Page 31 of Risk It All
Having his hands on her legs, even for such a practical purpose, made her heat up in a way that had nothing to do with sleeve-boots. Every touch from him instilled such a sense of comfort that she wondered how she’d ever thought him capable of cold-blooded murder. “No.” Her voice came out low and husky enough to make her cheeks heat up.
Either he didn’t notice her face turning red or he was content to ignore it as he added a second zip tie right below her knee, checking wordlessly with her once he’d tightened it. By the time he’d secured the second sleeve, she was feeling very warm, and her heart was beating in double time.
She shook off her reaction as he moved away, telling herself firmly that it was neither the right time nor the right place nor the right man to get silly about. To distract herself, she took a few practice steps. Although her improvised boots didn’t have a hard sole to protect her from sharp rocks, they provided a layer of warmth and cushion her socks didn’t offer. Also, they were much more waterproof than fuzzy fleece.
“These are great. Thank you.”
Kavenski just dipped his chin slightly in acknowledgment before turning his gaze to the area around them. Cara felt a sudden surge of gratitude.
“Thank you for coming to get me,” she continued, feeling a little awkward when his silent attention returned to her. “From the kidnappers. I don’t really mean anything to you, so you could’ve just run, and then they would’ve killed me, so I appreciate the rescue.”
He studied her for long enough that she was having a hard time not shifting uncomfortably under that steady stare. “It wasn’t an option.”
“What wasn’t?”
“Running. Let’s go.” He started off, and she followed, wanting to question him more but too busy keeping up while getting used to the strange feeling of her sleeve-boots. The footing was uncertain, with loose pieces of shale to slip on and protruding rocks to trip over, so she kept her focus on their path, darting occasional glances at Kavenski’s back to make sure she wasn’t falling too far behind.
He must’ve been pacing himself to her speed, because he was always right in front of her when she looked up, and she knew he could move faster than her with his longer legs and regular boots. She wondered if he knew where he was going or if he was making an educated guess. Knowing Kavenski, he had a full topographical map of the mountains in that robot brain of his.
She snorted a laugh, and he glanced over his shoulder at her, his eyebrows drawn together in either question or condemnation. “Sorry. Just amusing myself back here.”
After he turned back around, she gave a small hop to get over a medium-size rock in her way. As she landed, her sweatshirt swung, and something hard in the front pocket bumped against her hip.
“Oh!” she said as realization hit her. Reaching into the pocket, she pulled out Kavenski’s phone. He’d turned around at her first exclamation, and she held the cell out to show him. “I forgot I had it on me. I can’t believe it didn’t fall out in all the commotion.”Commotiondidn’t seem like the right word for their terrifying, life-threatening experience, but it made her feel strangely better to reduce the event to something no more scary than a hectic day at home. Pressing the button to turn on the phone, she held her breath, watching the screen intently as she waited for it to light up. There were several cracks zigzagging across the front, but she was still hopeful. After all, her twin was always cracking the screens of her phones, and they continued to work…well, until Charlie dropped them in the toilet or ran over them with a car or something.
When the screen stayed dark, Cara’s shoulders drooped with disappointment.
“Nothing.” She offered the dead phone to Kavenski, who glanced at it before slipping it into one of his coat—well, vest—pockets. She appreciated that he hadn’t tried to turn it on himself, but just trusted that she hadn’t been able to make it work. When he turned and started walking again, she fell in behind him with a silent sigh. A working phone wouldn’t have done much good for them out here anyway. Even if they managed to miraculously get a signal, it wasn’t as though they could call for a Lyft.
The slope they were walking on grew steeper, and Cara was forced to concentrate all of her attention on keeping her footing. The material of her makeshift boots wasn’t too slick, and the lack of soles allowed her to grip with her feet to help keep her on the path, but she would’ve given quite a lot for a pair of hiking boots, especially when the sharper small stones dug into her feet.
Kavenski kept looking back more and more to check on her, and she wondered if that was because of the treacherous footing or because she was muttering invectives under her breath as she did her best to keep up without sliding down the slope.
A cluster of loose shale sent one of her feet slipping down the incline, almost making her lose her balance. Kavenski whipped around as the small rocks rained down the stone slope, but she caught herself before she tipped over.
“I’m okay,” she said, making sure her next steps were secure as she caught up to him. She didn’t want to fall, but sheespeciallydidn’t want to topple over while Kavenski was watching. For some unexplainable reason, she wanted him to think she was competent and brave, rather than a damsel in distress. He’d done the bulk of the rescuing so far, but she wanted to do her part to ensure their escape.
Despite her assurance, he was still eyeing her as if she was about to fall off the cliff at any moment. When she came to a stop next to him, he finally looked away. Cara glanced up, too, realizing that she’d been so focused on not dying in the car and then having to pay close attention to where she was putting her feet that she hadn’t really looked at what was around them.
Her breath caught as she took in the view. It felt like being in a sporting goods commercial. The exposed rock that they were crossing looked over an entire panorama of mountain peaks, sloping down to a thick skirt of evergreens and blaze-yellow aspen trees before finally reaching the winding river at the base of the valley. The air was thin and chilled, but it felt clean, and the sun shone merrily down on the gorgeous view. Cara squinted at the clear blue sky, feeling a bit aggrieved. It was much too nice a day, considering all of their near-death experiences.
“What’s wrong?” Kavenski asked. His focus had returned to her while she’d been taking in the view.
“Nothing important,” she said, feeling a bit sheepish. “It’s beautiful out here, but I wish it were a planned hiking trip, and not me in pajamas with sleeves on my feet.”
His grunt sounded like he agreed with that sentiment. “It’s just going to get steeper if we continue across here. We’re going to head for those trees, instead.” He pointed to where the scattered evergreens first cropped up, appearing to be rooted in sheer rock. Cara could appreciate that tenacious clinging to life after the day they’d had. The slope seemed too steep to walk straight down, though.
As if he could read her thoughts, he added, “We’ll switchback down.”
It was still intimidating, but Cara gestured for him to lead the way. He seemed comfortable in the mountains, while she’d only taken a hike or two on groomed trails. Most of her wilderness time had been spent in the fairly flat national forest bordering their backyard, so she was willing to cede control to the more experienced of their twosome. She followed his path exactly as he wove back and forth, creating a zigzagging line that would eventually lead them down the slope.
Focusing on her footing again, she lost track of how many steps they’d taken and how many turns they’d made. When every glance at the trees just showed a frustrating lack of progress, she kept her gaze trained on the rock in front of her feet, with only occasional checks to make sure that Kavenski was still right in front of her.
He was another distraction. Her gaze would catch on his tall, well-built figure and get stuck there, mesmerized by the play of muscles under his cargo pants. It wouldn’t be until her foot landed on a particularly sharp pebble or she stubbed her toe on an outcropping that she would realize that she was staring again. She’d never been so fascinated by a man before, and it was disconcerting, especially since she should’ve been completely focused on their terrifying situation. After priding herself on relying on logic and reason, even in relationships, it was uncomfortable to realize that she was just as susceptible to losing her mind over a tight pair of buns as the next person.
Not the time or the place for crushing on someone, Cara told herself.And definitely notthissomeone.
She’d been concentrating so hard on not looking at the trees—or Kavenski’s muscled bits—that the brush of pine needles against her shoulder took her by surprise. They’d made it to the trees without falling to their deaths, so Cara took that as yet another win.
