Simone reached him, her cheeks rosy, her chest rising and falling beneath the thick jacket, her breath making tiny wisps of steam all around her. “You didn’t bother to mention this hike was uphill the entire way.”
Before he could stop himself, he tugged the white knit cap farther over her ears so they didn’t get cold. She had no idea how cute she looked right now—his own personal Stay Puft Marshmallow girl. “Think of it this way, it’ll be downhill the entire trip back.”
Her frown told him she was less than impressed. “This looks like it could be a road.”
“It is in the summer.” Reluctantly, he let go of her and moved back up the path, slowing his pace so she could keep up with him. “The gate where we parked is usually open when the weather’s good.”
“You mean we could have driven all the way up here and missed out on all this fun?”
He laughed. She was such a city girl. Usually that was a major turn-off for him, but every single thing about her turned him on. It always had.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she muttered. “I successfully managed avoiding the outdoors with you all these months, and the first time I cave, it’s in the middle of winter, when I’m freezing my ass off. Yeah, this makes sense.” Louder, she said, “Speaking of the weather. Is it just me or does that look like trouble?”
The clouds moving up from the southwest looked like trouble to Mitch too, though “trouble” was subjective depending on one’s interpretation. He’d glanced at the weather report before they’d left. He knew that the storm moving in wasn’t going to be a big one. The worst that could happen was they’d get stuck out here for a night, if that.
The thought of being stuck with Simone pinged around in his brain and heated his blood. Being locked in Kendrick’s giant house together was one thing. Being trapped alone together in the great outdoors where they’d have to huddle together to stay warm took on a completely different meaning.
“Mitch?”
Her voice brought him around. He glanced her way and realized she was ten feet in front of him on the path, watching him carefully. “Yeah?”
“Should we go back?”
Go back and walk on eggshells around each other, or stay here and see where it went. He glanced from her worried eyes to her gorgeous lips. Her cold, pink, perfect lips he wanted to kiss now more than yesterday.
“We’re fine.” He moved toward her, his stomach tightening with every step, his awareness of her inching up the closer he drew. “It’s not much farther.”
He stopped in front of her. Even with the elevation and her standing uphill, he was still taller than her. Her chin lifted, and her chocolate eyes narrowed in a way he’d seen her do in the courtroom when a witness gave an answer she knew was false. “Why do I get the feeling you’re up to something?”
Because she was as keen as a bloodhound, and because she knew him. Really well. But tonight he wanted her to know him a whole lot better.
One side of his mouth curled in a smirk. He stepped around her, careful not to touch her. There’d be time for that later. Hopefully. “Now what could I possibly be up to out here in the middle of the wilderness?”
“You tell me,” she said. Then, in a whisper: “Um, Mitch?”
He stopped and turned back. She wasn’t looking at him. She was staring at something off in the trees. “What now?”
“Please tell me that isn’t what I think it is.”
His gaze slid past her and into the trees, to the large four-legged creature ambling parallel to them at least a hundred yards away.
Slowly, he made his way back down to her. “Don’t make any loud noises.”
“Oh. My. God,” she whispered.
“Your chances of being attacked by a bear are less than your chances of being hit by lightning,” he told her, trying to diffuse her anxiety. She’d gone rigid next to him, her eyes wide with fear. Grasping her gloved hand in his, he slowly tugged her up the path. “He hasn’t looked our way, which is a good thing. Come on.”
She followed but kept glancing over her shoulder toward the bear, which was now moving away from them. “Have I ever mentioned I hate the great outdoors?”
He chuckled.
“There’s no way I’m going back down there now.”
He smiled, loving the way she gripped his hand tightly in his, loving the way she was now plastered to his side. “I may need to send that bear a fish basket to say thanks.”
She frowned, a sexy little pout that turned her lips and made him want to kiss them all over again. “The view up there better be worth it.”
It probably wouldn’t be—at least to her—but finding a way to fix things between them? Yeah, that was totally worth whatever the cost.
Simone paused along the trail to catch her breath.
The air was a lot thinner than she was used to, and it seemed to take twice as much energy to go half the distance as it did at sea level. As she braced her hands on her knees, she drew in large breaths, hoping to ease that low burn in her lungs while she turned to look down the path again.
Still no sign of that bear. A bear, for God’s sake. Mitch owed her. Owed her big-time agreeing to this crazy activity. She didn’t even like bears in zoos.
“We’re almost there, sweetheart. Don’t give up now.”
Lifting her head, she glared up the trail toward Mitch, who stood near the trunk of a pine tree, seemingly unfazed by the elevation or the fact they could have been lunch. Granted, it wasn’t a difficult hike, and that bear hadn’t even looked their way or tried to follow them. But still… It was a bear!
She glanced up at the sky again. It was definitely growing grayer, the air temperature dropping. She could barely feel her nose anymore. They’d gotten a later start than she’d thought, mostly because Ford had insisted on finding all the snow gear for them, and she wasn’t sure of the time, but it was definitely heading toward late afternoon. Going back down would probably be a lot faster than coming up, but there was no way she was going down until that bear had plenty of time to disappear.
She looked back at Mitch, who didn’t seem the least concerned about anything other than his precious hike. Her eyes narrowed. He was definitely up to something. The red parka he was wearing brought out a ginger hue in his beard she hadn’t noticed before, but it was the sparkle in his green eyes and that lopsided grin accentuating his dimple that made her suspicious. And revved her pulse.
Slowly, she made her way up to where he stood waiting for her. When he handed her the water bottle, she took it and downed a generous sip. “How far is ‘almost there’?”
“Two hundred yards, if that. It’s just up around that bend.”
Two football-field lengths didn’t seem that bad. He pointed up the hill, and Simone looked past him at the snow covering the ground, then to the cloud behind her, which seemed a whole lot closer than it had only moments before. “We’re not going to freeze to death out here, are we?” She faced him again. “I know you’ve been mad at me, but I’m starting to worry you dragged me all the way up here to make my death look like a random accident. Hypothermia, starvation, being lunch for some giant beast…. The possibilities are growing by the minute.”
Mitch laughed, a throaty, sexy sound, and took the water bottle back from her. His hand grazed hers in the process, and for a fleeting moment, she wished neither of them had been wearing gloves.
Which was just asinine. She knew better than to go there with him. And as much as she’d grumbled about this hike, it had at least given her something to do rather than daydream about him all day.
His brow lifted beneath the rim of his cap. “The only kind of bears around here are black bears, and they’re more scared of us than we are of them. Trust me. No beast is going to eat you. At least not the bear kind.”