Page 242 of Her Reluctant Hero
“What’s the next one?” There was a lack of curiosity in his tone.
“I don’t know yet.” She forced a smile. “Nothing can top this adventure.”
He stepped closer, cupped her head in his hand. “Give me a chance.”
To top the adventure, he meant. But the longing in his eyes told her last night had been something more to him too. Why was she surprised? He’d been so, um, focused.
God help her, she wanted to. Looking into his eyes, feeling his touch on her skin—when was the last time, other than last night, she’d done something without thinking of the cost? Could she risk starting now?
If he knew her, the real her, would he still want her?
“Gabe, we can’t—if I stay on your crew, we can’t—”
His eyes were triumphant with his certainty she would stay. “Why not?”
“I think what happened last night should stay here, not follow us back to camp,” she said. He set his bag on the dresser and leaned against the piece of furniture, arms over his chest, his posture deceptively casual.
“Why?”
“Well, the reason behind it. The sex.” She used the excuse of checking the bathroom for belongings as a reason to not look at him. “It’s an emotionally charged job—people react to the thrill and the danger.”
When she turned back, he was staring at her. “You think that’s all this was?” He gestured toward the bed she’d insisted upon making.
“No, of course not.” She shook her head vehemently. If that was all it had been, would she be so reluctant to push him away now? “But let’s face it. It probably wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t nearly been killed up there.”
Her throat squeezed. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the memory of running for her life or the idea she might not have spent the night in Gabe’s arms without living through it.
“You didn’t even like me when we started out. All I’m saying is, let’s not put too much energy into thinking about what might happen between us, because worrying about it may just be a waste of time and energy.”
“God, you sound like a guy.” Gabe pushed the words out of a tight throat. He hadn’t expected her to be the kind to throw up barriers after last night. He hadn’t expected her to be all clingy either, but, damn, this wait-and-see attitude was throwing him for a loop. Sure she was leaving, eventually, but wasn’t that all the more reason to seize the moment?
She was right, at least partly. He hadn’t liked her until he was forced to spend time with her, but now he admired the hell out of her.
There’d been entire stretches out there on the mountain where he’d forgotten she was a reporter altogether, even before she’d been in his bed. Dangerous behavior. He’d been burned before when he let his guard down. It was just so hard to keep it up around Peyton. His guard, that was.
What had happened here last night? It had been more than two people relieving stress, more than two people reveling in being alive. They’d both found something they hadn’t known they’d been looking for.
He hadn’t opened himself to a woman since Jen, hadn’t trusted his own judgment after she left him. Could he trust his own judgment now? Peyton’s reluctance made him more uneasy. Only on the fire line was he sure of his actions, his decisions.
He captured a strand of Peyton’s hair between his fingers, sensing a connection with this woman, a kind of pain beneath the surface.
He couldn’t be so off to think last night hadn’t been extraordinary for her as well. She’d erupted like she’d been holding something back for a while. Last night neither of them had held anything back.
So what was wrong?
Then it hit him. He wasn’t sure what had blinded him to it before, especially with his past experience.
“You got someone waiting for you?” he asked, as if it wouldn’t matter.
She whipped around in shock. “No! Do you think I would have—?” She gestured to the bed. “No! God, Gabe.”
“Why not?”
She spluttered, so he had to clarify.
“I mean, why don’t you have someone? You’re a pretty girl, and you’re smart, and—”
She broke away from him to stare out the window. Funny how she was damn quick to ask questions, but didn’t care to answer them. He was stewing about the double standard when she finally spoke.
