CHAPTER 3
JUST PAST DAWN, Lily stood at the trailhead at the basin of Balsam Peak and stared up at the vista of glory around her.
Doubt was killing her but she tried to swallow it. She could do this.
She could.
The summer hadn’t been a particularly dry one, and as a result, the green mountains seemed to pulse with life. The Sierras didn’t have a fancy name, or a photogenic centerpiece like other mountain ranges did, but man oh man, it was, in her opinion, one of the most fascinating combinations of jaw-dropping beauty and unique geology on this side of the Great Divide.
Being here, breathing in the thin but crisp, clean air, she felt great, and even greater when she realized she was way ahead of schedule.
That was old habit, being prepared beyond any shadow of a doubt. She credited that slight anal tendency in an otherwise carefree, wanderlust existence to the two years she’d spent as a Girl Scout as a young girl, when she’d been directionless and desperate to please. Her mother had worked around the clock, her father had been living in Europe somewhere, which had left her alone much of the time.
Too much of the time.
But she’d grown up fine. Or so she told herself. She was her own woman who didn’t need approval from anyone. Knowing it, she opened the tailgate on her truck, and also the shell, and began checking through the supplies she’d brought, dividing it into piles that she could help her guests load into their packs as well as her own.
“Looks heavy.”
Craning her neck, her gaze collided with Jared’s. “Not too heavy.”
He’d lost the business wear but was no less put together in his expensive-looking jeans and polo shirt. He wore hiking boots, which she sincerely hoped weren’t new, even though they looked it. His designer sunglasses were firmly in place. “Need any help?” he asked.
“Not yet, thanks.”
“How did I know you’d say that?” He gestured to the goods. “Looks like a lot of stuff to carry.”
“If you’re not up for it, you could always try a different type of vacation. Say a dude ranch.”
Uninsulted, he let out a soft laugh, then shoved his sunglasses to the top of his head, revealing that mesmerizing hazel gaze as he slid his hands in his pocket. He pulled out a folded piece of paper, stared down at it, then slid it back into his pocket.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“A list.”
She waited for more, but he offered nothing. “A reminder to pick up your dry-cleaning?”
He smiled. “No.”
“Ah. A reminder to have your housekeeper pick up your dry-cleaning.”
His smile spread. “You think I’m going to be a PITA.”
“PITA?”
“Pain in the ass. Your ass.”
Not exactly. She thought he was going to be a distraction. A sexy one. “Caught me.” She went back to separating the supplies into piles, but he didn’t take the hint and leave.
“It bugs you,” he said. “Our attraction.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
He just smiled a little knowingly, and she let out a sound that she hoped managed to convey her annoyance as she went back to her work.
Okay, so despite his pretty-boy appearance, he wasn’t prissy, or afraid of confrontation. Damn it. It didn’t help that he was right.
Their attraction bugged the hell out of her.
Fine. She’d get her revenge soon enough, when she planned to see him plenty rumpled, wrinkled and pushed outside his comfort zone. “One thing’s for sure,” she said. “You’re going to get those boots dirty.”
He looked down. “I’m not going to melt with a little dirt.”
“Okay.”
He lifted his head, his eyes locked on hers. Normally she appreciated direct eye contact, but with him, the look went deeper than casual, and pushed her from her comfort zone.
“You don’t believe me,” he said.
She lifted a shoulder, and looked away because she had the uncomfortable feeling he saw far more than she allowed anyone to see. “It’s your job to have a good time,” she said. “It’s my job to make sure you get that good time. I’ll do my job.”
“And I’ll do mine,” he promised. “I signed up for this trip willingly, Lily.” He gestured with his chin toward the mountains. “I want to do this.”
“Well, then let’s get the show on the road. Oh, and though there’s no rain or snow in the forecast—”
“Snow? In July?”
“It happens. Just make sure you packed everything on the list. Including raingear.”
“Got it.”
“And spray yourself with insect repellent. You got stuff with deet?”
“Yes, ma’am, just like the list said.”
She ignored the gentle sarcasm. “It should be plenty dry, but the mosquitoes don’t seem to care one way or another. They’re vicious. Trust me, you’ll get bites everywhere.”
“Everywhere?” He asked this evenly but the humor was still swimming in his gaze, and also that unsettling heat.
Damn, he had quite the sense of humor. She loved a sense of humor. “Bites in certain places aren’t funny,” she said in the uppiest voice she could muster.
He stopped fighting his grin and let it fly.
Ah, man, he was something to look at, but she rolled her eyes and turned back to the truck. “Fine. But when you’re walking bowlegged because your bites are chafing, I’ll be getting the last laugh.”
“I’ll remember that,” he promised.
“Good.” She put her portion of the supplies into her pack, and it was a moment before she looked up again. When she did, Jared had moved back to his shiny, pretty car and was messing with something in his pack.
She let out a breath and told herself to concentrate on her fears and doubts. That should keep her nicely occupied.
But she took another peek. He was still fiddling with his stuff, and definitely not taking peeks at her. Good. Great. She went back to work, tossing the marshmallows into the pile. Which reminded her she needed to check the chocolate stash. If there was ever a trip that required extra loads of chocolate, this was it.
A truck with the Outdoor Adventures logo on the sides pulled into the dirt lot. The window went down. “Hey, gorgeous.”
In shock, she stared, waiting for the burst of happy excitement. “Keith?”
He hopped out of the truck and spread his arms wide, looking tanned, fit and mischievous. “In the flesh.”
“What are you doing here?”
He wore cargo shorts and a T-shirt with the logo on a pec, and he looked ready to guide. “You know I like to see a trip off.”
She took in his rugged features, his slight smile, his heated eyes, and knew he wasn’t here just for that. Once upon a time her sun had risen and set on him, a man ten years her senior and a hundred years older in so many other ways. He’d been the first strong male influence in her life, and for that alone, her heart warmed. “You were checking on me.”
He shifted closer and put his hand on her shoulder as he peered past her to the food and supplies she was dividing up. “Just making sure you’re okay. Should be a fairly easy trip.” He gently squeezed. “You sure you’re up for it?”
Why oh why wasn’t she getting wobbly knees? Why weren’t her nipples going happy? “I’m sure.” Liar, liar, pants on fire.
“So tough, like old times.”
She wished.
He touched her cheek and grinned, and she was reminded, vividly, of how, in the past, that grin would have melted her clothes right off. As if he was remembering the same thing, he shifted even closer. “Feels like old times.” Nudging her body with his, he moved her around the side of his truck, where they were now out of view of anyone driving into the parking lot. They were also out of view of the only other car, Jared’s Lexus.
Lily looked into Keith’s smiling eyes, trying like hell to feel it, to feel the heat. “You’re in my space.”
“But it’s such a nice space.” They were toe to toe. He was only a few inches taller than her. It used to be she’d loved that, loved the way they’d lined up.
Everywhere…
Now his close proximity felt a little bit off, especially when compared to another man’s recent close proximity—Jared’s. She’d wanted to jump Jared’s bones, which still made no sense. “Keith—”
“Hush a second.” Cupping her face, he tilted it up and stared into her eyes. “I’m trying to see something.”
“See what?”
“If it’s still there.”
“If what—”
“Shut up a sec, Lil.” And he touched his mouth to hers.
She went very still. Not because she couldn’t move away, but because she wanted to see, too. Please turn me on…
But no, nothing. Damn it. She cleared her mind and tried again, because surely it would come.
Keith slanted his head for better access, and touched his tongue to hers.
No fireworks.
No molten hot lava flowing through her veins instead of blood.
What was that about?
But deep down, she knew. It was about Jared, because he was the one she wanted. Oh, boy.
Keith lifted his head, staring sleepy-eyed down at her mouth. “That’s how I should have greeted you yesterday.” He stroked his thumb over her lip and smiled. “Have a safe journey, Lil.”
And then he got back into his truck.
Blowing out a breath, she turned, and…
And her gaze locked with Jared’s.
He’d moved around the front of her truck, raingear in his hands. Clearly he’d come to show her he was prepared, and had caught more than she’d intended him to.
Now he stood there watching her with an inscrutable gaze.
Squirming, she shoved her topo maps into her pack. She had the route all marked, had everything planned, and yet suddenly, she felt…lost.
As a woman who’d always prided herself on knowing who and where she was, she hated the feeling.
When would she find herself, damn it?
Jared turned away and, without another word, walked back to his car. She swallowed the urge to apologize. Damn it, she had nothing to apologize for.
Nothing at all.
* * *
WITHIN THE NEXT twenty minutes, the rest of the group arrived. Jack and Michelle came in a black Hummer driven by her daddy’s chauffeur. When they got out and the car drove off, Michelle stared after it longingly.
“It’s going to be fun,” Jack assured her.
“I’d rather be having fun in Bali.”
Jack sighed.
Rock showed up next, in a Jeep, and right after that Rose arrived in a taxi.
How she’d gotten a taxi up here, Lily had no idea, but Rose got out of the car, tossed the driver some cash, blew him air kisses, then straightened out her perfectly fitted and possibly painted-on Daisy Duke shorts and barely-there camisole.
She did have on hiking boots, which she gleefully showed off to Lily by lifting a leg and waggling her foot. “Cute, huh? I got a deal.”
Her Daisy Dukes slid up an inch, to illegal heights really, revealing cheek, and quite possibly more to anyone off to the side of her.
Rock, in the exact right position off to the side of her, in the middle of an unfortunate sip of water, choked.
Rose smiled at him. “You okay, sugar?”
Rock choked some more, and Rose stroked a hand up and down his back, which didn’t seem to help.
Eyes watering, gasping, he nodded that he was going to live and Rose stopped touching him.
Lily sighed. “Rose, you’re going to want to change those shorts.”
Rock, still hardly able to talk, shook his head. “Ah, don’t do that.”
Lily thought of the cliff they’d be walking along in less than an hour, and pictured the guys watching Rose’s ass instead of the trail, then falling to their certain deaths. “Well…” How to be diplomatic here? “Those shorts aren’t going to be comfortable.”
“Honey, these are as comfortable as anything I’ve got.”
Wasn’t that just perfect?
Michelle came close. She slipped into a sunshine-bright yellow rain jacket that required sunglasses just to look at. “Which direction are we traveling in?” she asked anxiously.
“It’s not going to rain, at least not today,” Lily assured her. “You don’t have to wear—”
“She’s never camped before,” Jack said. “She’s nervous.”
So that made two of them, Lily thought.
“Which direction?” Michelle asked again.
“It’s going to change quite a bit out on the trail,” Lily told her.
Michelle shook her head, her pretty blond hair artfully layered about her face. “Can’t you estimate? I want to leave a note here at the trailhead, so that if we get lost—”
“I can promise you that won’t happen if you stick with me,” Lily said. “I know this trail—”
“Which direction?” Michelle’s voice came out high-pitched and just a little panicked.
Jared slid a palm-held unit out of his pocket and thumbed a few buttons. “North by northwest,” he said, and showed Michelle the digital compass he’d pulled up. “See?”
Everyone leaned in to see the new toy, oohing and aahing, and Lily sighed again. “I thought the digital stuff was going to stay at home.”
He looked right at her, for once his eyes not quite as warm—reminding her that he’d witnessed Keith’s kiss—and without a word slid the unit back into his pocket.
Something went through Lily at that. Her own regret? Yeah, probably. But she had plenty of other stuff to worry about. “If everyone could bring their packs,” she said. “I have the supplies divvied up for you to put away.”
* * *
JACK LIFTED MICHELLE’S pack for her, and shouldn’t have been surprised to find it weighed more than his wife. “Damn, Shell. What did you put in here, rocks?”
She sent him a pout over her shoulder that he recognized well as he buckled her in. “It’s way too heavy for me.”
“Uh-huh,” he agreed. “I told you that you packed too much.”
“Don’t start in on me. You want to please my daddy and his money as much as I do.”
Ah, back to their biggest bone of contention, he thought with a sigh—which was that it wasn’t just him and her in this marriage, but him, her and her daddy.
He loved Michelle, loved her more than he loved any other thing on this planet, but sometimes she drove him absolutely insane.
How could someone so smart be so incredibly dense? “I could care less about his money,” he said patiently, for what had to be the bazillionth time in their one-year marriage.
“Right.”
Jack shook his head. What made him think he could ever win this argument? He was coming to understand that what he’d heard was true—sometimes love just wasn’t enough. “At least take out the ten pounds of makeup and hair products.”
“I need it.”
“You don’t.”
“My hair fuzzes at this altitude.”
He shook his head. She was gorgeous, at any altitude. “So braid it.”
“Jack.”
He groaned and tossed up his hands in defeat. “Might as well call back our driver, you’ll be done by noon.”
She looked horrified. “You know we can’t back out. Daddy’ll cut us off.”
Right. And in her mind, that would be a fate worse than death. Heaven forbid they make this work like the rest of the world—on their own. God, she infuriated him.
But she also loved him as no one else ever had, and for that alone, he intended to give this all he had. “Look, just because your father is richer than sin, doesn’t mean he can make us—”
“He’s not making us. He just said that if we wanted to keep spending his money, we had to do this. He thinks we need the togetherness.”
“He’s making us,” Jack said flatly, and turned his back on her to tend to his own pack, frustrated and…sad. Damn sad, because as much as he didn’t want to believe it, he was afraid they—he—couldn’t fix this enough to make it work.
* * *
LILY WAS HANDING OUT the supplies for everyone’s packs when Michelle came up to her, still wearing her sunshine-yellow rain jacket. “Um…I don’t have extra room.”
Everyone had read the brochures. They’d been to the meeting, where they’d gone over the particulars of the trip in minute detail, including the fact they’d be helping carry the supplies. “Your portion isn’t more than a few extra pounds—”
“But my pack’s already too heavy.”
“Damn right, it is,” Jack said dryly, then lifted his hands when Michelle glared at him. “Hey, you needed your makeup and hair stuff, right?”
Michelle let out a huff and opened her pack. “Fine. Bye-bye hair products. But if I look like a Bohemian in a day, you all have no one but yourselves to blame.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” Jack told her and winked at Lily.
Michelle took the supplies from Lily. “This doesn’t look like enough food for four days.”
“We’ll be getting two drops with additional supplies, so we don’t have to carry it all right now. Just your own things.”
“Right.” Michelle looked at her pack. “That’s going to be incredibly taxing.”
Jack let out a huffing laugh. “For once, baby, we’re in total agreement.”
Yeah, Lily thought, she was going to have her hands full with this group. So far, she had a couple clearly on the outs, a woman on the prowl, and a man who was going to be said woman’s lunch.
Jared, wearing his pack, moved into her line of vision, an enigmatic man of few words with a set of eyes that made her both yearn and want to run for the hills.
And a man she wanted for lunch.
“Lily, honey?” This from Rose. “I think you’re right about the shorts. I’m going to change.” She leaned in and whispered, “Wedgie City.” Straightening, she held up two choices; a denim mini-skirt, or a pair of black Spandex short shorts. “Which would you suggest?”
Lily stared at them. “Uh… I really couldn’t say—”
“No problem, I’ll wear one today, and one tomorrow.” Twirling away, she spared a moment to wink at Rock.
Rock, looking a little dazzled, shifted closer to Lily. “I could take on some extra weight for anyone who can’t handle it—”
“That’s very generous—”
“For a favor.”
Lily looked at him. “Which is?”
“My tent goes next to hers.” He nodded toward Rose and grinned, and Lily had to laugh.
“That’s not my decision,” she said. “It’s between you and her.”
“Hopefully, it’ll be my prize for making it through the day.”
She looked him over in surprise. So she wasn’t the only one nearly paralyzed with doubt. “Why wouldn’t you make it through the day? You’re the fittest one here.”
“Yes, but…” He grimaced, and spoke even more softly so no one could hear. “I’m indoor-fit, you know? Gym-rat fit. I’ve never spent much time outdoors, and I’ve certainly never spent four days straight walking through the woods.”
“You put down on your application that you’ve camped.”
Guilt flashed over his features. “Uh, yeah. I’ve camped. In my bathtub with G.I. Joe, when I was seven.”
“Oh, boy.” Lily rubbed her forehead while Rock winced.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” he said. “So maybe you’d better tell me now.” He looked adorably nervous, this big hunk who’d camped with action figures. “Is this going to be too hard for me?”
“Are you kidding?” Lily gestured to Rose and Michelle. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict you’re still way ahead of the game.”
He flashed another grin. “Thanks.”
Lily moved to the front of the group, ready to go, but before she could say so, Michelle sidled close once again. “I’ve got to talk to you,” she said, sounding tearful. “I really don’t think I can carry everything…”
“You could lose any of the five pairs of shoes you’re toting,” Jack suggested.
“But I brought one pair for each day, and then an extra. I’m not repeating, Jack.”
“Tell you what,” Lily said. “You lose the shoes, and I’ll divide up your portion of the food and supplies between myself, Jack and Rock, who generously offered to help.”
Rose looked at Rock, shooting him a sweet smile.
Rock blushed.
“Great,” Jack muttered. “I get extra, and Rock gets lucky.”
“Oh, come on, Jack,” Michelle said. “Just help me here. After all, you like daddy’s money as much as I do.”
Jack shook his head. “There’s no arguing with you.”
They moved aside to fix her pack.
Jared shifted next to Lily, and she looked at him, already tired. “You have a request, favor or demand, too?” she asked in that voice she used sometimes, the one that said, hurry, because she was a little too busy for this.
But damn it, she didn’t want to discuss anything, especially not the kiss between her and Keith, or the fact that she wished it had been with Jared.
She really wished that.
He just arched an eyebrow.
At that, she had to let out a careful breath and remind herself that he couldn’t read her thoughts. “Is that a yes or no?”
He shook his head, looking quite comfortable in his own skin. “Nothing at the moment, thanks.”
“Uh-huh. But you’re reserving the right to make a later demand, is that it?”
His mouth curved, and he let their gazes stay locked for just a beat or so past what was comfortable.
Most definitely, he was thinking about the kiss.
And maybe, just maybe, he was thinking he’d rather it had been him, too.
He let her absorb that a moment, then turned away.
Lily let out another careful breath. Oh, yeah, it was definitely going to be a hell of a trip.