He grimaced down at the soup. “Mom would be horrified at me for feeding you from Dad’s apocalypse provisions.”
“It’s good.”
“Don’t be polite or pretend.” He reached for her barely touched bowl and her lips parted as his fingers brushed hers. Long, dark lashes curled up as her eyes met his. Damn. She might as well toss another gallon of gas to the fire already out of control inside him.
He could barely think straight.
He should’ve been scouring the internet for more information, trying to find out exactly who Thea was and what she was up against. He really should’ve been telling her she was engaged to a man who was probably desperate to find her. Or figuring out a gentle way to inform her of her atypical childhood. But he didn’t want her to live with those memories. And selfishly, he wasn’t ready for her to become a memory he’d have to live with. To be gone from his life, like so many others. “Let’s get out of here,” he blurted. “Go out to eat.”
“You forget, I’m a fugitive with no shoes. It’s too cold outside for those stupid flip-flops.”
“Details.”
Within minutes he’d made the phone call to Antonio’s, apologizing for calling so close to closing time and promising to make it up to him. He selected a bottle of cabernet from the wet bar and grabbed up a couple of sleeping bags to help cut the nip of nighttime alpine air. After a quick potty break for Titan, they were back on Highway 36 curling down the mountain, headed for town. He sped along the familiar roadway, accelerating into the deep turns as they carved through the valley and cut along the edges of the Rocky Mountain National Forest.
Normally he took a back route, avoiding Estes Park’s tourist district with its colorful shops and eclectic crowds. At this time of night, he was able to drive along Elkhorn Avenue so Thea could see the charm of the valley town without much holdup. Past the parks and shops, he pulled into his favorite local pizza place, where Antonio himself hooked him up with an amazing pie.
It was another short, winding drive up Highway 7 before he pulled off the road and cut the engine. After letting Titan out, Nik went to the back of the Jeep and carefully balanced the oversized pizza box additionally laden with two tightly rolled sleeping bags, one of which protected the bottle of wine and a pair of red Solo cups, before coming around to Thea’s door. He turned and presented his back to her. “Hop on, Tigger.”
When she didn’t oblige, he looked over his shoulder to see her shooting him a quizzical look.
“Oh, this is one of those things you don’t remember how to do, isn’t it? It’s easy, wrap your arms and legs around me and I’ll take care of the rest.” He grinned over his shoulder at her.
She wasn’t impressed. And if her look didn’t relay it, her words sure did. “You’re cute when you try to flirt, but no, that’s not why I’m hesitating.”
Cute?
Try to flirt?
She pointed up at the imposing rock structure. “You’re seriously going to carry me and all of this?”
Okay, that was it. He turned, maneuvering his body between her knees as he reached up to set the supplies on the Jeep’s rooftop. Bracing his hands above her, he flexed his triceps as he loomed in close.
“You doubt my capabilities?”
The new vantage point offered him a nice glimpse of cleavage. God, he could have that flannel shirt off in… His tongue danced between his lips at the sugary-looking, pink blush glazing her skin. His gaze flicked to hers. Eye to eye.
The temperature of the slip of air separating their bodies shot up. Flame on scorching flame. Damn, it was fun playing with her fire. He always did enjoy courting danger.
“I’m just worried because… I mean, you’re already carrying all this stuff and I’m not…lightweight.”
Fucking adorable.
Heck, even Coop, weighing two-seventy-plus in full kit, didn’t worry about his weight when Nik had to drag his injured butt up a mountain. No, that asshole complained about how slow Nik was going the whole way.
“You’re doubting my strength, then?”
“N-no,” she stammered.
Now who’s being cute?
Nik reached down to run his finger along the bridge of her nose. It probably came off as patronizing, when really he just needed to touch those freckles. Where was I? Oh yeah, trying to convince her to wrap her legs around him.
“First off, in the short time we’ve known each other, I’ve had to carry you more times than you’ve actually walked.” He tilted his head, enjoying the rose tinge to her cheeks and pout to her lips. The lushness was no doubt a preempt to a protest. “Trust me, I’m not complaining. I’m just saying, I know how heavy you are and I’m not concerned, so you shouldn’t be either. Second, there’s a short trail up to the rock ledge. And third, I’ve ruck humped…carried a backpack heavier than you for many miles in far less favorable conditions. This is nothing.” Okay, the bit about the pack being heavier might’ve been a slight exaggeration, but this really was nothing for him.
He wrapped his fingers behind her legs, spreading her knees at the same time as he lurched her body closer. A shocked gasp escaped as she grabbed for his shoulders to avoid falling over backward. Her inner thighs clamped his hips as her parted lips almost collided against his own. The overwhelming desire to crash his hungry mouth against her sweet one reared, but he turned and presented his back to her again. “Hop on, before I toss you over my shoulder.”
The suggestion of grabbing her caveman-style had his dick bouncing like he was driving on a backroad in Bagdad. It went rock hard as her arms, legs, and, sweet Jesus, scent wrapped around him and held on tight. He didn’t have the luxury of getting all drugged up as she enveloped him, though. He had to get moving. If he passed out and dropped her now, she’d never climb aboard him again.
As he traversed the rocky ascent up the boulders and crags to the mountain ledge, an irresistible giggle escaped her.
The skittering tickle of her breath across the nape of his neck caused his pulse to get all skippity and his breathing to go wildly shallow, nearly undoing him.
“This is fun. Are you part mountain goat? Wait, are we like hunting Bigfoot?”
“Negative. He’s not getting any of this action. Slide down. We’re here.”
“Already?” she bemoaned as her body raked down his back.
He seriously considered tossing the pizza aside and indulging himself on a more carnal meal right then and there. The heavenly waft of garlic and sauce stroking a fierce growl in his stomach provided enough incentive to keep him on task.
After removing the bottle of wine he’d protectively tucked inside the padded roll, he laid out one sleeping bag on the rock surface and draped Thea’s shoulders with the other. All the while, he gently shooed Titan’s long snout away from the pizza box with his foot.
She took in the stunning night view of the town lights twinkling throughout the valley below. “This place is amazing.”
“Not bad, huh?” He took out his knife, thumbing the button to automatically snap the blade out. The aggressive curve and spearing tip of the M390 steel weren’t made for the delicate task of opening a bottle of wine, but with a little patience and finesse he worked the cork loose and poured her a drink. “Not very romantic to be drinking wine out of plastic, but it’ll do.”
“Romantic?” Thea flinched as she took the cup, tilting it at such an extreme angle the wine threatened to pour out. Her brows knitted up. “You mean like…a date?”
He scowled. A date? She got date out of one stupid word? And since when did he give a crap about anything being romantic? Even if he did want to romance her, why label it a date? What was it with women and labeling anyway?
He glowered, but made the mistake of falling into those eyes of hers. Hell yeah, it’s a date. Get a black Sharpie. Let’s label this bitch.
Crap. Dates weren’t really his thing. But who cares, right? It already had all the earmarks of one. Except one of the parties was possibly engaged to someone else. But, as she ha
d astutely pointed out at the hotel, she had no ring. Were you engaged without a ring?
Hell, no. No ring, no engagement. Everyone knew that. Even a dumbass door-kicker like himself knew that. Hell, maybe the engagement had been called off and she and this Clayton asshole were long done.
One look at her lips and he didn’t give a shit if she was engaged and had a twenty-carat commitment on her finger. The asshole should’ve been there for her. He wasn’t and Nik couldn’t play the role of the noble hero anymore. No. His desires were far too dark to ever be confused with nobility. They always had.
Did she even want him the way he wanted her? Hell, she’d practically spilled her drink at the mere thought of him romancing her. Sure, she’d kissed him, but maybe it was one of those near death, thank you for saving my life kind of things.
“Nik?”
Shit, she was waiting for an answer. Talk, fool.
“Um. It doesn’t have to be a date…if you don’t want it to be? Do you want it to be?”
Okay, gawky as hell. She already thought his attempts at flirting were cute. Now this. Even Titan looked embarrassed for him. This was exactly why he didn’t do this dating crap. Well, maybe not the only reason or even the biggest reason, but that was neither here nor there. He went for a solid, confident, “I want it to be.”
Still awkward, dude.
“If you want it to be,” he added against his better judgment.
Shut your damn mouth. Cut the chatter. Go dark.
Thea favored him with a new smile, a shy one, which to his frustration she quickly hid behind her hand. Her eyes peered up at him through long lashes. By some miracle, she wasn’t laughing at him. In fact, her face was tight with uncertainty. “Are you sure you want to date a girl like me?”
Shit. She was all kinds of trouble and she knew it.
His flannel shirt engulfed all but her knuckles as she raked her ragged fingernails, reminders of the hell she’d been through, over her lip. The girl in front of him was so different from the first time he’d seen those pink fingernails as she’d frantically pumped gas. That girl he’d wanted to blaze through one night with, this one he desperately wanted all the time in the world with.
Discipline your fucking emotions, Steele.
He lowered her hand from her face. “You’re right.”
Her swollen lower lip quivered in disappointment as she nodded.
He stepped in even closer and brushed his fingertips along her hairline, tracing down to her jaw. “I don’t want to date a girl like you. I want to date you, Thea.”
Her knees softened as she pushed out her held breath. He was quick to catch her against him. The corners of his mouth tugged up. “Careful, you’re going to spill your wine before you’ve even tried it.”
“Oh, right, the romantic wine,” she said with a nervous giggle. Bringing the cup to her lips, she took a cautious sip and smiled.
He caught his own buzz watching as she turned the tentative taste into a full, long drink, exactly as she had with their first kiss. God, he needed another one.
“Cheers,” he whispered as he leaned in and suckled the trace of red glistening on her lips. He knew better than to linger too long. A quick taste before he lost all senses again.
She ducked her head with a confused laugh. “Cheers? Aren’t we supposed to clink glasses?”
“We don’t have glasses and it would’ve been bad luck for me to toast without taking my own drink,” he explained before pouring himself an official one. “Or maybe I couldn’t stop myself from tasting you again.”
A pink flush flared on her cheeks. Despite whatever had happened in her previous life, this—wine, kissing, romance—was all as new to her as the feeling of snow had been. He’d do his best not to fuck it up. But shit, romance was a foreign language to him as well.
He held a hand out, helping her balance as she lowered herself to sit on the sleeping bag. Following suit, he knelt before the pizza box. “Okay. You’re not going to find many pizzas as good as this again. I’m probably ruining all pizza for you because of it. Sorry. Not sorry. I present to you the Hell’s Kitchen.” He lifted up the lid. “Twenty-six inches of pizza nirvana. It is divided in quarters—basic cheese, white garlic, Greek, which is also vegetarian, and the Godfather, which is Sicilian meats and peppers. You can try them all.”
“Did you have them make this special?”
Fearing her adoring thank you smile might disappear, he reluctantly admitted, “Not exactly. It does serve the purpose of letting you try different flavors out, but this is how it comes. When I have the guys in town we always order a few.”
She reached out for the basic cheese one first, as he grabbed a Sicilian. Titan drooled from the sidelines.
“Oh…my…God. Why do people even eat anything else?” she asked after wolfing her first bite down. Titan shamed her out of the last bit of crust with big puppy eyes. “Well, I mean French fries, and bacon, and sweet rolls… I can understand those.”
“I’ve created a monster.” Nik laughed as he tossed the beast a bigger bite as a goodwill offering. “Maybe we should plan for more whole grains and veggies tomorrow?”
“Maybe you and your abs and your ego can live off whole grains and veggies, but this girl’s gonna need pizza and sweet rolls for long-term sustainability.”
More than the delicious pizza, he found himself captivated by her passion as she tried another slice. He wished he had cupcakes, so he could watch her eyes light up tasting one. Though nothing would ever compare to the way they’d fired up tasting him for the first time.
She might’ve been engaged before, but she was also a blank slate. Anything and everything between them would be a first for her.
New for him as well. No other woman had ever affected Nik like Thea. Her kiss burned on his lips longer than it should’ve and when it faded, feeling her again was all he could think of.
Truthfully, it freaked him out.
Hell, he hadn’t been anyone’s first kiss since grade school. He hadn’t been anyone’s first anything else after. He’d always gravitated toward sexually confident girls, even back in his teens. Thea was different, though. At twenty-five and engaged she’d more than likely had sexual experiences. Yet, everything had been mentally and emotionally reset, at least for the moment. And in this moment, the idea of anyone else introducing her to so much as a cupcake didn’t sit well in his stomach.
He poured Thea a refill, but didn’t indulge in his own. One drink with a meal was all he allowed himself if he was driving. He maneuvered to his knees as he lobbed Titan a whole slice of cheese pizza and some leftover crusts, then shifted his concealed carry from appendix to his right hip before sitting back into the rock ledge.
He directed Thea’s gaze from the city lights below to the impressive night sky above. The fields of constellations visible from the mountains were shocking to anyone who’d never been out of a city, but for Thea it was also the first time she’d ever knowingly witnessed a night sky. She inhaled sharply as she took the magnitude of the entire universe in for the first time.
Her hand reached out for him. Only once her fingers locked with his did she exhale. It took a little longer before she spoke. “How did I not notice them last night?”
“You were busy trying to figure out how many fingers I was holding up before you threatened to shoot me one of yours.”
She hid her face with her free hand. “I’m sorry I was so rude. You were saving my life. You didn’t deserve it.”
“Maybe I should’ve had you count stars instead.”
“Were they this impressive?”
“I don’t know, it was pretty dusty and I was distracted…looking into your eyes.”
“I doubt my eyes compare to this.”
“No, they don’t compare at all. Yours are far more beautiful.” Even though he was being deathly sincere, he reeled himself back from using any more cheesy-sounding pick-up lines. If he’d learned anything from his first attempt at getting her attention in Goodland, they weren
’t going to work for crap where Thea Gale was concerned.
Instead he’d work the problem by falling back on his training. In order to bring someone toward you, some well-placed sniper fire generally got a target high-kneed in whatever direction you desired. Without overwatch, though, he’d have to resort to good old-fashioned reverse psychology. Retreat, hoping to draw her closer.
Problem was, her eyes had dropped from the stars to his. His body fought him, but with patience and discipline, Nik let go of her hand and leaned away from her, resting his arm on the rocks. “The night sky doesn’t look like this from everywhere. But out here, with no real lights, clear cool atmosphere—they shine the brightest.”
Thea glanced longingly at the inviting space he’d created for her, but didn’t take the bait. Annoyance fused with neediness, but patience would have to win out—he needed her to come to him willingly, and preferably wantonly. He distracted himself by pointing out various constellations and describing them the way his dad used to on their many camping trips. “The best place to stargaze is the middle of the ocean where the darkness swallows you. If you go far enough, you’ll see entirely different constellations. It’s amazing how everything changes when you’re on the other side of the world.”
Recognizing his dad’s words coming back after all these years made him pause. Had his dad been the one to plant the seed, the drive to go find those oceans, those other constellations all along? Here he’d guilted himself for abandoning these mountains—and more importantly, his family—to travel and explore, to get away and be on his own…when maybe he’d been subtly steered.
After eight years, all the rough strands and raw feelings had been clipped smooth, or so Nik had thought. People often would say to him—‘they’re still with you’, ‘they are always with you’. But he never engaged in such delusions. Never let his imagination wander to what life would be like if they were still here, or wonder what they might think of how he lived his life or the choices he made. Courting some fantasy of them still being with him had always been too dangerous. Too painful to feel the salt of the truth after the salve of the lie, and yet…talking about his family to Thea had felt easy, natural. Maybe enough years had finally passed. Or maybe knowing she’d lost her whole family, including every single memory of them, made him hold his memories closer and tighter.
Twist My Heart Page 11
