trailhead sign. With some amusement, he watched his group’s fearless leader take control of the trip with clear-cut and concise directions and expectations for her guests, her fawn-colored hair pulled in a single braid that fell between her shoulder blades.
He loved how she looked, wearing cargo shorts low on the hips, fitted, but with enough pockets to outfit a third-world country, and two tank tops layered over each other, the top one with Outdoor Adventures’ logo over a breast. She was the picture of efficiency and completely in charge.
She did like to be in charge, his Lily.
He understood the need. In his life, which until recently had been consumed with work, he’d always been in charge, as CEO of an international, billion-dollar corporation that created and built parts for all things digital.
Until that control had been taken from him.
“Any last questions?” Lily asked, coming up next to him.
“Yeah.” He slid on his sunglasses and smiled. “Are you going to hurt me?”
She glanced at Michelle, flapping her lips at her husband, at Rock tying and retying his boots, at Rose applying lip gloss, and she sighed. “Somehow, I don’t think you’re going to be the one hurting.”
This close, he could see that there was something in her eyes, that light of vulnerability he’d seen last night, and also…nerves. “But you are,” he said. “Hurting.”
She looked away. “I’m fine.”
Yeah, she was pretty damn fine. But no matter what she said, she’d been hurt-the limp attested to that-and she wasn’t all better yet. He felt a hard tug of empathy, because he knew what it was like to want to get better, to try to prove everything was normal when it wasn’t. Yeah, he’d been there, done that and bought the T-shirt.
They began to walk, Lily in the lead. Her pack covered much of her from view. There was a light morning breeze which had loosened some silky strands from her braid. They flew about her head like a halo, which he imagined would piss her off but he liked it. He could see her ass, which was sweet, and her legs churning up the path ahead of him, although a bit unevenly, as if she had something to prove.
He thought maybe she did.
They all followed beneath a nicely warming morning sun touching down on the jagged peaks all around them, the rays gilding the treetops. Jared looked up and felt surrounded by them, a huge awe-inspiring circle of rocky, remote mountains he hoped to know a lot more about before he got back.
“This region is one of the most geologically young and tectonically active in North America,” Lily said, looking in charge of her world as she turned to face them, walking backwards.
Their eyes met and Jared felt the bolt he’d experienced the first time he’d seen her. Hell, every time he saw her. At first, it had been a purely physical sort of bolt, and there was still plenty of that, but somehow also more.
Much more.
Which suited him just fine. It’d been a very long time since he’d felt such a punch of attraction. Granted, he’d had other things on his mind-like surviving…
But he was past that now, and living life to its fullest, going after everything he wanted.
He wanted her.
Or he had before she’d kissed her boss…
“Are there volcanoes?” Michelle asked Lily, sounding nervous.
“Not here,” Lily assured her. “Though this mountain system does straddle several of the earth’s moving plates, huge forces that continuously build this sweeping arc of mountains-see how rugged and craggy the peaks are? It means they’re still very young, comparatively. Just babies, really.”
“Pretty big babies,” Jack said beneath his breath, making his wife laugh breathlessly in agreement.
“Were there dinosaurs here?” Rose asked.
“Oh, yes,” Lily said. “Back in the day.”
“The Mesozoic Era,” Jared offered, then smiled when Lily looked at him, clearly startled at his knowledge.
“I’m impressed,” she said. “What else do you know about this area?”
“Other than there are big bears and that I shouldn’t feed them? Not much.”
Michelle scooted closer to Jack, a bright yellow spot of sunshine in her raingear. “Bears?”
“Don’t worry,” Lily said. “No one’s going to be bear bait on this trip.”
“So how high are these babies anyway?” Jack asked, pointing to the highest peak ahead.
“Nearly fifteen thousand feet at the top.”
“That’s like, three miles high,” Rock said, with a low whistle. “Man, we’re going to be huffing and puffing.”
They were already huffing and puffing. Jared sure as hell was. But the exercise felt good. Actually, it felt amazing, especially after so many months of being able to do so little. The air held a silence that he never heard in the city, and that felt good, too. Not having to think, work…
Gradually, the distance between the group members widened as they moved up the trail that took them to breathtaking heights, along stark ridges and drop-away cliffs.
He kept up with Lily with surprising effort. “You’re looking pleased with yourself,” she said, breaking a long silence.
“I am pleased,” he said. “To be here.”
She smiled, a real one, he realized with some pleasure, and it lit up her entire face. “I know. Me, too. I’d-You know what? Never mind.”
“No, what?”
“I’d worried that I wouldn’t be able to hold up,” she admitted.
He nodded, knowing that was quite a confession for her. “You and me both.”
She smiled at him, and it was a beautiful thing.
“It’s such a perfect day for this,” she said. “Not too hot, not too cold.”
“I’m definitely just right.”
She looked him over, and bit her lip.
“Go ahead,” he said on a laugh. “Mention the clothes.”
“Okay, so you had the right clothes after all.”
She was genuinely amused, and he liked the look on her, very much. She was naturally fair-skinned, which meant she had an adorable smattering of light freckles over her high cheekbones and nose, though he doubted she’d appreciate the word adorable. Her eyes, so light brown they looked like crystal-clear amber, or a very expensive whiskey, sparkled. “Are the jeans brand spanking new?” she asked.
“I’ll have you know, I’ve owned these for years.”
She fingered his crisp T-shirt, worn beneath an open long-sleeved blue chambray shirt. “You ironed this.”
“No.” But probably his housekeeper had. “Maybe.”
She laughed and eyed his hiking boots. “Those aren’t-”
“Not new. They’re broken in, I promise.” He grinned at her inspection. “Let’s hear it. Any complaints?”
She took her gaze on a tour along his body. Did those eyes heat as she brought them back up to his, or was that his hopeful imagination?
“No complaints,” she finally said, sounding just a little breathless now.
Not his imagination…
The words dissipated any last chill from the morning air, that was for damn sure. He might have been sick this last year, very sick, but apparently certain things, like a healthy lust, never left a man.
Thank God.
That’s when the digital ring of a cell phone pierced the air.
His.
“Oh, no, you didn’t,” she said.
“Sorry.” He pulled the cell out of his pocket, eyed the ID, then sighed as he flipped the phone open. “Hey, Candace.”
“Hey right back atcha,” his fearless and irreplaceable assistant said cheerfully. “Just calling to say it’s not too late to come to your senses. I could have a helicopter there to get you in half an hour.”
“I’m doing this.”
She sighed. “Thought you’d say that. All righty then, have a safe trip. Oh, and don’t get bitten by a rattlesnake. We did not nearly lose you this year to watch you go down so easily.”
