by Cora Seton
Jim shoved her, and she fell forward, jerking sharply when the connection between harness and line brought her up short. She dropped the beanbag immediately and clutched the brake with both hands, screaming so loudly she hurt her own ears. The forest zipped past her in a blur, so she closed her eyes. That was worse. She opened them again and fought to keep from throwing up with fear. Something caught her eye and she blinked, surprised by the incongruity of a florescent orange post in the middle of this pristine forest. It stuck straight up and culminated in what looked like an old-fashioned bushel basket.
The basket!
Bella let go of the brake with her right hand, threw, and realized she no longer held the beanbag. Damn—she’d lost another point, and Evan had scored this one—she’d heard the thunk. Well, now that she knew what she was shooting at, she wouldn’t miss next time.
By the time she saw the platform approaching in the distance, she had her emotions under control. As she approached, she reflexively drew up her knees and pressed the brake harder. This zip line business wasn’t that difficult after all; and not that scary once you got past jumping off the platform. The brake did put her speed under her control.
And the burn of competition helped a lot.
Having never considered herself all that competitive, the feeling surprised her, but it also gratified her. Somehow, the unquenchable desire to kick Evan’s ass made her feel powerful, and she hadn’t felt that way in a long time. She slowed to a stop and landed on the second platform. As she allowed another helper to unclip her from the first line and escort her around the tree to the second line, she was only dimly aware of the cameraman also landing and making his way around the tree. She gripped the beanbag tightly and positioned her left hand over the brake with confidence.
“Need a push?” the young man asked.
“Nope—I’ve got it.”
She pushed off and relished the feeling of freedom zipping down the line gave her. She kept her eyes peeled for the target and slowed down when she spotted it—there! Winding back for the throw, she remembered her years in little league. She could place a ball accurately.
Thunk. She hit the basket, but on the outside. Bella watched the beanbag fall to the ground in disbelief. Double-damn! Two points down.
The next target went better. She scored, and scored again on the fourth basket. When she arrived at the fifth platform, Evan was just taking off.
“Help me—hurry up,” she called and this time a young woman helped move her tether from line to line. Evan was already almost out of sight, but she yelled after him anyway. “Hey, Evan—your butt crack’s showing!”
He twisted and swore and the young woman helping her laughed out loud. “That’s the way to get him.”
Bella took her time getting ready for the next leg—her last chance for a point today. Taking a deep breath, she perched on the edge of the platform and gripped the beanbag. This was it—she had to score. She took off, keeping her speed well in line this time, and slowed down considerably when she spotted the basket. She aimed, held her arm steady, and threw as hard as she could.
Yes!
She let go of the brake and allowed herself to pick up speed as she kicked her legs in a happy dance. Three points! Even if Evan got five she hadn’t fallen too far behind. The next challenge had to be better, right?
“Bella!”
She would show him tomorrow—she would run his butt into the ground and find a way to get him off his game so she could…
“Bella—you’re going too fast!”
She opened her eyes, unaware she’d even closed them in her celebration, to see the platform hurtling toward her. Evan and a stranger—another zip line attendant—stared back at her in shock. She grabbed for the brake, missed it and grabbed again, but it was too late. Evan threw himself in the space on the platform between her and the tree trunk and she slammed into him at speed, knocking the wind from her lungs.
When she came to, she was tangled in a pile of arms and legs, the attendant yelling and swearing at both of them. Evan’s breath tickled her neck and she breathed in his smell, masculine and woodsy. She hadn’t been in such an intimate embrace in…well, years, frankly, and it stirred something within her that had been sleeping for a long time.
“Let me up,” she said shakily.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Evan said as he climbed awkwardly to his feet and dragged her up with him. “You could have been hurt. You could have killed yourself!”
“I would have stopped her,” the attendant said pettishly, and Evan turned his glare on him. The attendant slunk off to the other side of the platform. The cameraman landed, still filming.
Bella ignored him. “I’m fine. Thank you for saving me.” She meant it, but somehow the words came out sarcastically and Evan scowled.
“I did save you. They’d be hauling you off in an ambulance right now if I hadn’t been there.” Bella tried to shrug off his hands, but he gripped her harder. “Look at me.”
She did so reluctantly, but instead of anger she saw concern in his eyes.
“What do you care if I get hurt?” she demanded. “You’d win, right?”
He frowned. “Sure—maybe, but that’s not how I want to win. I want to beat you fair and square.”
He was so close she could see the shades of brown in his irises, warm tones that intrigued her and hinted at possibilities she hadn’t considered with Evan. His jaw was strong and his features handsome. A kissable mouth. He pulled her a fraction closer.
“Bella.” His voice was rough.
For a second she thought he was going to kiss her. She held her breath, anticipating his move, and her body tingled in awareness of him.
Then the moment ended. He shook himself, glanced over her shoulder, and she realized the camera was still rolling. She stepped away automatically and suddenly the attendant was back to help unhook her from the zip line and get her prepared for the descent to the ground. There was a difficult moment when she moved from the platform onto the ladder that led down the tree, but once she’d navigated it, she found it easy to move down the rungs. Back on solid ground, however, she found she was shaking and she was grateful for the bustle of removing the harness and retrieving her hat, pack and map to bring her back to herself.
When she shot a quick look at Evan, however, she found him looking back at her. His expression was inscrutable, and she had no idea now if he’d ever really meant to kiss her on the platform or if that was all in her head.
It didn’t matter, she told herself. She wasn’t here to find a husband. She was here to beat a billionaire.
* * * * *
Hell, he’d nearly kissed her. On national television, no less. After making a fool of himself diving between her and the tree. Evan trudged down the trail after Bella in the late afternoon sunshine, berating himself for his lack of focus, his stupidity in placing himself in danger, and his even bigger idiocy for letting his groin dictate his actions.
What was wrong with him? One day in Canada and he was acting like a college kid on spring break. Hmm, maybe that was it, he thought as he rounded a corner and sighed as the trail headed upward again. Maybe he was reacting to his first real bit of time off in years. He took vacations all the time, but he always had his cell phone with him and even when he rock climbed he checked in two or three times a day minimum to issue orders and make sure business was progressing smoothly in his absence. He went alone for the most part, although sometimes when he climbed he joined up with some other guys. Still, once the climb was over, he generally chose to head off on his own.
“You put the lonely in loner,” Amanda said to him once in the early days just after she’d come to work for him. “Who ever heard of a personal assistant who never sees her boss?”
She was right—he knew he took his privacy to the extreme, but having people too close to him made him claustrophobic. Amanda’s office was separate from his. He took his meetings over the phone, handled all correspondence through email and texts. He l
iked to keep moving—that way people couldn’t corner him and box him in.
A memory surfaced briefly—he’d been twelve years old when his mother caught him in the foyer as he tried to slip out the door, his uniform on. “No more baseball games; I’ve removed you from the team. Mommy needs you here. Daddy’s out of town again.”
He shuddered. It didn’t take a shrink to figure out why he hated attachments now. His mother’s neediness had overwhelmed him and ultimately pushed him away. Thoughts of those years when her need for constant attention kept him from joining activities, making friends—even going to school, often—left him desperate for movement. He picked up his pace.
Soon he caught up with Bella, who was decidedly limping. She sighed as he passed her, and stopped to bend down and fiddle with her shoe. He stopped, too. “Something wrong?”
“My ankle. Stupid boot is rubbing. Go ahead, I’m going to put another Band-Aid on it.”
Evan hesitated. He should go on, but really there was no rush. He wouldn’t earn extra points for making it to the campsite first and he didn’t like to leave her behind.
Even if their camera crews made a small crowd on the path.
“I can wait.”
“Fine.” She took out her first aid kit, shucked off her boot and sock and picked the Band-Aid off.
“Better put some ointment on that.” He didn’t like the red, raw look to her ankle.
She dabbed some on and applied a fresh Band-Aid. Once her boot was securely back on, she stood up and re-shouldered her pack.
“Probably another mile to go, huh?”
“Yeah.”
They plodded on in silence. Bella moved slowly, obviously in pain, and Evan kept having to stop and wait for her. Thankfully, the trail evened out, moving parallel to the ridge above them. Normally he would have covered the last mile in a matter of minutes, but he estimated it would be another half-hour at the rate Bella was traveling. Finally, he fell back and took her arm.
“I can do it,” she said.
“I know you can.” But he kept his arm in place.
Soon she gave up protesting and leaned on him heavily. He waited to feel the usual claustrophobic tightness he felt when someone got too close to him, but it didn’t come. They continued on for twenty minutes, until the path curved and a vista opened up beneath them of the Maligne River Valley. Bella gasped and they stumbled to a stop.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
He enjoyed the way she leaned against him. He could feel the rise and fall of her shoulders as she caught her breath, and her curls tickled his nose as he turned his head. He could still smell traces of her shampoo, despite the exertions of the day, and it was a clean, feminine scent that stirred animal lust within him.
He spotted a blue and white ribbon just a little farther down the trail. “Look—I think we made it.”
* * * * *
Bella plunged down the trail alongside Evan, thankful to reach the campsite at last, so when they rounded another curve at the blue and white marker and found themselves in a small clearing, empty of everything except for a pile of gear, she was brought up short.
“This is it?” she said aloud. Aware of the camera crew behind her, she tried to keep her voice from wobbling. She was hungry, tired and hurt. And the TV crew didn’t even bother to set up camp? She felt anger radiating from Evan beside her, but he only said, “I guess it’s up to us to make ourselves at home.”
He approached the pile of gear and began to sort through it. Moments later, however, he stopped, stood up and paced away, his hands in fists at his sides.
“What?” Bella forced herself to ask. She didn’t like being around angry men and Evan looked furious.
“There’s only one of everything.”
“What do you mean?” He wasn’t making sense.
“They’ve left us one tent, one sleeping bag, one pillow.”
“Are you kidding me?” She rounded on the camera crew, despite all of Madelyn’s warnings against doing such a thing. “What the hell is this? Where’s our gear?”
Paul, who hadn’t said a word to her all day, waved her away.
“No! I want to know what the hell is going on!”
“Bella, forget it—it’s part of the show.” Evan appeared behind her and led her away from the cameraman.
“That’s baloney! What are we supposed to do, flip a coin for it?” She rounded on Paul again, but Evan caught her arm.
“Yes, that’s exactly what they want us to do—fight over it.” He held her there until his words sunk in.
Of course. She let her shoulders slump as she pictured Madelyn’s smug grin. A grown man and woman fighting over limited gear made for great television. “So, what do we do?”
“We could share it.” He sounded as enthusiastic about the prospect as she felt. But what other choice did they have? The day was still warm now, but no matter where you were, nighttime in the mountains meant cool temperatures, and the change from hot day to cool night would most likely bring a heavy dew and soak anyone sleeping outdoors.
“Fine. What did they give us?”
It didn’t take them long to pitch the tent, unroll the single, thin sleeping mat and place it inside. They agreed not to unroll the sleeping bag until it was time for bed.
“We’ll just unzip it and use it as a cover,” Bella pronounced.
“Sure,” Evan agreed.
Next they unpacked their dinner. Bella had finished all her food except her banana earlier in the afternoon and she was pretty sure Evan was low on grub, too, so she was pleased to see their portions were slightly more generous this evening.
“Oooh—smoked salmon,” she said, lifting up the package. “And cream cheese and crackers.”
“That must be the appetizer,” Evan said. “We’ve got some stew here, too.”
“We’ll need a fire for that.”
“They actually provided us some wood and matches.”
“Really?” Bella’s anger over the single tent began to slide away. A hot meal would do her a world of good. Evan worked on getting the fire started while she undid the packages and poured the stew into a small, cast-iron pot she found in the pile of gear. They shared the salmon while the stew heated, then dug into the main course. Sitting on the ground, leaning against an outcropping of rock, she ate her fill while watching the fire flicker and dance. She could have used a hot bath right about now, but overall she felt good.
Except for her ankle. She’d better change the Band-Aid again.
Before she could move toward her pack, however, there was a commotion down the trail and Jake appeared, leading a small band of crew members.
“Bella, Evan, congratulations on surviving your first day.” A crew member scuttled forward and set up a tripod next to him. It held a placard inscribed with both their names. Dots of Velcro were placed next to them. Evan stood up and slowly she did the same. Soon crew members ringed them to film the day’s wrap-up.
Jake spoke in his plummy announcer voice. “Your first day consisted of an eight mile hike and two challenges. You both did very well, but Evan—you did better overall. You had a strong start with the archery competition, scoring four out of five possible points. Well done.” He bowed his head to Evan and Evan answered with a nod. “Bella, you seem like a newcomer to archery. Am I right?”
“Yes.” Thanks for pointing that out, she thought.
“But with a few tips from your adversary,” he nodded to Evan again, “you did all right. Three points out of five.” He stuck a card to each set of Velcro dots—one emblazoned with a four next to Evan’s name and a three next to hers. “Your next challenge was even harder. You needed to overcome your fear of heights and use skill and accuracy to win the zip line beanbag challenge. Both of you found this somewhat difficult. Evan, again, you went after this contest with a fair bit of skill and scored your first four baskets. Bella here, however, helped you miss your fifth. That makes eight points in all for you today, Evan.” He turned to Bella. “I believe you’
re scared of heights?”
“Sort of,” she said. “But not too much.”
“You got off to a shaky start,” he agreed, “but you did seem to get the hang of it. You made three shots, as well. That’s six points to you in all. So far the contest is quite close! Rest tonight. You’ve earned it. We’ll meet back here at eight tomorrow morning for day two of Can You Beat a Billionaire?”
He waited a beat and made a slicing motion with his hand. Immediately the cameras shut down and the crew backed off. Madelyn stepped forward, startling Bella, who hadn’t seen the woman arrive. She found herself glancing down at Madelyn’s feet. Nope, no stilettos this time. Madelyn wore a pair of top-grade hiking boots, however, that probably set her back several hundred dollars. Bella wished she had a pair like that.
“The crew’s campground is a quarter mile up the path,” Madelyn said in her usual clipped tones. “You are forbidden to enter it. Your campground will be observed and filmed at all times during the night, including a remotely operated camera within your tent which we will switch on once you are changed for sleeping. You will want to observe a certain amount of modesty—in other words, sleeping in the nude is out.
“Bella—Adrienne, here, will look at your ankle. We’ll get that fixed up and give you an insert for your boots that should help. The audience wants competition, not cripples. Good-night to both of you. See you bright and early tomorrow morning.” Madelyn turned, trailed as always by Ellis, who flashed them both a smile and a thumb’s-up, and headed down the path.
Bella allowed herself to be ministered to and she and Evan took turns in the tent changing into more comfortable clothes. It was still fairly early in the evening, however, and the sun remained above the horizon.
“What time do you think it will set?” she asked Evan as they lounged near the campfire. The crew had faded away down the path, except for a single cameraman and assistant.
Evan considered the sky. “Eight, eight thirty maybe?”
“I’m not sure I can stay awake that long.”
“There’s no rule says you have to.”
He was right. Except for the point where she was competing to win the money she needed to keep her business afloat, she was essentially on vacation. There was nothing more she could accomplish tonight. She leaned back and gazed upon the valley spread beneath them, with its flashing silver band of water traversing through it. Up here, it was hard to focus on her problems back in Montana. Hannah and the volunteers would have all the animals fed, exercised, and back in their pens for the night. She hoped no emergencies had cropped up, or if they had that her brother had been able to handle them.
