Barely Breathing (Colorado High Country #1)

by Pamela Clare

  Jesse laughed. “We got the shit beat out of us.”

  Austin and Eric were laughing, too.

  “You got into a fight?” Lexi gaped at them.

  Megs rolled her eyes. “God save me from climbers’ egos.”

  Mitch got to his feet, a big smile on his face. “How was Crack of Fear?”

  “Brutal and amazing,” said Eric. “But, hey, don’t sign me up for that shit again anytime soon.”

  It took a moment for all of this to sink in.

  Lexi glared at Austin. “This is all from climbing?”

  “Offwidth climbing,” the three men said together.

  Whatever that meant.

  “We’re heading to Knockers for a brew and some grind and wanted to see if anyone wanted to join us,” Jesse said.

  Eric chuckled. “What Moretti really wants is an audience so he can brag about what a badass lead offwidth climber he is.”

  “Fuck you, Hawke.”

  “Not today, buddy.”

  Megs sat at the table, picked up a pen. “Ahearn and I need to finish this inventory of the first-aid kits, but we’ll be over shortly.”

  Austin caught Lexi, drew her close. “You coming?”

  “I need to wrap up what I was doing first.”

  He kissed her. “We’ll see you in a bit then.”

  “Come on, man. I’m starving.” Eric caught Lexi’s gaze, smiled. “Hey, Lexi.”

  Lexi felt herself blush to the roots of her hair. She went back to the desk, hoping that no one had seen. But Megs was watching her.

  “Before those three smelly brutes walked in, you were saying…”

  Lexi had to think. “Oh. Yeah. There is something you can do for me, if you want. I mean, you don’t have to. Don’t feel obligated to—”

  “Just come out with it.”

  “Teach me to climb? I mean, I know I can’t become an expert like you are. Just teach me what you can. I just want to surprise Austin.”

  Megs smiled. “You got it.”

  Chapter 16

  Austin took the last swig of his jalapeño stout, listening while Lexi and Winona talked about Lexi’s new favorite subject: wildlife rehabilitation. As much fun as she seemed to be having, he could tell something was bothering her, worry lurking behind those green eyes and hiding behind her smile. He hadn’t had a chance to ask her yet, not with all of his friends crowded around them.

  Not that he wasn’t preoccupied himself. He’d spent the past hour or so doing his best to come to grips with his feelings. He loved her, and there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it. Oh, sure, he could quit seeing her or quit sleeping with her, but he wasn’t that smart. He would have the rest of his life to miss her. He might as well enjoy what they had—whatever it was—for as long as it lasted.

  Or maybe that was the beer talking.

  They’d long since demolished their dinner, Team members scattered across the pub from the dance floor to the pool tables to the climbing wall. Up on stage, Davey Jane, an all-female Denver newgrass band, was laying down a beat that was equal parts bluegrass, Cajun, and rock.

  “Does leave their fawns for hours at a time, so most of the time when people come to me with a fawn, it isn’t truly orphaned,” Winona was saying. “But Bear knows what he’s doing. He’s lived up there with the animals all his life.”

  “Hey, speaking of Bear, has anyone seen him?” Rain came up behind Austin and set another iced tea on the table in front of Lexi.

  Winona shook her head. “He usually preaches at the roundabout not far from the sanctuary, but I haven’t seen him there for a few days.”

  “We saw him near Moose Lake a couple of days ago,” Lexi said.

  Austin wasn’t worried. “If I had a dollar for every time Bear disappeared and the entire town decided he must be dead, I’d be able to pay the Team’s bar tab. You never know with Bear.”

  Rain laughed. “I guess he’ll come around when he gets lonely—or hungry.”

  Sasha leaned across the table, shouting so Winona could hear her. “Hey, Win, can you be my belay slave for a little while? Nicole isn’t here, and I want to show those two smelly rock jocks how to climb like a girl.”

  Over on the wall, Herrera failed to stick a dyno and fell. Moretti, on belay, caught him and let him hang.

  “Sure.” Winona got to her feet. “Thanks for your help today, Lexi.”

  “Move over, boys!” Sasha called out in challenge.

  For the first time since this morning, Austin and Lexi were more or less alone. “How did it go with Kendra?”

  Her face crumpled into an expression of misery. “I blew up at her.”

  So that’s what was bothering her.

  Austin took her hand in his. “Knowing Kendra, she probably deserved it.”

  “Oh, she definitely deserved it.” Lexi gave him the short version of the story. “I got up and walked out with my meal. I made her pay for herself, even though I’d agreed it would be my treat.”

  “You shouldn’t feel guilty for standing up for yourself.”

  “I don’t. It’s just…” She took a sip of tea, looked down at the table. “What if I just ruined any chance my father had with her?”

  “The two of them made a big mess of things before you got involved.”

  “Yeah. I guess so.” She lifted her gaze to his. “Dance with me?”

  “You want to dance with a sweaty, scraped-up climber?”

  “You bet.” She smiled, got to her feet, held out her hand.

  If she had asked him to go with her straight into hellfire, he’d have done it.

  He stood, took her hand, led her onto the dance floor. “Do you remember your two-step and country swing, or has city life ruined you?”

  She laughed, rested her hand on his hip. “Just try me.”

  Austin led her around the dance floor, mixing two-step with country swing. Lexi didn’t miss a thing. She was easy to lead, responding to his every cue, the body connection between them every bit as powerful on the dance floor as it was in bed. Austin wasn’t even conscious of leading her. He lost himself in the moment—the rhythm of the music, the smile on her face, the excited flush in her cheeks. He ended the song with a dip, her head arched back, his lips almost touching her pulse.

  The next song was slow and romantic, giving Austin an excuse to hold her close. She rested her head against his chest, the scent of her shampoo teasing him, the feel of her sweet in his arms. He ran his hand slowly down her spine, her touch burning him through his T-shirt. He found himself wishing the two of them were alone.

  She stopped moving, whispered. “Let’s go home.”

  “Honey, you read my mind.”

  It was a ten-minute drive from Knockers to Austin’s place, but it felt like an eternity to Lexi. “I can’t wait. Can’t we just park?”

  “Aren’t you the impatient one?” He reached over to take her hand, heat arcing between them at that simple touch. “You think having to call Hawke was embarrassing, try being interrupted by cops.”

  Lexi knew most of Scarlet’s police force. “Yeah, no. Let’s not do that.”

  “Besides, I really need a shower. Ball sweat just isn’t sexy.”

  Okay, so he had a point. Still, there was an upside to this. “Good. I’ll help.”

  He laughed again. “You shouldn’t distract me while I’m driving.”

  “I used to distract you. Do you remember?” She’d spent a lot of time sitting right next to him on the bench seat of his old pick up, doing naughty things to him that just weren’t possible in modern vehicles with center consoles.

  “Mmm, hell, yes.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “It’s a wonder we’re still alive.”

  When they got to his house, Austin let Mack out and fed him, while Lexi brushed her teeth, got the freshly laundered sheets out of the dryer, and made the bed. By the time she was naked, Austin was on his way up the stairs, Mack following behind him.

  “Sit, Mack. Stay. Good boy.” Austin stopped at the foot of the bed,
took off his T-shirt, his gaze on her.

  Lexi was halfway to him, ready to kiss his brains out. “Oh, God!”

  She stopped, stared.

  He laughed. “That bad?”

  He had a deep abrasion on his right shoulder and dark bruise on his inner arm next to his bicep. With his scratched hands, bloody knuckles, his right elbow, and his face, he really did look like he’d gotten into a fight—or been in a wreck.

  She held out her hand. “Come.”

  She got a clean washcloth, then started the shower, tested the water, and stepped under the spray, moving aside to make room for him.

  He finished undressing and followed her into the shower, breath hissing from beneath clenched teeth when warm water hit his skin. “Shit. That stings.”

  “I bet it does.” She soaped up the washcloth and washed his abrasions one by one, careful not to hurt him, water rinsing away soap, blood, and dirt. “You know, rather than climbing, you could just jump in front of a car or pick a fight with a bear or something.”

  He chuckled. “Less effort and same results—is that what you’re saying?”

  His arm went around her waist, and he drew her against him, silencing whatever she’d been about to say with a kiss, his cock hard against her belly.

  “Stop. You’re hurt.”

  He didn’t stop, but yanked the washcloth from her hands and backed her against the wall, tiles cold against her skin, his body shielding her from the spray. “Those are just scratches.”

  “Deep scratches.” She slid her hands over the muscles of his arms, savoring the hard feel of him.

  “Mmm… You said ‘deep.’” He cupped one of her breasts, tugged at the wet nipple with callused fingers, his lips doing wicked things to hers.

  Heat flared to life in her belly.

  But it only got better.

  The hand that had teased her breast slid down the wet skin of her belly to cup her, fingers that had the strength to hold his body weight gentle as they explored her.

  “Austin.” Lexi wrapped one leg around his waist, making room for him.

  He made the most of it, stroking her, caressing her, penetrating her until she was ready to scream. Then he took hold of himself and guided his cock inside her.

  Oh, sweet Jesus!

  She opened her eyes, found herself looking into his, the tenderness she saw there putting an ache in her chest.

  How was she ever going to live without him?

  “Lexi, I…” He brushed his thumb over her cheek but didn’t finish, instead kissing her deep and slow, his hips beginning to move.

  There was nothing in the world like the sweet sensation of his cock thrusting into her, each stroke golden. Wet skin on skin. Steam and pheromone. The sound of her own moans. The heat inside her exploded, bliss raining down on her as he, too, fell over that sweet edge and joined her in paradise.

  A moment or so later, she noticed a rhythmic thumping sound that wasn’t her heartbeat or their bodies rocking against the tiles.

  Mack.

  The puppy sat outside the shower, tail wagging against the floor.

  Austin looked over his shoulder. “What part of ‘stay’ do you not understand?”

  Austin indulged Lexi afterward, allowing her to go crazy with the adhesive bandages and antibiotic ointment. Truth be told, he was touched. She cared about him. He knew she did. He’d seen it in her eyes in the shower—a longing as deep as his own.

  “Are you finished, Ms. Nightingale?”

  Still naked, she fussed with the large bandage on his elbow, trying to make it stick. “Do you want an Advil or something?”

  He shut the first-aid kit, caught her around the waist, kissed a bare breast. “Quit worrying about me. I’m fine. Come to bed.”

  They hadn’t been asleep for long when Austin’s pager went off.

  THREE STRANDED CLIMBERS, FIRST FLATIRON

  They had to be kidding. At midnight?

  Shit.

  He got out of bed, peeled off a few bandages that weren’t sticking well, then slipped into a clean pair of climbing pants and a long-sleeve Team shirt.

  Lexi sat up. “What’s wrong?”

  He bent down, kissed her. “The Team just got toned out to rescue some stranded climbers. Go back to sleep. I’ll be home in a few hours.”

  Team members were still talking about their middle-of-the-night rescue when Lexi arrived at The Cave the next afternoon. She’d already heard the story from Austin over breakfast, but it was just as funny when Creed retold it.

  “They were sitting on top, drunk off their asses, with this pony keg dangling down the rock face, attached to the lead climber’s harness with a daisy chain of quick draws. I couldn’t believe it, man.”

  Lexi couldn’t believe it either. “Who is stupid enough to get drunk while rock climbing? Isn’t that suicide?”

  Megs shrugged. “In Yosemite in the sixties, there were climbers dropping acid while climbing El Capitan.”

  Good grief!

  “Could you make people pay for a rescue when it’s their fault? Maybe it would serve as a disincentive for people to do these kinds of things.” It seemed fair to Lexi—and perhaps a way to recoup some of their stolen money.

  “Nah, man, that’s not our style,” Creed said.

  Megs shook her head. “Most accidents are someone’s fault. A climber who gets in over his head. Someone getting drunk or doing drugs on a climb. A hiker who stays out too late and gets benighted. Skiers who go beyond the ropes and set off an avalanche. If we made people pay for rescues, they’d wait to call in until their situation was desperate, and more people would die.”

  Lexi supposed that made sense. “Colorado is lucky to have you.”

  Creed laughed and headed off toward the kitchen. “That’s what we think.”

  Lexi got down to work, finishing her audit of the Team’s records from the year before last. When she finished this, she’d be more or less done with the audit, and then…

  She’d have kept her promise to the Team, and, since she’d given up trying to help her father and Kendra, she’d be free to go back to Chicago and start her new life. She should feel excited about that.

  Instead, the thought seemed to suck the light out of the room.

  Austin.

  This whole friends-with-benefits plan wasn’t working out the way she’d thought it would. How could she have known that spending time with him would reawaken her feelings for him? She’d thought what they’d had was over.

  Liar, liar.

  “You look like someone just canceled Christmas.” Megs interrupted her train of thought. “Are you okay?”

  Snap out of it. You still have a month here.

  Lexi smiled. “I’m fine.”

  “I talked with everyone on the Team except for Taylor, of course, and we’ve got a lot of volunteers willing to give you some climbing lessons. We just need to find out from you when you’d like to start and what times you’ve got available.”

  Lexi took out her cell phone and opened the calendar app. “I’d like to do it while Austin is at work, so there’s no chance of running into him by accident.”

  She came up with a list of dates and times over the next two weeks, which Megs wrote down on a notepad. Then she got back to work. But her mind wasn’t really on the audit, her thoughts drifting to the one thing she didn’t want to think about—leaving Austin and Scarlet.

  Two hours later, she’d made it through only three months’ worth of records. She was closing up her files when Austin and Eric walked in. Austin had Mack on a leash.

  “Hey, boy!” Lexi got to her feet and knelt down to scratch him behind his ears.

  “I think she’s more excited to see the dog than you, Taylor,” Eric said.

  Austin’s gaze met Lexi’s, a grin on his face. “Looks like it. I’m going to get him some water.”

  The moment he’d disappeared into the kitchen, Eric turned to Lexi. “I’ve got some time later this week if you want to hit the rock gym.”

&n
bsp; Lexi took out her cell phone to look up the times she’d given Megs, and they bent over it together, settling on an hour Friday afternoon and another on Sunday.

  “Just an hour?” Lexi asked.

  Eric laughed. “Honey, if you can handle more than that, we’ll keep going.”

  The kitchen door opened, and Austin stepped out, a bottle of water in his hands and a thirsty puppy on his heels.

  Eric stepped away, said something to Megs, while Lexi closed her calendar app and slid her phone beneath the stack of files.

  She smiled at Austin. “Did you catch up on your sleep?”

  There had to be an explanation for what Austin had just seen—Lexi and Hawke huddled together, smiling and whispering over her cell phone like they were arranging a hook-up. They’d moved apart the moment he’d come out of the kitchen, as if they hadn’t wanted him to see them. But he had seen.

  “Come on, boy. Let’s leave Lexi in peace.” He led Mack from the room and went to work inspecting the ropes that had been used in last night’s rescue, pulling the length of rope through his hand and letting it coil up in its bag.

  “Give me one of those.” Eric grabbed another rope.

  Austin knew Eric was attracted to Lexi. He always had been. In high school, he’d been more than a little jealous of Austin’s relationship with her. Still, Austin didn’t believe for a second that his best friend and girlfriend would fool around behind his back. Hawke knew how Austin felt about her. Then again, was Lexi actually his girlfriend?

  No, they were just friends. They’d made no commitments.

  Son of a bitch.

  Austin hated himself for doubting them, hated the way it made him feel even to imagine the two of them together. He decided to be an adult about it and ask. “So, hey, what were you and Lexi talking about in there?”

  Hawke frowned. “In where?”

  “In the ops room just now. I walked out from the kitchen, and you were bent over her cell phone talking together.”

  Hawke didn’t look up from the rope in his hands. “Oh, that. Nothing much. She wanted to know when you and I have another day off together. I think she’s planning some kind of surprise. I don’t know.”