Page 65 of Ice To Meet You

Like a lumberjack climbing a tree, he shinnied his way back to me. “Do you think you can do the same thing?”

I tried, I honestly did, but my trainers were no match for a rain-lubricated zipline. My feet slipped like Bambi skating on ice. “I can't. I'm so sorry. I’m hopeless.”

Matteo pulled closer to me; his dark eyes laser-focused on mine. “You’re not hopeless. What I’m asking you to do isn’t easy.”

“Can’t I just stay up here until morning?”

He sent me an apologetic smile. “No. I can’t leave you.” He ran his eyes over my now saturated sweatshirt. “If I left you here, you’d turn into a prune. Besides, I can’t move if you don’t, and I predict at least one of us will need to take a pee before dawn. I’d rather not test the theory.”

My heart lurched. He had a point. I pulled in a breath. “But how do you propose we get to the platform?”

“Teamwork. There’s a way, but it might not be on your wish list.”

A shiver ran over me and I wasn’t sure it was from the rain. “Sorry?”

“I’m going to have to get close.”

I swallowed. Just how close was he talking? But as a flash of lightning lit up the forest, I didn’t care if he super glued himself to me, if he got me down safe.

I nodded and within seconds, Matteo pulled himself against me, wrapping his legs around my hips.

At his sudden proximity, I gasped.

“Okay. Don’t move,” he said. “We’re going to pull ourselves in, but we need to work as a team.”

He reached around my body, bringing his broad chest against my back and his hands to the wire in front of me. “Okay, pull.”

I reached up and did as he asked. I thought we'd be too heavy to shift, but slowly, slowly, our harnesses inched together. Only a little, but with each tug, we advanced closer to the platform.

Matteo’s mouth was at my ear, his hot breath against my skin, whispering words of encouragement. At least I thought that’s what they were. My conversational Italian was still a little rusty.

The journey was uphill, cold, wet, and completed at a glacial pace. With each movement, the searing pain in my buttock screamed loud.

Slowly, we drew closer to our goal. My thighs ached, my harness chafed, and my dignity was thoroughly in tatters, but finally, we reached solid ground. Or a solid tree. Or a solid platform … it didn’t matter. All I knew was I wouldn’t die today.

“Go!” Matteo shouted in my ear, his voice cutting through the hammering of the rain. I looked back to check he meant up to the platform, and he chose that time to send me the most amazing grin.

My chest pulsed, and not just from effort. This man had practically hauled the two of us along a zipline in icy rain. Evendrenched to the skin with dark hair plastered against his face, his beauty took my breath away.

I returned the grin. With a second wind I didn’t know I possessed; I pulled myself up onto the wooden platform attached to the tree. With slippery gloves, I clipped myself onto the safety line.

My effort sent Matteo backwards again, but after a few seconds and some loud grunts, he too, pulled himself onto the platform.

The sight of him standing there, looking every inch my saviour, was too much. Overwhelmed and beyond caring, I threw caution to the wind, flinging my arms around him, holding on as though letting go might shatter me completely.

Within a heartbeat, he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. He buried his head into my neck, his warm breath against my skin.

“It’s okay. You made it,” he whispered in my ear.

I didn’t care if I’d made it, invented it or registered the patent. All I could focus on was the solid wood beneath my feet and the solid chest I pressed against. I inhaled his scent—pine and apple—and I smiled. Being close to Matteo was the only sanctuary I needed.

As a flash of lightning ripped through the air. I pulled away slightly, my teeth chattering like a child’s clockwork toy.

“You’re freezing,” he murmured, tugging off his remaining glove and running his hands down my arms. Stepping back, he removed his helmet, then reached for mine, undoing the strap. As he lifted it off, his hands cradled my face, and he brushed a stray hair from my cheek. “Are you okay?” he asked softly, his gaze searching mine.

I nodded. What could I say? That my heart was bursting with pent-up need. That my crush on him had grown and transformed into a full-blown obsession. He was the last thing I thought of at night. The one person I looked forward to seeingin the morning. I’d even considered opening the gallery over the weekends so I could spend every day with him.

“I’m fine,” I lied. “But thank you for looking after me.”

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