The spark in his eyes sent her blood humming, but she tamped it down, not wanting to go there. “Okay, so you’re not planning to kill me by bear. That only eliminates one possibility.”
His smile widened. “If I didn’t know you better, Counselor, I’d think you were nervous.”
Of course she was nervous. She had every reason to be. She’d lied to him, broken his heart, ruined his future. Any sane woman would be worried he could be plotting some kind of major payback, but when she was with him, she didn’t feel sane. She never had. The minute Mitch Mathews had stepped into her life, sane had flown straight out the window.
Regardless of everything she’d done, though… This was Mitch. He was as rugged and rough around the edges as any outdoorsman, but his heart was made of gold. And after the way he’d held her in that safe room, she knew he’d never hurt her, even if she had it coming.
Stomach tight, she pulled her hand away. Words hovered on her tongue, an explanation she knew he deserved, but she couldn’t get them out. Call it pride or self-preservation or even just the simple fact they’d agreed not to discuss anything that had happened, but…she didn’t want anything to ruin this moment. She’d never admit it to him, but he’d been right—she did need to get out of that house—and part of her was actually enjoying this, even if she was still worried about bear attacks and freezing to death and all other kinds of impending doom.
She frowned, because even to her, that reasoning sounded idiotic. “Better be careful, or your lips will freeze in that stupid Joker grin.”
He leaned in so close, his minty breath warming her cheek, taking her completely by surprise. “Better be careful, or I’ll find something physical to do to keep my lips nice and warm.”
Her gaze shot to his lips. To his plump, masculine lips she knew felt like heaven against her own. A deep, dark craving rolled through her core, sparking electricity in her belly, sending waves of heat all through her hips that radiated down between her legs and up to her breasts. Her limbs fell slack, her stomach caved in, and she sucked in a breath, watching as his smile widened into a sexy, Cheshire cat, I know exactly what I’m doing to you grin.
“Message received,” he whispered. Then, easing back, “Come on, sweetheart. You don’t want to miss this. I promise it’s going to be good.”
He headed up the path again. And as Simone tried to settle her thumping heart, the first snowflake flittered through the air in front of her.
Oh boy. She was in big trouble here. She had no doubt whatever he planned was going to be incredibly good. The question was, could she resist it? Because after today, she knew for sure that he was no longer pissed at her. And while part of her was relieved by that fact, another part was deathly afraid. Fighting her own desires was one thing. Fighting his when he turned on the Mitch Mathews I’m gonna make you mine charm? Something entirely different.
He’d already rounded the bend by the time she got her act in gear and started moving again. When she reached the corner, she caught sight of the Martis Peak fire lookout and slowed her feet. It was still a ways ahead, up the steepest part of their hike, but it was more than she’d expected.
The small square building with a pointed roof sat on top of a rock outcropping. A deck ran all the way around the lookout, and a flagpole, void of flag, stood tall against the darkening sky.
Mitch had already made it to the base of the rocks and was waving for her to catch up. Steeling her resolve, she lifted her foot so the stupid snowshoe wouldn’t get stuck. By the time she reached him, she was sweaty, shaking with nerves, and more than a little ticked she couldn’t seem to get her own stupid emotions under control.
“These may work, but they totally slow you down.” He knelt in front of her to unhook her showshoes. “No wonder it’s taking you forever. Your buckle snapped.”
She looked down at the latch he held in his hand and realized that was why it had felt like she was dragging the damn thing. “I told you the great outdoors and I don’t get along.”
He chuckled and unlatched her other snowshoe. “There’s never a better time to change that.” Rising to his feet, he grasped her gloved hand with his and tugged her up the stairs. “Almost there.”
If she hadn’t been worried about slipping on the ice-and-snow-covered steps, she’d have pulled her hand free. As it was, she bit back the protest on her lips and yanked the collar of her jacket up to block the bite of wind rushing over the deck of the small building. But when she saw the view, her mouth fell open, and all thought slipped from her mind.
“Oh…wow.”
“Too bad this weather’s moving in,” Mitch said at her back as she stepped up to the railing. “I bet the view this morning was pretty stellar.”
With the light snow falling and the thickening clouds, she couldn’t see much more than the outline of the lake below and the snowy mountains on the Nevada side; the California side was already blanketed in white, blocking the view. But it was enough. The lake was huge, the water a deep crystal blue she’d never seen before. Her gaze skipped over the north edge of the lake, and she searched for Kendrick’s house but couldn’t see it. On a clear day, she was sure you could see all the way to Heavenly Ski Resort in South Lake Tahoe.
“This side isn’t quite so bad.”
The sound of Mitch’s voice on the far side of the building drew her from the view. She followed the decking around the corner of the building. From here, the view stretched to Truckee and the white-capped mountains beyond. Several lakes dotted the landscape, and a long road stretched across a valley.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Truckee-Tahoe Airport. Kendrick usually flies in and out of there. Faster than driving up from Sacramento. Those mountains make up the Granite Chief Wilderness.”
“And that?” She pointed to another, smaller body of water to the northwest.
“Donner Lake.”
“We passed that on the way here, didn’t we?”
He glanced sideways at her. “You have good eyesight when you’re asleep.”
Oh yeah. She’d been pretending to sleep on the drive to Tahoe. She’d forgotten that. Her cheeks heated.
He tugged her to the east side of the lookout, his face like that of a kid in a candy store, eager to share what he’d already found. “On a good day, you can see almost all the way to Reno. You’ve got almost a three-hundred-sixty degree view from up here.” He frowned and looked up into the clouds, his cheeks as rosy as hers, his nose a soft shade of red. “I wish you could see it.”
She believed him. And she wished she could see it all too. Walking around the other side of the building again, she watched as the clouds slowly moved over Lake Tahoe, smothering it in a field of white. There was no one around. No sound except the wind curling through the trees. No one who could see her or care about what she was doing. And for a moment, she felt as small as one of the snowflakes floating in the air. The people who were chasing her, everything that had happened in the last few days… None of it seemed to matter when she was looking at a view as vast and awe-inspiring as this.
“Pretty cool, huh?”
He moved up behind her, and she sensed he was close, even though he didn’t touch her. “Yeah. Very cool. I can’t even see the bear that was following us.”
His laughter echoed on the breeze and slowly died off. “This is what I love most about hiking. Getting to the top and realizing…you’re a part of something really amazing. You might not be able to see it all the time. You might not be able to feel it. But it’s all around you. And it’s always there when you need a little reassurance that the world isn’t so bad after all.”