CHAPTER 5
AFTER LUNCH, THEY took up the hike again. Jared eyed the view as they came out of a rocky canyon, a sheer rock on their left, a drop-off on their right, the river winding below.
“I’d swear we’ve gone two hundred miles,” Rose puffed. “Jared?”
He pulled out his PDA, glanced at Lily, who rolled her eyes. Damn, she was cute. “Four point six,” he said.
“Or that,” Rose muttered.
Once again they heard water falling, a different waterfall this time. “Almost there,” Lily promised them, and then they cleared past the trees and paused at the heart-stopping, magnificent view.
The water fell down thirty feet or so, splashing with loud, wet grandeur into a large natural pool. The pool was surrounded by rocks, over which the water spilled, creating a second, smaller fall dropping into the river they’d walked along to get up here.
“Can we swim?” Jack asked.
“Not here. It’s much safer from below, which we’ll get to in the morning. Keep drinking everyone, no dehydration today.”
“Okay, I get it now,” Michelle said on a huffing laugh. “This is why Daddy wanted us to come on this trip. He wanted to kill us to save him the attorney fees for our divorce.”
“We haven’t decided to divorce yet,” Jack said, then hesitated. “Not that I know of, anyway.”
Michelle lifted a shoulder. “You’ve been so upset with me, I figured it’s only a matter of time.”
Jack’s face went carefully blank. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”
“Fine, but switch places with me,” Michelle said. “You walk in front so you won’t be tempted to push me off the falls into the river.”
“You know,” Jack said thoughtfully, “that idea hadn’t occurred to me.”
“Oh,” Michelle said.
“—until now.”
“Oh.”
Rose smiled over at Rock. “Maybe you want to switch places, too, sugar, and give me a better view.”
Rock passed her. “Is that better?”
Rose eyed his ass. “Waaay better.”
Jared watch Rock finally get it, and blush beet red. The trail was flat now, and he easily managed to stay right behind Lily. He figured he had the best view of all, and he enjoyed it until a squirrel popped out of a tree and screeched at him for getting too close, nearly giving him a coronary.
Lily looked back and smiled. “You’re being scolded.”
“Too close to his home?”
“Bingo.”
Jared looked at the tree the squirrel had vanished into. “He’s got a nice home.”
“Gorgeous here, isn’t it?” She took it all in and smiled with pleasure. “I almost forget, until I come back here.”
“From…?”
“Oh. Well, I have an apartment in San Francisco, though until recently I spent most of my time as a wildland firefighter in Montana.”
Yeah, he could see her as a firefighter, all sharp and toned and tough. “Sounds exciting.”
“Was,” she said, and rubbed her thighs.
It was a motion he’d seen her do before, and he doubted it was a nervous gesture. The trail widened enough that he could move to her side. “Something happen?”
“You could say so. A cliff happened.”
“You fell?”
“Forty feet.”
He stared at her, horrified.
“Yeah, that’s the usual reaction,” she said. “But at least I lived to tell the tale, right?”
“Right. Wow.”
“Living was definitely the silver lining,” she agreed grimly, then quickened her step as if she’d told him far more than she’d meant to.
“How bad was it, Lily?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Broke my back. They said I’d never walk.” She shrugged again. “Proved them wrong.”
He stared at her back as she kept walking, awed at her strength, and also, a little awed at the similarities in the things they’d suffered. “But you’re recovered. That’s amazing.”
“Not so recovered. I can’t be a firefighter anymore.”
“It’s amazing that you’re out here at all, doing this.” He shook his head. “You must have gone through hell to get here.”
A mirthless laugh escaped her.
He looked at her proud, stiff shoulders, and imagined all that she wasn’t saying. And if anyone understood that, it was him. “I’m sorry you had to give up firefighting.”
“It was time for something new anyway.”
One tough cookie. “Was it?”
“Yeah. I don’t tend to stick to anything for long.”
“You look happy doing this.”
She paused, considered, then smiled. “You know what? I am.”
“And Keith,” he said carefully, well aware that he was now on a fishing expedition, “he must be thrilled to have you working for him.”
“Oh.” She glanced away. “We go way back, Keith and me.”
He kept breathing, barely.
“But…this is my first trek for him in years, so we’ll see how it works out.”
He nodded. “He seemed happy enough with you.”
She glanced at him, probably remembering the kiss he’d witnessed.
The hell with subtlety, he decided. “Are you two together?”
She took a long drink from her water bottle, a nice delay tactic, he noted. “I’m not sure that matters,” she said carefully.
Reaching out, he put a hand on her arm and stopped her progress, pulling her around to face him. The others were all still far enough back that no one was in danger of overhearing. “You can’t see why it would matter to me?”
“You’re a client,” she whispered.
“For a few days, that’s all.”
She licked her lips. Now that was definitely a nervous gesture, but he liked it. He liked her.
Much more than he’d intended to, when it’d once been a purely physical thing.
“We need to keep moving,” she said, her gaze dropping for the briefest beat to his mouth.
Yeah, he liked that, too, but then she pulled free and began walking again.
She’d picked up her pace, and he had to hurry to catch up with her, which stole his breath and kept him, temporarily, from asking anything more.
“Your bio says you’re some sort of electronics wizard,” she said, because apparently she still had breath. “After seeing some of your toys so far, I believe it. How many did you bring, anyway?”
“Uh…”
She slowed down and let out a disbelieving laugh as he passed her. “You know what? Don’t tell me.”
“Okay.” Turning to face her, he walked backward, smiling as he thought of the iPod and the PDA he carried. Not to mention his Sidekick… “I won’t.”
“Hey, watch out—”
He turned forward just as she pushed past him to shove a large branch out of the way. If she hadn’t, he’d have walked right into it, headfirst.
Feeling just a little bit stupid and a lot awkward, neither new when it came to beautiful women, he shot her a sheepish smile, which faded.
She’d gotten scratched across her neck.
“Ah, hell.” He reached for her. “That was my fault. I’m so sorry.”
She put a hand to her neck, then looked at her fingers, which had a little smear of her blood. “It’s nothing.”
He put his hands on her arms to stop her forward movement, and studied the scratch. True, it wasn’t bad, but it bothered him just the same. He shrugged off his pack and squatted down to go through it.
The folded piece of paper fell out of his pocket again.
She looked at it. “I know. Your grocery list.”
“It’s a list, but not groceries.”
“A to-do list.”
“Sort of.” He called it his To-Do-If-He-Didn’t-Die list.
“What does a guy like you put on a list?”
A guy like him? What the hell, he handed it to her, then reached into the front zippered pocket of his pack for a tube of antiseptic and a Band-Aid.
She laughed at the first aid stuff. “You’re kidding.”
“See? And you thought I’d be totally unprepared. I’ll have you know I also have sunscreen, waterproof matches, moleskin and aspirin.”
“Nice.” She peered into the pouch. “And a snakebite kit?”
“Yep. And also water purification tablets.”
“And the kitchen sink?” She unfolded his list and began to read.
He watched her face, and when she was finished, she handed the paper back to him.
“What do you think?” he asked, unable to help himself.
“I think that maybe everyone should have a list.”
He’d never thought so until he’d made his. He had it memorized. One, take a guided trek in the mountains. Two, sail the Greek Islands. Three, eat less fast food and more seafood, even if it’s slimy. Four, remember to smell the flowers. Five, tell the people in your life that you love them.
“What would be on yours?” he asked her.
“You know, I have no idea.” She lifted a hand. “All my life, if I’ve wanted to go somewhere, or see something, I’ve just done it.”
“That’s an amazing way to live,” he agreed. “But there’s got to be something you’d like to do that you haven’t.”
A shadow crossed her face, and she grabbed the antiseptic.
“Here. Let me.” He took it back and stroked some of the cream over her skin, which felt like warm silk beneath his fingers.
Warm silk. He was thinking of warm silk. To take his mind off that, he reached for the Band-Aid, but she pulled away.
“It’s just a scratch.” Her body language said back off because she could take care of herself. Her eyes said he’d gotten too close, and not just proximity-wise.
What had spooked her? he wondered. The list? No, she didn’t understand the significance of the list. Maybe it’d been the way he’d tried to take care of her scratch. Had no one ever fussed over her before? And why did that make him want to do just that? “Does it sting?”
“No,” she said, a bold lie that made him laugh softly. “Here.” Putting his hands on her shoulders, he looked into her eyes as he tilted his head and leaned in. She inhaled sharply as he blew very gently across her neck.
“Jared—”
“Shh.” He waited to see if she would, and when she clamped her lips shut, he took that as approval and did it again, blowing yet another breath over her flesh, which he noticed was now covered in goose bumps.
She shivered, and he knew damn well it wasn’t from pain. “Better?” he murmured.
“Um—”
He lifted his head. “Because I have one more trick up my sleeve,” he said, and kissed her neck, right above the cut.
She slapped a hand on his chest. “What are you doing?”
“Kissing it all better.” He lifted his head and smiled into her shocked face. “Did it work?”
“I…” Looking adorably perplexed, she put her hand to her neck. Her voice came low and throaty. Incredibly sexy. “You kissed me.”
“No.”
“No?”
“Nah. Now this…this a kiss.” Sliding his hand around to the back of her neck, he pulled her in, then stopped with his lips a mere whisper from hers. He absorbed the way her breath caught, the way his own did the same, including his heart.
Then he closed the distance…soft, wet, warm lips connected, her body an arousing heat against his.
She hadn’t budged, not even to breathe since that initial little panting sigh, but he could feel her heart stammering against his, and then…then she took the hand on his chest and fisted it in his shirt, right above his heart.
He liked that, liked that so much he pulled her closer, and—
And from down the steep trail, Michelle called out. “Lily?”
With a sigh, he made himself ease back.
Lily didn’t take her eyes off Jared’s. “Here! We’re up here!”
The others straggled along while Lily continued to stare at Jared.
He smiled.
She touched her neck again, as if not sure any of it had really happened; the scratch, the kiss… “Just about there,” she called out, and with one last look at Jared, she turned and kept walking.
With the taste of her still on his lips, he followed, the walking helping to clear his muddied-up heart. As far as the eye could see lay peaks and valleys and wide alpine meadows like green inland oceans, blanketed by a sky of sheer azure blue. The falls crashed loudly ahead, dropping into one of those green seas.
They were at the top of the world.
“Here,” Lily firmly said, and dropped her pack.
Everyone dropped their packs, too. Rose swiped her brow and smiled as Rock handed her a canteen of water. “What a sweetie, thanks. A big built cutie like you, you must spend a lot of time doing stuff like this, huh?”
“No,” he said, swiping his brow with his arm. “This is my first time.”
“Ah,” Rose said speculatively. “A virgin.”
Rock went beet red. “No, I—”
“An outdoor virgin.” Rose smiled. “Goodie. We can lose our cherries together.”
Rock couldn’t say anything, having probably swallowed his own tongue.
Rose look around. “Bathroom?”
“Bushes,” Lily said.
“Oh, my.” She looked at Rock. “Will you stand guard?”
“Sure.”
“Jack? Michelle?” Lily asked as they sank to the ground and leaned back against their packs. “Okay?”
“Great,” Jack said, actually looking like he was enjoying himself.
“Great?” Michelle asked him incredulously. “You’re doing great?”
“Well…yeah. You?”
“My pack’s too heavy and my feet hurt.”
“You knew this was going to be hard. I thought we were going to make the most of it.”
She piled her long, thick blond hair on top of her head. “I’d rather be making the most of a spa treatment.”
“You can make your own spa treatment tonight,” Lily said. “Mud bath at the lake. For now, check out the view. That should help.”
They all looked at the falls, not thundering like the earlier ones, but full enough. “It’s pure snow melt,” Lily said. “Chilly. But the water’s so crystal-clear you can see to the bottom of that pool. The fish are huge.”
“I can’t see them from here,” Jack said.
“We’ll see them up close and personal tonight.” Lily glanced apologetically at Michelle. “Sorry.”
Michelle just shook her head, and closed her eyes. “No problem. Except this ground is hard. I hope the beds are softer.”
“Um…your bed is your sleeping bag,” Lily told her.
“Oh.” Michelle sighed again. “Right.” She looked at Jack. “I’m guessing this vacation was cheaper than last year’s Italy, huh?”
“But that was then.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, time for us to learn to spend only what we make.”
“We…or me?”
Jack sighed. “Okay, you.”
“That’s fine for you. You like camping.”
“If you try,” Jack said with the patience of a saint, “you might like it, too.”
Michelle nodded. “Maybe. Are you going to keep me warm tonight?”
Jack blinked. “Uh…yeah. If you want me to. You haven’t…”
“It might help me enjoy the experience.”
“Really?”
When Michelle slowly nodded, Jack let out a hopeful smile. “Yeah. I’ll keep you warm.”
Jared tried not to invade their privacy, but he thought it’d be nice to have someone to keep him warm at night. He looked at Lily and found her gaze on him.
Was she thinking the same thing?
Damn hard to tell, but then she nibbled on her lower lip as if suddenly unsettled, and time seemed to stutter to a halt.
Then Rock came skidding back into camp, face pale. “It’s Rose.”
Lily leapt back up to her feet. “What about her?”
Rock lifted his hand, from which dangled Rose’s mini skirt and halter top.
Everyone gasped.
“She went skinny dipping,” Rock said. “She jumped into the falls.”
“Oh, my God!” Michelle cried, whipping around to look down at the water.
The river wasn’t wild or rough, but it wasn’t exactly low or smooth either.
“She’s probably dead,” Michelle said, horrified.
Lily turned to face Rock. “Show me where she jumped.”
Everyone ran after them, stopping short at where Rose had dropped her shoes. They stared down at the falls, at the rock below it, and beyond that, the churning river as it flowed with shocking speed along its merry way.
Then, before Jared could grasp Lily’s intentions, she toed off her shoes.
“Everyone stay here,” she demanded. “Do not, and I repeat do not, go into the water.”
And then, in a fascinating show of courage, she dove in.