wanted, never caring what anyone thought. That had been incredibly appealing to her back then, and she smiled now, leaning into him as if he could infuse her with his strength, his zest.
“You look amazing,” he said for her ears only, handing her a drink from a nearby tray. “Now let me introduce you to your group. Everyone,” he called out, stopping the light conversation and chatter in the room with just the one word, apparently clearly still carrying charisma around in spades. “This is Lily Peterson.” He squeezed her shoulder, smiled down into her face. “I’ve put her bio in your packet, but here’s your chance to meet her in person and ask her any questions you’ve stored up.”
Everyone began chattering at once, and Keith laughed.
Not Lily. She didn’t often get nervous. After all, she’d once been stuck on a mountain in a blizzard with no hopes of survival, and she’d gone down a class-six rapid and had her kayak break apart on the rocks all around her. Hell, she’d fallen off a cliff and broken her back, to be told she’d never walk again.
But this first meeting of people…this got to her. She took a quick sip of her drink and forced a smile. “Hello, everyone.”
“Let’s start with Rose McCall.” Keith gestured to the woman closest to Lily. “Rose is a real estate agent from downtown, and is looking for something new and fun to do with herself. Hence the hike.”
Rose waggled her fingers at Lily. Her nails were long and purple-tipped, encrusted with diamonds. “Looking forward to this, let me tell you.” She wore designer jeans, low on her curvy hips and so tight Lily had no idea how the woman moved. Her black halter top was covered in sparkles that matched her five-inch heels. Her carefully applied makeup masked her age, but Lily would have guessed late thirties.
The Woman on the Prowl, Lily thought as she shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Rose smiled. “Likewise. I have a question. How do you feel about sandals?”
“On the trail?”
“Yes. My feet like to be cool. My toes need to breathe.”
“Probably they’re going to want to breathe before and after the trip,” Lily said as diplomatically as she could. “Boots are definitely best.”
“Agreed,” Keith said, and with his hands on Lily’s shoulders, turned her toward the next group member. “And this here is Roland Rocklin.”
Roland was a twenty-something guy dressed in all in black from head to toe, black fatigues, black form-fitting T-shirt, black combat boots, and he was so gorgeous Lily actually blinked.
“Rock,” Roland corrected, and held out his hand, a movement that set off all kinds of rippling muscles to go with his engaging smile.
“Wrestler?” Lily asked, thinking The Hottie. She’d never say her labels out loud, but she’d always had fun characterizing her groups. And she was already-shocking-having fun.
“Boxer,” Rock told her with a quick grin. “My trainer bought me this trip for my birthday, said I was a pansy- ass-er, a wuss if I didn’t make it to the end.”
“Oh, you’ll make it to the end,” Lily assured him. No one was giving up on her watch, not even her, not if it killed her. “We all will.”
“Good to hear.” Rock’s gaze slid over to Rose, who was retying her halter top. When the material slipped, she caught it just before exposing a nipple.
“Oops.” She laughed gustily. “Sorry, don’t mind me. But let me just say, I do like the idea of all of us getting to the…grand finish.”
Rock’s tongue fell out. Lily figured he was lucky he didn’t start drooling.
Keith cleared his throat. “Moving on. Lily, meet Jack and Michelle Moore.” He gestured to the young couple on the other side of Rose. They were both dressed to the nines, and built like they lived in a gym, not to mention California-perfect blond. “The trip is their one-year anniversary present from Michelle’s father.”
“Present…or torture rack,” Michelle said as they both shook Lily’s hand.
“No torture,” Lily assured her.
“Yeah. Um, I was wondering.” Michelle leaned in. “If there’s any way you could just pretend we went on this trip. You know, if my father asked.”
Lily blinked. “Pretend?”
“Don’t listen to her,” Jack said. “We’re going.” He looked at his wife. “You agreed to go so you don’t lose your allowance. If it’s that important to you, you go.”
Michelle sighed. “Fine. But…could we arrange for a later start time so we don’t have to get up quite so early?”
Lily shook her head. “I’m sorry, no. We have to leave at eight.”
Michelle pursed her perfectly glossed lips. “Eight is ungodly.”
“That may be, but we have a schedule. It’s the start time.”
“Huh.” She considered that a moment. “Well, what happens if someone’s…say, like, late?”
Lily glanced at Keith, who simply raised a brow. Passing the buck. Something he was good at, she remembered. He didn’t like to be the bad guy. “If you’re late,” she said gently but firmly. “You’ll probably get left.”
Michelle looked intrigued by that, but Jack shook his head. “Michelle.”
“Oh, fine. We’ll be there.”
Behind them, the office door opened, and in came…
“Ah,” Keith said, with a welcoming smile. “The last member of the group, Jared Skye.”
The man who gave up parking spots, stopped to pet stray dogs and opened doors for temperamental women now had a name.
He smiled at Lily, and the oddest thing…something happened low in her belly. It was a pit of knowledge-by the end of this trip, they would have a history, this man and herself. Somehow, in some way, she knew it.
She just didn’t like it.
He slipped out his earpiece and shook hands with Keith, who turned to Lily and brought her close to his side. “Jared, meet Lily, your guide.”
Jared looked startled for one moment before carefully masking it, probably wondering how someone with a handicap sticker could possibly be a hiking guide. That, or worse, he was thinking she was some sort of fraud, and Lily ground her back teeth and cursed herself all over again.
Keith handed Jared a drink. “A word of warning with this one, Jared.” He said this with a warm, intimate smile for Lily. “Don’t be late for the takeoff, or trust me, your beautiful guide here will leave you standing in the dust. I’ve been there myself.”
“I’ll be on time.” Jared tipped his glass toward Lily in a toast, eyes warm, smile genuine. “To a good start and a great trip.”
Again, she experienced an unsettling little sizzle, and she gave Jared Skye a second look as they all drank to his toast. Sure his eyes were compelling with that odd mix of chocolate and sea-green, and yes, he had that contagious smile which mixed self-deprecation and good humor, but those things weren’t enough.
Right?
Keith was dividing a glance between Jared and herself, as if he could feel the inexplicable electric current. “You two know each other?”
“Not exactly.” Jared smiled into Lily’s eyes. “But I’m guessing that this time I’ll be thanking you.”
“I haven’t taken you anywhere yet,” she said. “You might hate it.”
“You think so?”
She scanned his lanky frame, and was surprised to find her gaze lingering. His face was clean-shaven, and while not exactly pale, certainly not tanned and rugged from any amount of time spent outdoors. His clean athletic shoes had clearly never seen a trail. His glasses were slipping again, and she’d bet herself he’d lose them on the first day unless he put a leash on them.
No, he didn’t look like much of an outdoor guy. He looked more like an indoor, hunched-over-a-laptop guy, but before she could find a nice way to say so, something in one of his pockets beeped.
“More digital equipment?” she asked. “What a surprise.”
With a wry smile, he reached for the offending unit, flicking it off with his thumb without even looking at it. “Sorry.”
Keith shook his head. “You’re going to want to leave all that stuff behind, man.”
“Really?” Jared slipped the PDA back in his pocket. “Why’s that?”
