Chasing Fire

The Treehouse - Part 10

Noralee knew she was a goofball and loved that Bear would let her be one and not get mad at her. She felt completely at ease with him. He had given her the sweetest kiss. It was innocent and friendly and only lasted a second, but she was burning up all over. He had the nicest lips and Noralee hoped he would kiss her again, soon. He stood up and took her by the hand after they ate their lunch.

"I want to show you a special place, even though I have many special places in the forest, this one is by far my favorite place because I made it myself. I was on my way there when I found you." He looked down at her and, instead of smiling, had a pleasant but different expression on his face.

"Of course, I will let you show me. You are my tour guide." She let him pull her up and they held hands, this was the first time they had done this, as they walked through the dark, heavily vegetated forest. He had nice, warm hands, like the rest of him. She liked the way he walked confidently beside her, absently flipping his hair out of his face.

"Here is my home away from home!" He spread his hands wide and displayed a large tree with an elaborate tree house built in and around its boughs. It was a naturist's Bohemian paradise show home. Everything about it complimented the nature around it. The tree was so large it allowed him to build two stories.

"I can't wait to go inside!! How do we get up there?" She had the wide eyes of a little girl again, lost in a Neverland where Peter Pan and Wendy would be waiting for her inside. "Do I fly?"

"Of course, why climb when you can fly!" He put a harness around them both and hoisted them up in the air to the front door of the house. She gazed at the view from the air and back at him, he seemed the happiest when he was up high.

"Wait, let me carry you inside." He unfastened the harness and swept her off her feet, eliciting a surprised gasp from Noralee. She had never had a guy literally sweep her off her feet and carry her anywhere.

"I hope I am not too heavy." She suddenly felt very conscious of her weight from past comments from her ex-boyfriend.

"Are you crazy? I think you have a complex about your weight. You are perfect." He sat her down and she felt a little better he wasn't giving himself a hernia carrying her around. "Let me take a good look at you."

She held her hands out and did a little spin and still feeling self-conscious. Her ex had blitzkrieged her confidence like the Panzer invasion of the Maginot Line.

"Noralee, I can't see a single thing wrong with you. You have a lovely figure, a beautiful face and an awesome sense of humor. Stop being so hard on yourself. If I ever meet this ex of yours, I am going to tell him what I think about him. Then I am going to thank him." He was looking her up and down, but not in a creepy way, just observing and appreciating her. It was nice having someone say nice things about her. She could get used to someone appreciating her for once.

"Why are you going to tell him "Thank You"?"

"Because the he made you come all the way out here from Fair Hope, Alabama." His hair looked soft and silky. The kind of hair she wished she had but was bestowed on a guy who was picking twigs out of it. But it was glorious hair for anyone to have. The kind that makes the fingers thirsty to touch it, play with it and twirl it round her fingertips for hours. It was thick and full, with a soft bit of wave to it, and he wore it long and loose like a Heavy Metal god. Robert Plant would be jealous of his hair.

"You must condition the shit out of your hair, oops! I didn't mean to curse, but seriously, you have the nicest hair for a guy!" She felt a little sheepish giving him a blatant compliment because it sounded like she was hitting on him, which she kind of was, but wasn't ready to own it, yet.

He laughed out loud and didn't seem uncomfortable at all, "As a matter of fact, I do condition it well with wild honey."

There was a still moment that passed between them and neither really knew what to say, except stare at the floor and then each other.

"So, are you going to show me this awesome treehouse?"

"Are you ready for the tour of my humble home? Over here is my living room and my kitchen. Climb up these stairs to my bedroom, sorry no bathroom. I usually just go off the side of my little deck area." He was open and free, and thinking nothing of who or what he was to the outside world. She thought he was like one of the Lost Boys in Peter Pan in his own little kingdom, with no parents and no rules.

"Well, I don't think I will be doing that anytime soon." The thought of her hanging her bottom over the deck and relieving herself made her start giggling again.

"I will build you an outhouse, My Lady of the Treetops."

"Oh, am I going to be here that long? My flight back to Alabama is in seven days." She suddenly started to wake up from the daydream and reality came crashing back in the living room window like the Kool Aide man. She was getting distracted from the original plan to take her back to civilization. The longer she stayed with him, the further the thought of returning seemed to drift away.

Bear ran a hand through his excellent mane of hair and sighed softly, "Noralee, you can stay as long or little as you want, but before I take you back to town, will you spend the next seven days with me?"

Noralee looked down at the wood planked floor, "Why do you want me to stay?"

"Because I think I am falling in love with you."