Slow Burn: A Colorado High Country Novel

by Pamela Clare

  He shoved those thoughts aside and took her gear. “I got it.”

  She crawled in, kneeling by the entrance while he took her sleeping pad and bag and spread them out next to his. “Sorry to bother you. I keep thinking of that guy …”

  “There you go.” He sat cross-legged, still half inside his sleeping bag. “We watched for them on the way here. They didn’t follow us.”

  “I hope not.” She crawled onto her bag, and he realized she was wearing a T-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms. She’d actually brought pajamas camping.

  He fought back a grin.

  She lay on her belly on her sleeping bag. “What if they got Austin’s license plate number? They could follow us back to Scarlet and maybe even find out that I live—”

  “If they did follow us, the only thing they’ll find is trouble.” The testosterone in his bloodstream had him wanting to punch that asshole in the face, but he knew from his training that threats of violence wouldn’t reassure her.

  Abuse had a way of making victims view their attackers as larger than life, capable of carrying out any and every threat they made. That’s why so many women stayed in abusive relationships. In their minds, the men who hurt them were invincible. It galled the hell out of him that some random asshole had upset her like this.

  He set his anger aside, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Those two yahoos probably don’t know how to access motor vehicle registrations. Even if they did, it wouldn’t do them any good. I’m not going to let them hurt you, and neither is Austin or Chaska or anyone else in Scarlet.”

  She nodded, but the worry didn’t leave her face. She crawled into her sleeping bag. “It’s cold up here at night.”

  “Come here.” He lay back, drew her into his arms, pillowing her head with his chest and pulling his jacket over her shoulders like a blanket. “We can share body heat.”

  That was the oldest climber line in the book, but he actually meant it this time. With his lower half of his body in his sleeping bag and her entire body snugly inside hers, nothing could happen anyway.

  He kissed her hair. “Get some sleep.”

  She lifted her head off his chest, looked into his eyes. “I’m not a call girl. I was never a call girl or a hooker or anything—”

  “I’m almost insulted you felt the need to tell me that.”

  “I just don’t want you to think—”

  A quiet moan cut her off, making her eyes go wide.

  Oh, sweet Jesus!

  If Taylor and Lexi just had to get their freak on, couldn’t they do it in silence?

  Another moan, followed by Lexi’s whisper. “That feels so good.”

  Eric couldn’t help his body’s reaction, not with the sounds of fucking happening ten feet away. His cock pitched a tent in his sleeping bag, which, of course, Victoria noticed. “Don’t worry. I don’t have a condom with me. Besides, if you and I ever have sex, it will be someplace nice and private where you can scream.”

  She flopped down beside him, ending body contact. “Promises, promises.”

  “Was that a challenge?”

  “Go to sleep.” She looked over at him, her expression softening. “And thanks.”

  Vic awoke early the next morning to find herself in Eric’s arms, her head pillowed on one bicep. His hand was in her hair, his fingers doing wonderful things to her scalp. “Morning.”

  “Morning.” His voice was deep and sleepy. “How’d you sleep?”

  “Like a baby, thanks to you.”

  “Good.”

  “How about you?”

  He held her a little closer, kissed the top of her head. “I’m not complaining.”

  It felt natural to lie here beside him, his arms around her. She closed her eyes again, savoring it, feeling more relaxed than she had in months, feeling safe.

  From outside the tent, she heard the crackle of a campfire.

  “Someone is already up.”

  “Belcourt. He’s always up with the damned sun. Wakes everyone else up, too.”

  She snuggled deeper into his chest. “Well, I’m not getting up yet. I like it here.”

  Once she left his arms, she would find herself in the real world again.

  Eric chuckled. “No rush.”

  Soon everyone was up and awake, bacon sizzling over the fire, the scent of coffee in the air, and it was evident she was going to have to leave this refuge.

  Then it dawned on her. “Everyone’s going to see I was in your tent and think we slept together.”

  He laughed. “We did sleep together.”

  She fought back a giggle. “You know what I mean.”

  “They already think we’ve been getting it on. Rose told everyone in Scarlet that my truck has been parked at the inn every night, so they put two and two together.”

  Vic sat bolt upright, understanding now. “That’s why your mother thought you and I ... Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Eric sat up, cupped her cheek with one hand, and kissed her forehead. “Sorry, but I think I’ve ruined your reputation.”

  No one said anything when she crawled out of Eric’s tent, though Lexi did shoot her the “ohmigod, girl, we have got to talk” look.

  Vic glanced around at the landscape, which looked different in the morning light, golden sunlight spilling into the valley below, the mountains behind them pink, the sky an endless blue dome. “God, it’s beautiful.”

  Had she ever felt so alive?

  Winona cooked them a feast for breakfast—scrambled eggs, bacon, blueberry pancakes, and coffee boiled in a pot set directly on the embers.

  Eric motioned Vic over to her spot on the log and brought her a plate, sitting beside her, refilling her coffee, and treating her as if he truly was her lover, the intimacy she’d shared with him last night lingering into the morning.

  Lexi looked over at her and laughed. “I never thought I’d see the day when you drank your coffee black.”

  Vic took another sip. “It’s amazing.”

  “Are you the designer coffee type?” Britta asked.

  “Until today I was.” As she looked around her, Vic felt that these were the friends she’d been waiting for her entire life. She hadn’t realized until this moment how lonely her life had become since Lexi moved away. Her co-workers in Chicago were rarely interested in getting together outside of the office, and since the nightmare with Stewart, she’d hardly gone out anyway. Although she’d only known Britta, Winona, Chaska, and Austin for a short time, she felt almost as comfortable with them as she did with Lexi.

  After breakfast, they packed up and hit the highway, arriving in Scarlet just before noon. Austin dropped her off at the inn so that she could shower and change and be ready for them to pick her up for a late lunch.

  Eric got out of the SUV with her and carried her bag upstairs, giving her a slow kiss on the mouth that made her toes curl.

  She slipped her arms around his neck, kissed him back, not wanting it to end. “Mmm. Are you coming to lunch?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve got some things to do at the firehouse, but I’ll see you this afternoon at the rock gym.”

  Now was the time to put her foot down. “I am not climbing.”

  He grinned. “Says the woman who was afraid to go rafting and then loved it.”

  “You just had to rub that in my face, didn’t you?”

  “Yep.”

  “Who all is going to be there?” She asked the question casually, but he seemed to understand the fear that lay behind it.

  He ran a thumb over her cheek. “Hey, that bastard and his buddy are far behind us. It’s just going to be Lexi and Austin and members of the Team.”

  She wanted to tell him that it could happen again with someone else, that if a man in a gas station in Buena Vista had recognized her, it could happen anywhere. But, of course, she couldn’t, not without explaining.

  He kissed her again, winked. “Admit it—you’re going to miss me.”

  She did her best to look indifferent. “Not a
t all.”

  She watched him leave, her lips still tingling, then took a quick shower and changed into khaki climbing shorts and a black tank top. She’d just finished putting her makeup on when she remembered that she hadn’t checked her phone or her email since leaving yesterday morning early. She was probably in trouble with Abigail, but, God, it had felt good to be unplugged and free.

  She hurried over to the chest of drawers, where she’d left her phone charging, and found a half-dozen texts and sixteen emails. One was from Lexi.

  OMG! Are you and Hawke lovers?

  Smiling to herself, Vic answered.

  No. I was scared. He let me sleep in his tent. But I would say yes if he asked.

  The rest of the messages were far less interesting. They came from Abigail and Jeff, who was supposed to be filling in for her. And a weight she hadn’t carried for a brief and glorious twenty-four hours settled on her shoulders once again.

  So much for feeling alive.

  She sat at the table, booted up her laptop, and went through the emails one by one.

  Eric could see something was troubling Victoria the moment she and Lexi walked into the rock gym. He finished tying on his climbing shoes then walked over to meet her.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Her boss,” Lexi answered. “She doesn’t seem to care that Vic is on vacation.”

  Oh. That again.

  “Did you find a bunch of messages waiting for you?”

  “Sixteen.”

  “Jesus.”

  “I told her I was going camping and wouldn’t have cell service. She reminded me I work in the fast-paced world of public relations and marketing and threatened to give my promotion to someone else.”

  What a bitch! “Sounds like you need a new boss.”

  “I wish.”

  “Do you want to rent a harness and shoes just in case?” Lexi asked her.

  Vic shook her head. “I’m here as a spectator.”

  Eric grinned. “We’ll see about that. You’re quite the daredevil. You just don’t know it yet.”

  While Lexi got her harness and shoes on, he took Victoria around, introducing her to the Team members she hadn’t already met. “This is Harrison Conrad. He’s climbed Everest a couple of times now. That’s Mitch Ahearn, Megs’ partner. This is Kenzie Morgan. She trains and handles search dogs for us. This is Creed Herrera. You already know Moretti. The woman talking with Sasha is Nicole Turner.”

  At the sound of her name, Sasha looked over and saw them, a big smile sliding over her face. She bounded over to Victoria and gave her a big hug. “How’s our badass wakeboarder?”

  The surprise on Victoria’s face made Eric want to laugh. There were probably thousands of people who would pay to have Sasha Dillon hug them and call them a badass in public.

  He went on with the introductions. “You remember Megs, right?

  “Hi, Megs.”

  But Megs stared past Victoria. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  Eric turned to look. “Holy shit.”

  “Who is that?” Victoria asked.

  “Gabe Rossiter. He’s a tenured Team member and one of the best climbers in the history of the sport. You want to talk about a badass. He let himself fall off a three-hundred-foot cliff to save the life of the woman he loved. He survived, obviously, but lost his leg. He still climbs.”

  Victoria’s expression melted. “Oh!”

  Yeah, women always loved that story.

  Eric met him with a bear hug. “Hey, man. What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I heard there was free climbing today,” Rossiter joked. “How did Taylor convince any woman to marry him?”

  “That’s what I’m wondering.” Austin walked up behind them. “Hey, Rossiter. Glad you could make it.”

  Rossiter hugged him, too, slapping him hard on the back. “Congratulations, man. I’m so happy for you. Where’s the bride? I need to meet the woman who’s brave enough to take you on.”

  Austin introduced Lexi and Rossiter—and then it was time to climb.

  Eric left Victoria on a bench against the far wall and teamed up with Moretti on a 5.12 route, while Taylor belayed Lexi on a 5.10.

  “I like having the gym to ourselves.” Moretti tied into his harness. “We should do this more often.”

  “We can do it again when you get hitched,” Taylor called over to them.

  “Me? Right. That will be the day.” Moretti stepped up to the wall. “Climbing.”

  “Climb on!” Eric called out.

  It was clear right away that Moretti was off his game. The big man had learned to climb almost overnight, putting in long hours at the gym, heading into the canyon, tackling big routes. Hell, he climbed cracks in his spare time, coming back cut up and bruised with a big grin on his face. But today, he was having trouble.

  His toe slipped off a ledge, but he held on, the fingers of one hand on a tight little crimper, two fingers of his other hand jammed in a pocket.

  “Come on, buddy. You got it,” Eric called up to him.

  Moretti hauled himself up against the rock using the strength in his shoulders and arms and lifted his foot again, catching the ledge this time and moving upward. A few moves later, he slipped again, this time coming off the wall.

  Eric arrested his fall. “Shake it off.”

  Moretti was suffering. No doubt about it. To his credit, he pulled himself together, got back on the wall, and finished the route.

  “Way to go, man.” Eric lowered him to the floor, turning to glance at Victoria.

  She was watching them, longing on her face. Oh, yeah, she wanted to try it. She was going to break. It was just a matter of time.

  Vic watched as Lexi climbed, amazed. She climbed the way they did, each move planned, her motions graceful and strong.

  She reached the top of the wall and did a fist pump. “Woohoo!”

  “Way to go, babe!” Austin shouted up to her. “Awesome!”

  Down on the other side, Sasha had just started up a route, her friend Nicole holding the rope. She seemed to fly up the wall, her body moving in unbelievable ways, stretching out so that she was almost sideways on the rock then shifting to bring herself upright. Beside her, Gabe Rossiter was hanging bare-chested and almost upside down on an overhang on what was clearly the toughest route. He reached for another handhold, his fellow Team members shouting encouragement. Chaska was also climbing without a shirt. He lunged upward, caught a hold, the muscles of his arms and back straining as they bore the entire weight of his body.

  “Way to dyno, Belcourt!” someone shouted.

  A woman with a long, dark ponytail—Kenzie, the dog trainer—sat down beside her with the guy who’d climbed Everest—Vic thought his name was Harrison—the two of them talking about someone.

  “Megs said he did everything he could to save that little girl. He jumped into the water without a harness to get to her, but the current was just too strong and washed her away. He got washed downstream, too, but managed to self-rescue. Megs said he ran down the road, trying to catch up with the girl, but just couldn’t reach her. He basically watched her drown.”

  A lump formed in Vic’s throat.

  So that’s what had happened to Jesse.

  How unspeakably horrible.

  A family had lost a child, and Jesse was torn apart.

  “He’s lucky to be alive,” Harrison said. “Did they get the rest of the family out?”

  Kenzie nodded. “Megs said he’s blaming himself for not being fast enough. She’s sidelined him. Until he gets counseling, she won’t let him go on more calls.”

  “I bet this has dredged up a bunch of shit from his time in Iraq,” Harrison said. “He watched a lot of men die over there.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  Across the room, Gabe reached the top of his route to cheers and was slowly lowered to the ground. A moment later, Sasha did the same.

  She threw her fist in the air. “Climb like a girl!”

  Vic watched w
hile Jesse untied the rope from his harness, saw that he was furious with himself for falling.

  “Don’t worry about it, man,” Eric said. “We all have off days—everyone except Rossiter, but he’s not actually human.”

  “I heard that.” Gabe showed Eric his middle finger.

  And it dawned on Vic that every Team member here had risked his or her life trying to save others, and they did it as volunteers. Lexi had told her no one got paid to work for the Team, not even Megs.

  A sense of emptiness crept into Vic’s chest.

  She’d never done anything to make a difference. She spent her days coming up with witty slogans so that companies could sell goods and services. She could argue that this helped businesses succeed and that that, in turn, meant jobs, but that wasn’t the same thing as saving someone’s child. It wasn’t even close.

  Eric walked over to her. “Are you sure you want to sit this out?”

  Lexi was right behind him, out of breath, her face flushed from exertion. “You’ve got some of the best teachers in the country right here. Sasha and Eric got me started.”

  “Is my girl Vic going up?” Sasha called. “Count me in!”

  Eric pinned her with his gaze and held out his hand. “Do you trust me, Victoria? Climbing is about two things: skill and trust. Skill can be taught, but you’ve got to have trust to get anywhere. I promise I won’t let you fall.”

  Chapter 11

  Vic got to her feet and took Eric’s hand. “If I die...”

  Eric grinned. “You won’t die. You’re going to have fun and go home amazed at how well you did.”

  Eric led her over to a part of the wall where no one was climbing. “We’ll start with something super easy, and I’ll go up with you.”

  While Lexi ran to get Vic a harness and a pair of climbing shoes, Eric and the others planned it out among themselves. Lexi would belay Vic while Austin belayed Eric. Sasha wanted in on it, so she drafted Rossiter to belay her.

  Vic stepped into the harness, watching while Lexi showed her how to tighten it and make sure it was safe. Then Eric tied her into one end of the rope, and the next thing Vic knew, she was standing at the base of the rock wall, looking up at a bunch of brightly colored holds. “Oh, God.”