“Ok, so you made it taste like … fish.”

Cade laughed again, which was absolutely gorgeous. He looked even sexier when he was relaxed and enjoying himself. He took the tin foil parcel from my lap and emptied the remaining contents into the fire. My heart tingled as his hand brushed against my thigh.

“Can’t leave food leftovers out here. Bears will be on it tonight rustling up everything. I learned that the hard way.”

“Seems like you got a lot of furry friends around here. You ever run into anyone on two legs?”

“Not really. There’s Beau higher up the mountain, but generally it’s just me and the wild ones unless I go into town.”

“That must have been hard to get used to, living in the midst of wild, dangerous animals?”

“It’s not any more dangerous than living around humans.” His mouth twisted. “In fact, it’s probably safer out here.”

“So … town. Guess we’ll be going into town tomorrow. See about getting my hunk of junk towed off the mountain.”

Cade looked at me a moment, then out towards the creek. He bounced his knee, which I’ve never noticed him do before. He was thinking about something.

“Before we go anywhere, let’s see if we can get your knee fixed up.”

“How? I mean I know exactly what’s happened to it. I’ve twisted it like this before at work and it’ll heal by itself in time.”

“Let’s go to the creek.”

“What? I’m not going in the freezing cold water!”

“Yeah. I think you are.” He beamed his white, straight teeth at me.

This man was quite the enigma. He took freezing baths in the creek while there was a hot spring, lived in a messy cabin, ate tin food, and yet took exquisite care of himself physically. He looked so good and tasty; I was totally prepared to go marching in that icy water if he said to. He stood up and crossed to my side of the fire, putting himself directly in front of me. He smiled down at me, an evil smile.

“What are you doing?” I asked nervously.

Before I knew what was happening, he scooped me up from my tree stump seat and carried me towards the creek.

“Argh! Put me down. Cade, please put me down,” I screamed, but he just laughed and a sense of fun started to pour into every cell in my body. I clung to him as he jogged with me in his arms, his feet thudding in the snow.

He got right to the edge of the water and pretended he was going to throw me in. Instantly, I fought against being tossed and gripped onto his broad back. I pressed myself against him completely. We were so close I could hear his heart and it was beating fast.

Our laughter subsided suddenly and we were left standing in the snow, our bodies stuck to each other. The quiet trickling water beside us made for a beautiful moment. I looked into the gold specks in his eyes, then let my gaze deliberately slip down to his sensuous mouth. I couldn’t make it clearer that I wanted him to kiss me.

He swallowed hard. “Let’s get your knee fixed. Hold onto me and I’ll lower you in the water.”

I didn’t let my disappointment show. “What about my jeans?”

“They’re going to get wet … unless you take them off?”

I played along. “Hmm. That’s your idea, huh? Bring me out here in this freezing water, and get me to take my clothes off?”

“Trust me. You’ll feel better for it. Come on, at least, take your boots and socks off.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not shy. I’ll take my jeans off. Besides, who wants to walk back to the cabin wearing freezing wet jeans? Unless you were planning on carrying me back too? Well, I better not count on that, I never know how long our moments of being friends will last before I piss you off again.”

He put me on the ground, and kneeling down in front of me pulled my boots off while I held onto the thick cords of muscles in his shoulders.

“You might want to keep away from the socks. They could stink,” I joked.

He pulled the first off and looking up at me brought it to his nose and inhaled. For a moment I was frozen by that purely animalistic, completely primal action. I saw his eyes darken, then he put his head down and removed my other sock. He stood and took a step away from me. I swallowed hard. The air around us had changed. It was throbbing with our awareness of each other.

I whipped my jeans down to my ankles. Stepping out of them, I picked them up and draped them over his shoulder. The more intimate parts of me were still concealed by my big coat, but my legs were bare. He looked down at them.

“Well, that’s a sight for sore eyes.”

I laughed at his response. “Oh, God, I can’t believe it. That’s the first compliment you’ve ever given me. I tell you what, I’m going to hold out for a better one before I start counting them.”

He looked at me hungrily, and if I had been with any other man I would have known that a kiss was on its way, but I’d been burned too many times by him and I wasn’t going there unless he led me there by the hand.

I hugged myself. “So, what am I supposed to do, just stand out here in the freezing cold and hope that my swollen knee goes down? Or am I supposed to drop myself in this water, oh wise, mountain man?”

“Um, yeah, wade out to the middle so you can get your knee under the water.”

“You’re kidding me? No, cowboy, that’s not how this is going to work. If I’m going in, then you’re coming in with me. Boots and socks off! Let’s go!”

He smiled and turned his chin down flirtatiously.

“Alright then. You asked for it.”