by Jill Shalvis
hand. Promise me.”
She paused, then nodded.
“Give me your cell.”
“Why?”
He just held out his hand.
Quandary. She had a feeling she knew what he wanted with it. He wanted to put his number in. Thing was, she already had it, and didn’t really want him to see.
“Harley.”
With a sigh, she caved and slapped the phone into his big palm.
He flicked it open. “I want you to call me if you have any problems.”
“There won’t be.” She watched him thumb through her contacts and began to panic. He was going to see…
“Humor me.” He narrowed his gaze on her screen. “You have Stone and Cam in here, but not me.”
She winced and tried to grab the phone back. Better he think that than find the truth. “I’ll add you.”
But instead of handing her the phone, he punched in his number himself, then went to save it, only as she knew it would, it came up as an existing number. “Um—” she started. “I…”
Too late. He was staring at the screen. “I am in here.”
Crap. She bit her lower lip. “Yeah.”
He cut his eyes to hers. “Under Sexy Jerk?”
She finally managed to snatch her phone back. “Should have seen it last month when you brought that leggy brunette chick into Moody’s for a game of pool,” she said with a defensive jerk of her shoulder.
TJ was looking at her, eyes unfocused as he tried to remember, because apparently he knew too many leggy brunettes. Then suddenly, he smiled. “She was a client.”
That hadn’t seemed to matter. What had mattered was that they’d clearly just been riding mountain bikes, and still in their gear, they’d been all hot and sweaty and laughing. “You were listed as Butthead, then.”
His lips twitched. “Good to know I’m moving up in your world.”
“I’ll change it again.”
He didn’t look excited about that. “Yes, but to what?”
Good question.
CHAPTER 14
TJ caught up with Stone and the rest of the Search and Rescue team at Red Rock. Stone handed TJ a bag of gear and TJ dropped his pack and crouched down to reload. “What’s the story?”
“Two teens.” Stone’s expression was grim. “Vanished at first light two days ago. They were camping with their parents and another family.”
TJ grunted in acknowledgement as he worked. “They take anything with them?”
“Daddy’s flask.”
Shit. “Okay, let’s get this the hell over with.” When he looked up from preparing his gear, he found Stone staring down at him. “What?”
“Get this the hell over with? You love this stuff. Plus you weren’t even on a job. What’s the matter, we pull you away from something good?”
Since Stone knew damn well what TJ had been doing, he didn’t bother to respond.
In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Stone crouched at TJ’s side and took a moment out to give his brother some shit. “Would it have anything to do with a certain research biologist we both know and love?”
When TJ didn’t answer that either, instead just continuing to switch his gear from one pack to the other, shoving things in without taking his usual care, Stone grinned. “Aw, man, look at you all flustered. You’re really in a hurry to get back.”
TJ surged to his feet and shouldered his pack. “Shut up.”
Stone barked out a low laugh. “No can do. Plan of action?”
“Securing your big, fat mouth.”
“You mean keeping me from telling Emma, Annie, Nick, and Cam that you’re so caught up with a certain hot sexy blonde that you didn’t organize your backpack with meticulous care?”
TJ flipped him the bird and walked away.
Stone easily caught up, a stupid grin on his ugly mug. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy this even more than I thought.”
“The rescue?”
“Watching you make a fool of yourself over a woman.”
“Never going to happen.”
“There you go, tempting karma again.”
Harley made it to the east ridge and back by early evening, with an hour or so of daylight to spare. She’d had no surprises along the way, for which she was grateful, and had been able to replace the bad battery pack on the camera.
It’d been another warm Indian summer day. When she got back to where she and TJ had spent the night before, it took her about one minute to decide she wanted to bathe in the creek. Stripping felt a little brazen, but she hadn’t seen or heard signs of another soul, so she decided to brave it.
When she was done, she sat at the cliff to watch the sun set, hoping to catch a glimpse of the coyotes. As dusk fell, she heard the yips and watched breathlessly as first one, then two, then three coyotes appeared in that last motionless beat between daylight and nightfall.
As they tipped their heads up and began their nightly howls, goose bumps rose on her skin at the eerie beauty. She took as many pictures as she could until the light was completely gone, and then suddenly the coyotes were gone, too, and she was utterly alone.
And that’s when it hit her, when she realized that she had an entire night to get through by herself. Time for a rip-roaring fire.
But to her frustration, she couldn’t get it to light, not even with one of TJ’s magic Fritos under the kindling. Chip number two didn’t work either, nor chip number twelve.
So she sat in the growing dark and ate them. She ate them all, and when they were gone, her stomach hurt.
And it was really dark.
What now? She’d never been the girl to call for help. The path of needing someone had always irritated her. It reminded her of her mom, much as she loved the woman. Harley liked to depend on no one but herself.
But that path seemed like a cold one tonight. She blew out a breath, pulled out her cell phone, scrolled through her contacts for the Sexy Jerk—she really needed to change that—and called him.
“Miss me already?” he asked in a quiet voice, as if maybe he wasn’t alone.
Which reminded her—he was in the middle of a rescue, and she was interrupting. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think—never mind.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, but I can’t get a chip to light. What am I doing wrong?”
“Try a pile of chips, not just one.”
She hesitated. “I ate them.”
She could almost hear his smile. “Did you eat the bag, too?” he asked.
She blew out a breath. “No.”
“Then light that. The oils are still in it.”
She kept the cell in the crook of her shoulder as she held a lit match to the bag and whoosh, she got fire. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
“You keep giving.” And giving. “I’m running up a tab here.”
“I told you, no tab. Ever.” His voice lowered. “So…about that missing me thing.”
“What about it?” she asked warily.
“What are you wearing?”
She rolled her eyes and hung up. She used his utility knife to open another can of soup, and set it near the flames to heat.
She hoped TJ had a spare knife on him.
Which was ridiculous. Of course he did. And why was she wasting energy worrying about him? She’d never met anyone better equipped to take care of himself. Crouching in front of the fire, she held out her chilled hands. The night wasn’t that cold, it was more nerves than anything else. Because while she’d planned for this trip, had wanted this trip, had even looked forward to this trip, the reality of being alone out there was suddenly a little daunting.
You were lucky you weren’t alone last night, she told herself. So get over it. She got into her sleeping bag fully dressed and ordered herself to sleep.
It took a very long time.
She had no idea how much time passed before she came suddenly wide awake, blinking like an owl. She could see nothing but complete blackness, no stars, no
fire, nothing. Panic licked at her and she struggled for a minute before realizing she was completely engulfed by her sleeping bag. Clearing her face gave her fresh air and some meager light from the stars. She peered at the cell phone she was still clutching in her hand.
Four a.m.
She’d done it, she’d made it, with no problems. Or almost, anyway. She smiled at that, then went still at the odd noise in the woods behind her. Not the harmless hum of an insect, or the hoot of a bird, but the snapping of a twig.
Crap.
She slowly crept out of the bag and pulled the mace and her flashlight from her backpack. Feeling far too out in the open, she backed into the woods on the opposite side of the clearing from where she’d heard the noise, and vanished into the dark.
Then, eyes straining, she circled around, hoping to catch sight of whoever was watching her. Her heart was pounding in her ears, her blood pumping through her veins as she shoved the flashlight in her waistband and pulled her phone from her pocket. She had her thumb on her contact list, ready to hit TJ’s number, when she saw a shadow walking through the woods about ten yards from her.
Coming right at her.
Little gray dots danced in her vision. She talked herself out of fainting and reviewed her options at the speed of light. Plan A—she could run. Run like hell. Problem with that was she didn’t have her pack, which meant she didn’t have the GPS or her compass, and in the dark she’d get lost for sure. Plan B—she could scream. That wasn’t going to work either, as she doubted the bears and coyotes were going to do anything to help her. Plan C—she could simply go up to him and demand to know why he’s spying on her. No. Not big enough balls for that.
Plan D—stun gun. Yeah. That was her best option, and she lifted it at the ready.
He was tall. Built. And…and he had familiar unruly hair, a stubbled jaw, and piercing green eyes. “TJ.”
He came to a stop before her and looked at the stun gun. “Huh. And here I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
“You are so not funny.” She pressed a hand to her thumping heart and shivered.
“Cold?”
“No.” She shivered again. Fear. Excitement. Maybe going to pass out. “You scared me half to death.”
He reached out very carefully and relieved her of the stun gun. “You’re shaking.”
“I know. Dammit.”
He nudged her up against a tree and pressed his body to hers. “It’s adrenaline. You need an outlet for it.”
“Gee, let me guess.” She meant to sound sarcastic, but it was hard to pull that off when she was trembling so hard she was stuttering almost to the point of being unintelligible.
TJ had his hands and forearms flat on the tree, bracketing her head. He was warm, and though his voice had indicated a certain level of frustration, exhaustion, and that bafflement she always seemed to cause in him, she didn’t feel threatened.
The opposite.
Which meant that it was official, she was crazy. Certifiably so. Because she wanted to curl into him, wanted to wrap herself up with him and lose herself. Which is exactly what would happen if she let her guard down. She had no doubt that a relationship with him, fleeting as it would be, had the major potential to shatter her heart into a thousand pieces.
But God, she wanted another TJ-induced orgasm.
Tipping up her head, she looked into his face. His jaw was dark with almost three days’ worth of stubble. His eyes weren’t giving much away other than hunger. Hunger for sleep? Hunger for food? Probably.
And hunger for her. No question, she thought, a little shaken at the deep, raw look of desire in his gaze.
Helplessly reacting to that, she shifted against his body, seeking to ease an ache from deep inside.
He let out a low sound. “If you’re not doing that on purpose, Harley, you need to stop.”
She had no idea what came over her, but she did it again, and felt him respond.
He was hard.
Everywhere.
She dropped her gaze to his mouth, and he groaned as he shifted his hands from the tree to her face, gently cupping it, stroking her jaw with his thumbs. While staring into her eyes, he angled her head to his liking and kissed her. It started out slow, but progressed to holy shit pretty quickly, and then without warning, he lifted his head and looked at her, all sleepy eyed. Before leaning in close again, pressing his mouth to the spot beneath her ear, then her throat as he fisted his hand in her hair to turn her face, exposing the other side of her neck.
She felt his open mouth there, and just the tip of his tongue touched her skin as his other hand slid across her stomach, slipping beneath her shirt.
“I’m starting to forget why this is a bad idea,” she said, her own hands making themselves at home on his chest, gliding them back and forth for the sheer delight of feeling the play of his muscles.
“Me, too,” he murmured, heading for her mouth again, but she pulled back a fraction, breathing hard.
“I think I have a handle on myself now,” she said, knowing that wasn’t quite true.
He merely redirected his mouth to her throat, nibbling wet, hot kisses that made her knees wobble. “I’ve got something else you could get a handle on.”
She choked out a laugh.
“Sorry.” He grimaced and pressed his forehead to hers. “I’m so fucking tired. I say really weak shit when I’m tired.”
She dropped her head to his chest and realized she was still touching him, beneath his shirt, making her no better than him.
He lightly skimmed a warm finger up her spine and made her shiver. “Let’s go back to your sleeping bag.”
She gave a full body shiver. “Oh, God.”
His voice sounded strained. “Is that oh, God please?”
Yes, said her body.
What happened to hanging tough? asked her brain.
Stupid, logical, careful brain. “Why were you spying on me?” she asked.
“I wasn’t. I didn’t see you by the fire and didn’t want to scare you into stunning me.”
“Where did you think I was?”
“Checking on your equipment, peeing in the woods, I don’t know. But I’d armed you myself, and was being cautious.” He grinned. “With good reason.” He pulled the stun gun from his pocket. “Except you didn’t have it on.”
“I was working up to that part.”
He laughed. “Glad I wasn’t a hungry bear.”
“You’re more dangerous,” she muttered, and pushing free, walked back to the fire in tune to his soft laugh. It sounded hollow, and she took a closer look at him. His eyes were lined with exhaustion, his mouth grim. “How did the search and rescue go?” she asked. “You find your missing people?”
“Kids. They are barely teenagers. They’d gone up the Red Rock cliff on a dare and one of them stepped off the cliff. It’s a sixty-foot drop.”
She gasped. “Are they okay?”
“Yeah. With the ground and slopes so wet and loose, the kid set
