Page 26 of Suddenly Tempted
Her lips lifted in a smile that defrosted the panic at the thought that he scared her.
“You seem to have forgotten quite quickly how I protected you in the helicopter crash.”
Darcy scoffed, adjusting the scarf around her neck to cover her chin and lips too. Devlin was sad not to be able to watch them moving anymore.
“Protecting the controls, weren’t you?” she asked, eyes glinting.
The mountain path narrowed again, a steep drop off giving way to the tips of snow-covered trees. Devlin took the lead, slowly navigating the terrain, each step being tested before he put his weight through his feet. He could feel sweat trickling down his neck by the time they got to a solid, wide section of snow again. And he was pleased to feel Darcy catch up and walk alongside him.
“Do you know what animals we’re most likely to see here?” he asked, noticing how pale she’d gone and the way her was brow knitted between her soft eyes.
She shook her head.
“Hares.”
“Really?” She gazed up at him. “Hares as in giant rabbits? Up here?”
“The very same,” he said. “They’re mountain hares, and they live up here in the snowy climes. They change colour throughout the year. White in winter, brown in the summer. I’d definitely throw myself in front of you if one of those charged at us.”
Darcy laughed, the sound like melting ice.
“I’d be elbowing you out of the way if you did. I love rabbits,” she said.
“Hares.”
“Whatever,” she replied, grinning. “I always wanted a pet rabbit growing up. Used to be on my birthday and Christmas list every single year. And every year I was disappointed. Mum said we couldn’t afford to keep a pet because they always get broken and vets bills are higher than our medical bills. We didn’t have insurance. So if we see a snowy hare up here, I’m grabbing it and taking it home with me. I’ll keep it in the reception desk at work if I have to.”
Devlin didn’t doubt for a second that Darcy would race after a hare if she saw one. He was enjoying hearing about her life. Enjoying being in the quieter moments of their conversation and slowly realising that not everything had to be fireworks and raise blood pressure in order to be meaningful.
Darcy was teaching him a lot about himself and he wanted to show her he was learning.
Chapter 14
DARCY
The higher they climbed, the harder it was to breathe.
Darcy had been expecting this. Although she’d never been climbing before in her life, she’d had to attend a health and safety seminar when she’d started working at the resort. Abigail Lamb, the boss, had walked her through all the advice she needed to pass on to guests — things like which areas of the mountains were out of bounds, the warning signs of avalanches, and how to avoid frostbite. There had been a whole section on altitude sickness — when there simply wasn’t enough oxygen in the air to keep your body working. She didn’t remember the ins and outs of it, but she did remember that one of the symptoms was a terrible headache.
A terrible headache like the one she was getting now.
She rubbed her temples, stopping for a moment and closing her eyes. The headache was probably just because of the cold, and because of the blindingly bright light. They’d been walking for nearly two hours now and the sun was above the peaks, its light bouncing off the snow in every direction. It felt like being in a tanning booth, but with your eyes open.
“You all right?” Devlin asked. She squinted at him, seeing that he’d come to a stop too. He dropped the case, stretching his good arm.
“Just a headache,” she said. “Probably nothing.”
A look of concern crossed his features, but only for a moment. He looked down the slope, then craned his neck up at the mountain that towered over them.
“How high are we?” she asked.
“The ranger station’s at about 9,000 feet,” he said. “I’m guessing we’re over 8,000 now. Are you feeling sick? Tired? Dizzy?”
Darcy nodded.
“Tired, sure,” she answered. “But that might have something to do with, you know, crashing in a helicopter and sleeping in a cabin. Dizzy, a little, but only from exhaustion. And I’m more hungry than sick.”
She was, although she was so hungry it was making her feel nauseous. Her stomach felt like an empty bag, and the sound of it growling had been the loudest thing on the mountainside besides than their crunching footsteps.
