— TWENTY-THREE —
WHEN Zander sent Faith a text message asking if she could get away from her desk for the day on an unseasonably warm December day, she was confused. He’d left for work two hours earlier without a whisper of any such plan. It was a bit early for a nooner, but sure, she could be flexible. She grinned and texted back, Definitely. What do you want me to be wearing?
She’d expected his answer to be one of his t-shirts, maybe, or nothing at all.
Warm layers and sturdy boots if you have them, runners if you don’t was not the answer she wanted.
On the other hand, an entire day together? Even if she had to go out in the cold—not her forte—it sounded fun. They’d gone from long-distance dating to living together in the blink of an eye. The last three weeks had been a topsy-turvy period of adjustment, with Eric acting out and sometimes Faith acting out. Miriam and Zander were the calm, steady ones. Miriam even more so after she announced she was going to Florida in January with Bill, who apparently had a condominium in Clearwater.
It sounded lovely.
Faith hated the idea that her mother would be so far away. She also loved the idea of having the house just for the three of them.
It was the best and worst of times, and none of it was being spent alone with Zander, until everyone else went to sleep.
She grinned. Okay, maybe she didn’t need a nooner. They had nearly-midnighters every single night. Often twice.
Poor Zander. She’d been insatiable since he’d moved home and he had to wake up early to make the commute to the armouries in Wiarton. Not that he ever complained—she was still processing the day that Eric had disappeared for far too long, and Zander was more than happy to help her drive her thoughts from her head every night. She pressed her hand to the love bite he’d left on her neck, where the tendon meets the shoulder. No, he didn’t complain in the least.
He pulled up and hopped out, back in civvies. Jeans, a tight cable-knit sweater, and a buttoned-down plaid shirt sticking out from beneath that.
“You look kind of dressed up,” she said as he opened the door.
He gave her a look of amusement.
“Well, you know, for you. For us.” She’d just put on jeans and a hoodie over a long-sleeved cotton t-shirt. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.” He swayed closer, then pulled himself back as he glanced over her shoulder.
She laughed and shook her head. “Mom’s out getting evergreen boughs to decorate the window sills.”
“Oh, thank Christ.” He swept her into his arms, his hands going straight for her denim-covered butt as he hauled her hard against him.
His mouth crashed into hers, and she opened for him readily. She shared his hunger, and with his new job, they never got alone time in the daytime. There was something illicit about grinding against each other in the foyer.
But he had a surprise for her and she couldn’t wait to find out what it was. She pulled away. “So is what I’m wearing okay?”
He gave her a heated look that made her toes curl.
“Should we go upstairs and—”
“No,” he ground out. “I mean yes, later. I want to peel you out of every scrap of fabric. Later. Now…what you’re wearing is perfect. Let’s go before I change my mind.”
He headed down the highway, almost as far as Pine Harbour, turning right into one of the provincial parks. He flashed a pass at the guard at the gate, but once they were inside the park perimeter, he turned away from the signed road that lead to the campsites, and headed down a bumpy, rutted lane Faith had never noticed on her previous visits to the park.
He grinned over at her as she barely contained her curiosity.
“Hey, I didn’t say anything,” she protested, returning his smile. Whatever they were doing, it felt fun. She hadn’t had enough of that in her life, and that he brought it back so effortlessly made her chest all warm and muzzy feeling.
He just reached across the cab and looped his fingers through hers. A gentle squeeze was his only response.
The lane opened up into a parking lot, on the far side of which was a brown log cabin, much like all the other park buildings.
Hopping out, Zander grabbed a large duffle bag from the bed of the truck, then jogged around to her side as she climbed out. “This is the training centre for the Search and Rescue teams. I thought you might like something they have here.”
Hand in hand, they walked around the cabin. She gasped when they got to the other side and she found a climbing tower. It was quiet now, but she could almost hear the phantom slide of rope and the standard calls of climbers.
On belay. Belay on. Hold. Roping down. Her limbs all felt hot and her mouth was dry. “Climbing?”
He was quiet beside her for a moment, maybe letting her process it, then he squeezed her hand. “You trust me?”
“With everything,” she whispered, leaning into him. She brushed her lips against his jaw, then gasped as he slid his hands between her legs—and quickly reached around her hip with the other and tugged, pulling a length of rope taut against her sex for a moment before sliding it carefully around one thigh.
Looking down, Faith’s heart rate sped up. “A sling harness?”
“You’ll be fine.” His voiced purred as he looped the rope around her thighs, waist and hips, fashioning a perfectly fitted harness that had the neat side effect of turning her into a pile of goo.
“I know.” Her voice shook, but not from fear. She inhaled roughly as he tested the tautness of the rope, sliding his hand between the loops and her body.
He tugged again, tightening it a bit further, then tied it off. His knuckles rubbed against her waist as he moved around her body and she swayed against him.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and he stopped behind her, his breath warm against her hair. He swept her ponytail out of the way and kissed the back of her neck. Shivers raced up and down her spine.
Settling his hands on her waist, he brought his lips to her ear. “Look up,” he said quietly. “See that? Anything is possible. You want to rappel? We’ll find a tower for you to bound down.”
She laughed. “Bounding is dangerous.”
He mock-growled in her ear. “Just when I think you couldn’t get any hotter, you go and spout rappelling safety at me.” He kissed her neck before continuing. “This isn’t a test of anything, babe. It’s just fun. Do whatever you want. Or don’t. Climb up there and chuck the rope at my head if you want. Okay?”
She nodded. She definitely wanted to do more than that. Every last nerve in her body was twitching at the memory of leaning out over the open air and stepping into nothingness.
“I asked Tom to help us,” he continued, turning her so they were facing each other again. “Do you want him up top, or on the ground?”
If she could clone Zander and put him in both places, that would be her first choice. But since she had to pick… “I want you on the ground, guiding me. I can step off no problem.”
“How long has it been?”
“Since before Eric was born. Six years, maybe?”
“Like riding a bike.”
She wasn’t so sure about that, but she was game to try.
Behind them, a cabin door slapped shut, and they turned to greet Tom.
He winked at her and Zander growled. She pinked up. “Thank you for helping me,” she murmured.
“My pleasure,” he said, his eyes twinkling.
“Don’t flirt with my girlfriend.”
“That’s going to be hard,” Tom said, stressing the last word like a teenage boy. “Considering I have to check her harness and get her hooked up to the ropes.”
Zander pulled her close. “On second thought, maybe I should be up top with you.”
She rolled her eyes. “And then I get to give my celebratory kiss to Tom at the end?”
He gave her a tap on the ass. “Good point. Up you go.”
At the top of the climbing tower, Tom did all the work, and as soon as they were out of Zander’s sight, he dropped the teasing flirting. Instead, he was the consummate professional, casually asking about her climbing history as he surreptitiously assessed her ability. When he was satisfied, he hooked her harness to the ropes with a rappelling device and tossed the ropes down to Zander.
“Minelli on belay,” Zander called from below. He’d wrapped the trailing ends of the rope around his back and was grinning up at her.
Letting out a shaky breath she leaned back into the L-shaped position that she did in fact remember, muscle-memory kicking in, and with her heart in her throat, she took her first step down the wall with her brake-hand firmly in place.
Her head swam with nerves. She took another deep breath and closed her eyes. Legs straight. Full-sole contact at all times. Three, two, one… She extended her brake hand to the side, letting herself walk down the wall, descending a few feet. Then she brought her arm in, braking to a stop again.
“Okay?” Zander called up, and she nodded.
“Just testing it out!” She wouldn’t stop again, and wouldn’t hold the rope close to her side, because she didn’t want to burn out her sling harness. Not after Zander did such a perfect rigging job to begin with—and because she was, above all else, safety conscious.
And she could still do this.
Her heart sang and she looked behind her, seeing where she was going. There was nothing worse than getting yelled at for almost running into something, or someone, because you weren’t paying attention.
When she swung her braking arm wide again, she let herself race down the tower, and the ground was coming up fast, but then Zander must have run back a bit, braking the ropes for her, because she slowed right up. Her feet bounced on the ground, then she put her hands in the air and somehow managed to run backwards, right off the ropes. Oh yeah, she remembered all of this.
She whooped and jumped into Zander’s arms, kissing his face all over. She nibbled on his jaw and sucked on his lower lip, and when Tom spoke behind them, she laughed and buried her face in Zander’s neck.
“Definitely good that I stayed on the ground,” he said in her ear.
“We going again?” Tom asked.
What kind of question was that?
“Hell yes,” Faith said, her voice breathless and her heart pounding. She grabbed Zander’s hand and looked deep into his eyes. “Thank you.”
The love she saw shining back at her made her want to cry and laugh and jump in the air.
She was the luckiest woman in the entire world.