Page 88 of The Hacker
“I want you to love me.” She summoned up all her courage to say, “Because I love you.” It was hard to form those words because she’d been hiding them from herself, so she tried again. “I love you. A lot.”
He gave a short, triumphant laugh. “I wasn’t sure. You don’t give much away. But I hoped, especially after you told me about what happened to you. I thought that meant something.”
She combed her fingers through his soft hair. “It meant so much. I told you the ugly truth about me and you didn’t run away.”
“There is nothing ugly about you,” he said, feathering his fingertips over her face so that tendrils of delight rippled over her skin. “Something uglyhappenedto you. It’s a very important distinction.”
“You’re helping me to understand that.”
“Even more important is that you turned the ugliness into good. You taught other women how to defend themselves so they could avoid the horror you lived through. You saved Alice’s life. Hell, you savedourlives.”
“Wesaved our lives. It was mutual.” She pulled his head back down to kiss him. She couldn’t get over the wonder of being loved by this brilliant man who believed she was just as brilliant as he was, in her own way. And now even she was beginning to believe it.
When they finally came up for air, Leland stroked his hand down her back to squeeze her butt. “You can’t tell a man you love him and then refuse to make love with him.”
“But your arm!”
“Exactly! Shouldn’t getting shot while saving your life earn me some significant gratitude?” He raised his eyebrows while giving her a hot smile.
“Okay, but if you bleed to death, don’t blame me.” She ran her palms down his chest to untie the cord of his sweatpants.
He slipped his hands up under her shirt. “At least I’ll die a happy man.”
Epilogue
Six months later
“Hard forward!” their guide, Boof, shouted. “Dig in! This one’s gnarly!”
Leland wedged his feet more firmly under the raft’s side and shoved his paddle deep into the madly frothing water before hauling it back. The bow of the craft rose up as it hit the standing wave and then plunged down the other side like a roller coaster.
“Wahoo!” Tully yelled as frigid water crashed over them. The other side of the raft rode up over a rock so that Derek was tilted upward and nearly toppled down on top of Leland, but then the boat righted itself and settled into surfing the cascading waves.
“Back right!” Boof yelled.
Leland back paddled with all his strength to keep the boat going straight as they headed for a drop. When they hit the lip, they seemed to hang in the air before the raft smashed down into the crazed waves tossing foam at the foot of the falls.
Somehow they got through without flipping or without anyone going overboard.
“Take a break and give me a high paddle,” Boof said. “You just made it through Knock Your Socks Off rapids and over Ballistic Falls.”
Leland laughed at the dramatic names and raised his paddle to tap it against those of his fellow rafters.
“That was a hell of a ride.” Derek’s voice held the same exhilaration sparking through Leland.
“We can do it again,” Boof offered. “There’s a takeout not far from here and we could portage back up.”
Tully surprised Leland by saying, “Nope, let’s keep going.”
“What’s with that, Gibson?” Leland asked. “You’re usually all about the thrill ride.”
“I’m gettin’ hungry,” Tully said from the bow. “Time to get to camp and have me some venison.”
“Okay, guys, this is a calm stretch. I’ll steer, you rest,” Boof said.
Leland pulled his feet out from under the raft edges and shifted to sit on the inflated thwart that crossed the rubber craft, his paddle resting across his knees. He scanned the riverbanks, admiring the wild forest rising from their rocky soil. He blinked in the slanting late afternoon light that glinted off the water carrying them swiftly toward their camp. His gaze pulled in to rest on the men with him, their scruffy but so-familiar faces framed by helmets and reflecting the same sense of peace and wonder he felt. “I never thought I’d say this, but I’m almost sorry it’s our last day on the river.” Except that Dawn’s absence was a continual ache in his chest.
“Ha!” Tully said. “Told you so!”
