I got under my skin every time I caught him peeking at me when he thought I wasn’t looking.

Or when at breakfast, he listened attentively as I told him about my job as a travel vlogger.

He was interested in my work, but it seemed to stem from the fact I loved what I did and he wanted to know more about my passion than anything else.

It felt like he was interested in Wren Allen, the person, instead of the famous content creator who’d made a name for himself. Having fame was great and all, but it also made me realize I couldn’t always trust the people who tried to get close to me.

My gut told me I didn’t have to worry about that with Jordan, and that he didn’t have ulterior motives in trying to help me.

Then again… Jordan’s eyes landed on my body for the nth time as he continued his phone call to try to get me a new belt for Marge.

His eyes met mine this time, which had him quickly flicking his gaze away as he replied to whoever was on the other end of the line.

The dark red tinted the tips of his ears again.

I smiled behind my mug of coffee.

Maybe there was an ulterior motive, but it wasn’t unwanted.

Jordan wasn’t subtle about his interest in me, but it did make me wonder what it was he liked about me.

Was he attracted to my appearance as I was his?

My metaphorical feathers fluffed at the thought that he’d approved of my looks, but a part of me hoped that wasn’t the only thing he was fond of.

I knew I was easy on the eyes. I never had a problem finding a partner—whether it was a man or woman—but the issue always lies with keeping them.

Maybe it was how I was constantly on the road or my willful personality, but none of my relationships ever lasted.

Nobody wanted to be with someone as finicky as a bird.

Jordan seemed the exact opposite of me in that way.

He looked like the type who had no trouble keeping a partner around.

He also looked like someone used to a routine and normalcy that I rarely had in my constantly changing schedule.

It was probably what made him so dependable, and why it felt so comfortable being around him.

His gaze flicked to me again, but this time he wasn’t covertly checking me out but had a troubled frown creasing his brows.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. Before I knew it, I was standing beside him, hoping to fix whatever was causing him to worry like this. It was probably because he’d been so kind in helping me last night and today that I wanted to return the favor however I could.

“It looks like there’s a shortage of serpentine belts. I called a few contacts and nobody’s able to get one until next week. I hope this doesn’t mess up your plans.”

Something tickled at my chest at the fact that he was still worried about me when he’d been doing nothing but help me this entire time. Had anyone cared for me like this before?

I laughed and couldn’t hold myself back from throwing myself into his arms. He was naturally shocked at having a stranger hug him, but I was pleasantly surprised when he pulled me into the hug, too.

While I didn’t really care about the gender of my partners, I loved being wrapped up in strong arms that held me tight, and Jordan was the perfect hugging partner. He was so much taller and bigger than me, and he made me feel downright tiny and protected.

I sighed into his hug, and he patted my back comfortably.

“Thank you for trying so hard for my sake,” I said, looking up at him.

His eyes softened. “I’m happy to do it,” he replied, voice gruff. “But I’m worried about your work being delayed since you were on your way to shoot videos for your channel.”

“I can do that anywhere. I was going to focus on nature, and there’s plenty of that around here,” I said lightly.

“There is. Kither Springs might not have much, but what it does have is plenty of vistas. I can show you around,” he replied.

His hand was now moving up and down my spine in a way that heated my entire body. I was dangerously close to leaning into him like a cat who’d found a heat source, but I managed to pull back at the last second and took a depressing step away.

Jordan’s hand lingered on my back, so I was still standing wrapped in his arms but far enough away so that I wasn’t tempted to do something indecent to my host. He made it so hard to keep my hands to myself when he was being so fucking sweet.

“I don’t want to trouble you,” I forced myself to say.

“It’s no trouble. And I want to spend more time with you.”

He said the last part so softly I would have wondered if I’d imagined it if not for the gentle gaze he was currently sending my way.

“I want to spend more time with you too,” I replied just as softly.

Jordan’s reply was a smile that made him look like he’d shed all his worries. It looked good on him, which only made me want to keep him smiling. Which I found wasn’t all that hard to do as we spent the rest of the day together.

We first went to town for an early lunch. Jordan seemed to know everyone in town as people kept stopping by to say hi to him. It was then that I learned he’d owned the biggest construction company in town. I knew he was an impressive man, but I hadn’t realized just how much.

After an enjoyable lunch, Jordan took me to see his favorite spots. First, we visited the springs the town was named after. Despite me telling him he didn’t have to help, Jordan insisted on carrying my spare camera to shoot B-roll for me.

I was so used to doing this alone that I never realized how nice it was to have someone with me on my shoots.

Not just for the extra set of hands, but for the company as well.

It wasn’t unusual for the loneliness to kick in when I was days into my trips, but with Jordan filling space beside me, it felt like it was us against the world.

We spent a couple of hours at the beautiful springs before heading up a mountain path Jordan said had the perfect sunset view at the top. I continued to film parts of the journey, but in between the filming, I got to know Jordan better.

He told me about his family, who all lived in Kither Springs. He had a younger brother who was around my age, which honestly made perfect sense for why he seemed so dependable.

Jordan was divorced, and while I was surprised to hear that, what shocked me even more was that he hadn’t had a relationship since the divorce.

“Someone like me, whose life revolves around work, must be boring to be around,” was the reason he’d claimed for not finding anyone else, but I called bullshit to that. Even if he was a workaholic, that didn’t mean he didn’t have other interests.

It was clear he was close to his family. And by the way he introduced the history of the springs and the trail we were walking, he obviously loved the outdoors. The man had hobbies that were far from boring.

Maybe I was way too attracted to him because nobody had ever held my interest like he did.

We made it to the peak of the mountain just as the sun was setting.

Jordan found us a place to sit, and I set up my camera behind me, so it was mostly pointed at the sunset with me in the corner of the frame.

I made sure Jordan wouldn’t accidentally be filmed before going to sit beside him to enjoy the sunset.

Jordan shot me a gentle smile, then turned back to enjoy the view. The light bounced off his dark skin, making him absolutely glow. I had to force myself to look at the sun, so I had some film of me enjoying the sunset instead of the man beside me.

But not even a minute later, I was turning to him again. I wasn’t the only one distracted, and my eyes met with Jordan’s. His smile turned shy, but he didn’t flick his gaze away this time.

His hand was at his side between us, and I boldly covered it with mine. Jordan smiled bright, the action somehow making his glow even more brilliant.

People used to say golden hour was the most beautiful time of day, and I never understood that until now.

Cast in shades of gold and red, Jordan was slowly leaning in until I was forced to close my eyes.

But even behind the darkness of my lids, I could still see the light dancing behind them.

And the moment our lips touched, the lights exploded with magic.

I leaned into the kiss, completely forgetting everything but the pretty colors and the magic of Jordan’s lips dancing against mine.

Kissing him felt safe. Like I was coming home.