Take on Me

by Sarah Mayberry

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” she muttered, resuming walking.

  “Do you still love him?” he asked from behind her.

  She spun around to face him. “The man stood me up at the altar. What sort of a doormat do you think I am?”

  “Just checking. Not need to disembowel me.”

  Again she started walking, picking up the pace now, eager to get to the campsite and away from Dylan’s too-knowing gaze.

  “Have you spoken to him since?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Not once, huh? Has he tried to talk to you?”

  Her mind flashed to the flowers and the notes.

  “There’s nothing he can say to me that I want to hear.”

  “Excellent. You know what would really piss him off? Finding out you were having a hot and heavy affair with a coworker.”

  “I’m not going to sleep with you, Dylan.”

  “Again with the sleeping. Sleeping is the last thing I want to do with you.”

  Cresting a rise, Sadie automatically took the right-hand track in the fork that presented itself.

  “Okay, I am not going to screw you. Better?”

  “I’m a little offended by your crude terminology. I prefer horizontal mambo,” Dylan quipped.

  She snorted her amusement and kept powering down the track.

  “That’s not going to happen, either.”

  “Well, you could always talk to me. I’ll accept that as a compromise.”

  He sounded very serious all of a sudden and she shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. Big mistake. He was watching her like a hawk.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

  Immediately she knew what he was talking about.

  “My wedding is none of your business.”

  “We work with each other. We’ve slept with each other. Perhaps I’m mistaken, but I was under the impression that we were becoming friends, too.”

  He was sincere, she could hear it in his voice. She sighed and pushed damp tendrils of hair off her forehead.

  “It’s humiliating. I don’t exactly like to think about it.”

  His hand landed heavy and warm on her shoulder, forcing her to stop.

  “Do you really think your friends and family think any less of you because of what happened?”

  “Even if they don’t, they certainly feel sorry for me. That’s worse, trust me.”

  In those weeks after the senior prom, there had been a lot of pity from the nicer kids in her classes. She’d much preferred the ridicule and relish from the popular kids. Pity only made her feel more whipped and pathetic.

  Dylan shook her a little, enough to make her jaw click shut and get her undivided attention.

  “Forget it. Forget all that bullshit. You are an amazing woman, Sadie Post. Sexy and smart and kind and funny. Most men would cut off their left arms to even stand close to you.”

  His intensity vibrated in his voice, and his dark gaze bored into hers, and for a second she saw an alternate her in his eyes—a blond, confident Amazon who took no prisoners and could pick and choose her men.

  “Your ex was a moron. That’s the only thing that wedding of yours proves,” Dylan said.

  They stared at each other for a beat. As if pulled by gravity, her gaze dropped to his mouth. She could remember exactly what he tasted like….

  “We need to keep walking,” she said, stepping away from danger.

  He didn’t say a word, just fell in behind her. They trudged in silence for another twenty minutes until they could hear the sound of rushing water. They emerged into a small clearing before a slow-flowing river. Sadie was about to cross over a small footbridge when Dylan spoke up.

  “Hang on a minute. We’re not supposed to cross a river.”

  “What?”

  “The river is not on our route.” He frowned down at the map, one finger tracing across its surface.

  “We must have taken a wrong turn,” she said, shrugging. “We should go back.”

  He shook his head. “It was ages ago. If we keep going forward, we can get back on route.”

  “I don’t know. Even if it adds an hour, wouldn’t we be better off sticking to the route?”

  Dylan shot her an assessing look, then began to very deliberately fold the map. She watched as he stuffed it into his pocket.

  “What are you doing?”

  “We’re going to risk it,” he announced. His eyes dared her to protest.

  “But—”

  “Live a little, Sadie. It won’t kill you.”

  He started off over the footbridge, and she stared after him angrily. She might not be a big rebel or risk taker, but she wasn’t a Sunday-school teacher, either. She could be spontaneous and survive.

  Just because she wouldn’t have sex with him didn’t mean she was chicken.

  Resettling her pack onto her shoulders, she started out after him.

  “Good girl,” he called over his shoulder.

  “Get stuffed.”

  His laughter only irritated her more. They walked in silence for another hour, hunger and thirst finally forcing them to stop. Dylan spent the whole of their lunch break poring over the map.

  “Well? Has your big gamble paid off, cowboy?” she asked him waspishly. Her feet were sore and her shoulders ached, and she wanted to click her fingers and be magically transported back to civilization.

  He had a peculiar look on his face when he looked up. Half chagrin, half amusement.

  “What is it?” she asked, a finger of foreboding sliding down her spine.

  “We’re lost,” he said.

  8

  AFTER SHE’D FINISHED yelling at him for being a smart-ass and leading them astray, they spent a futile two hours trying to backtrack and only succeeded in getting more lost. By late afternoon they were both tired, sweaty and hungry. When they found themselves near the river again, Sadie sent up a howl of despair.

  “This is ridiculous!” Thoroughly frustrated, she kicked viciously at a small rock, only to let out an even louder howl when she discovered it was actually the tip of a much bigger rock buried in the ground.

  Dylan stared intently at the slowly meandering water for a beat, then began to shrug out of his backpack straps.

  “What are you doing?” she asked when she’d finished hopping around on one foot.

  “It’s getting late. We’re going to have to spend the night here, then find the others in the morning. It shouldn’t be too bad—we’re only an hour or so from where we went wrong in the first place. In the morning, we can double back and then complete the original route to the campsite.”

  “What a brilliant idea,” she said. “It was even more brilliant when I had it four hours ago.”

  “Now, now, gloating is an ugly indulgence,” he said as he dumped his pack on the ground.

  Harrumphing to herself, she slid her arms out of her own backpack straps and gave a groan of relief as she circled her shoulders.

  “Let’s get this tent up before it gets dark,” he said.

  He sounded remarkably chipper, and she shot him a suspicious look. He looked pretty chipper, too.

  “Just because we’re stuck together for the night doesn’t mean I’m going to sl—” She caught herself in the nick of time. “I’m not doing the horizontal mambo with you,” she corrected herself.

  He shrugged as if it was the last thing on his mind.

  “Your choice.”

  She shot him another suspicious look but he was concentrating on unfolding the tent. She pitched in, and in five minutes they had the igloo-shaped tent erected and pegged down.

  “Shelter taken care of. What else do we have?” he asked.

  Sadie threw the compressed roll that was her sleeping bag into the tent.

  “One sleeping bag. No sleeping mat—unless you have one?” she asked hopefully.

  “Nope. Luke and Ben had all that stuff. We were sharing the load,” Dylan explained wryly.

  They bo
th emptied out their backpacks. He had a small penlight torch and a box of matches. She had a packet of mints, a small bar of chocolate and a travel pack of tissues. The good news was, they both had toothpaste and toothbrushes, so dental hygiene emergencies were covered off—and Dylan had brought a jumbo box of condoms.

  “You really are an arrogant jerk, you know?” Sadie said, hefting the condom box in her hand.

  “A man can dream. Plus, I might have scored with someone else.”

  “Don’t you think that you’re sleeping with enough of the staff already?” she asked sharply.

  “Dan might have been a Dan-ette. Outdoorsy girls are hot.”

  “Sure they are.” Sadie tossed the box of condoms at him. “Hope all that rubber keeps you warm while I’m snuggled in my sleeping bag tonight.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her.

  “I bet you that you will be begging me for one of these condoms before I’m begging you to let me into your sleeping bag,” he said.

  She thrust her hand out instantly.

  “Done. What are the stakes?”

  He got an evil glint in his eye, and she shook her head. “Something else.”

  He frowned, then smiled broadly.

  “The loser has to do anything the winner says,” he said.

  “How old are you again?”

  “You said something else. Those are my stakes.”

  “Fine—anything the winner says, within reason. Barring you-know-what,” Sadie clarified.

  They shook hands.

  “I can think of far better things to make you do than have sex with me,” Dylan said as he sat and started unlacing his boots.

  “Like?” she asked, following his lead. The cool air felt delicious on her over-heated feet.

  “Like ordering you to come to work naked,” he said.

  She gave an inarticulate squawk of alarm.

  “I’m not saying that’s what I’d ask for—but I could, theoretically,” he quickly explained.

  “Good luck with that one,” she said.

  She almost swallowed her tongue when he stood and stripped off his T-shirt. His hands were on the fly of his hiking shorts before she found her voice.

  “W-what are you doing?”

  “Going for a swim. What are you doing?”

  She could only stare as he dropped his shorts and boxers in one smooth move, leaving him standing naked and magnificent in front of her.

  He waved a hand in front of his groin to try to attract her mesmerized attention.

  “Hello? Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to stare?” he asked, a sly smile on his lips.

  “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that it’s rude to take off all your clothes in public?” she countered.

  “We are so not in public,” he said, shaking his head. “In fact, this is about as private as it gets. Don’t you think?”

  He shot her a very saucy look, then turned toward the river bank. She watched his perfect butt until it disappeared into the water.

  A trickle of sweat ran down between her breasts and she scratched at a patch of dirt caked to her ankle.

  “You should come in—the water’s fine,” Dylan called.

  Sadie crinkled up her nose. Her hair felt stuck to her head with sweat, and she sniffed her armpit surreptitiously to confirm that her deodorant had failed hours ago.

  The problem was, getting naked with Dylan was about as safe as smearing herself with gravy and jumping into the lion’s enclosure at the zoo. She didn’t trust him. He’d been trying to get her into bed again for weeks. Most of all, however, she didn’t trust herself.

  The sound of splashing filtered up from the river, and she stared down at her red, sore feet. Maybe she could paddle around a little…?

  A whoop of pure joy sounded, and she saw that Dylan had climbed out of the river so he could stand on a rock and jump back in again.

  “Damn it!” She stood and started shucking her clothes before she could think twice. The water was too inviting, and she was too hot and sticky.

  Dylan stopped fooling around and stood bolt-upright in the waist-high water when she emerged from the bushes to stand naked on the edge of the river.

  “Oh, thank you, Lord,” he said fervently.

  Sadie fought the need to cover her crotch and breasts with her hands in classic Eve posture.

  “Stop staring.”

  “Stop being so damned sexy then. My left leg for a camera so I can capture this moment for all eternity,” he said.

  His avid scrutiny should have made her feel more self-conscious, but instead she felt a surge of confidence. She’d never been mad about her body—too skinny, too tall, not curvy enough in all the girly places—but all of a sudden she felt sultry and sexy and irresistible.

  “That’s right, work it, baby,” he encouraged as she thrust her breasts out a little as she took her first step into the water.

  “Oh. My. God!” She squealed as icy-cold water closed over her ankles. “Are you insane? This water is arctic.”

  “It’s good for you, Norsca-fresh,” he said. Before she could retreat, he lunged forward and grabbed her wrists. The next thing she knew, he’d pulled her into the center of the slow-moving current and icy-cold water was enveloping her body.

  Gasping, she tried to push away from him but kept encountering warm, well-muscled chest.

  “Y-you b-b-bastard,” she said, teeth chattering.

  “It’s invigorating. Wait a moment, it gets better.”

  Grinning hugely, he pushed himself away from her and began a slow, leisurely stroke against the current. Sadie wrapped her arms around herself and shivered, turning back toward the shore. Invigorating her ass—she was getting out.

  But she’d barely taken two steps on the pebbled riverbed before she started to feel a warm tingling in her arms and legs. Her body was adjusting to the coolness of the water, and she realized she was barely shivering anymore.

  “See, what did I tell you?” Dylan said as he floated by. Sunlight caught on his water-slicked limbs, gilding his body briefly. She blinked, momentarily dazzled.

  Giving herself up to the experience, she sank down so that everything but her eyes was submerged. Above her, trees stretched their branches from either side of the river, creating a canopy of green overhead. Birds cried out nearby, and a warm wind sighed through the trees. Her hair fanned out behind her, and she floated, allowing the current to take her.

  Dylan’s hand shot out to anchor her as she drifted past.

  “Careful there, water nymph. Don’t want you floating downstream and giving some fisherman the treat of a lifetime,” he said.

  His hand felt incredibly warm against her skin—too warm. Dropping her legs to the riverbed, she pushed herself upright. Water sluiced down her breasts and belly, and her hair clung to her head, neck and back.

  Dylan pressed a hand over his heart.

  “If you had any idea how good you look right now,” he said, taking a step toward her.

  She saw the intent in his eye, and panicked. Because she wanted it so much, too, she turned tail and splashed toward the shore.

  “Time to get out,” she said over her shoulder.

  He didn’t try to stop her, and she had five minutes to herself to sluice the water from her skin and pull on fresh clothes from her pack before he padded up from the water. Even though she wanted to stare at his beautiful body, she turned her back to allow him the same privacy. She was the one who didn’t want to have sex, she reminded herself. Somehow, that small but rather important fact kept slipping her mind.

  “You can look now, Sister Sadie,” he said after a few minutes.

  She blushed and glanced across to see that he’d pulled on a clean T-shirt with his hiking shorts.

  “Should we try to make a fire?” she asked, glancing toward the sky. The light was fading already—soon it would be too late to rummage for firewood.

  “Sure,” he shrugged. “Don’t suppose you were ever a Girl Guide?”

  “Nope. And
you definitely weren’t in the Scouts.”

  “Good call. How hard can it be, anyway?”

  After ten minutes of scavenging they’d amassed a decent pile of wood. Dylan selected smaller pieces for kindling, and tested the rest for moisture.

  “Some of it’s a little damp, but I guess the heat’ll fix that, right?”

  With dusk well on its way, they huddled around the ring of rocks they’d constructed and waited for the kindling to take. After five matches had burned down to nothing, they exchanged worried looks.

  “We need something dryer,” Sadie said. She scanned their campsite. Eventually her eye landed on their map.

  Dylan shook his head when she went to collect it.

  “Not the brightest idea you’ve ever had, Sparky,” he said.

  “We won’t burn all of it. Just the bits we don’t need. Like this stupid key bit. And this bit on the front with the picture of the smiling ranger,” she explained, tearing off the pieces in question as she spoke.

  Soon she’d nibbled away at the map until only the very necessary sections were left, leaving them with a small, precious pile of paper scraps.

  “Here goes nothing,” Dylan said. A tiny flame danced on the end of the match, then licked tentatively at a paper scrap as though tasting it. With a flare of light, the paper burst into flames, and they sent up a cheer as the kindling began to burn.

  “We rock,” Dylan crowed.

  “Oh, yeah, we’re real survivors,” Sadie agreed drily.

  They had a good fire going by the time darkness had fallen. They sat side by side watching it, their back to the tent.

  Sadie’s stomach grumbled, and she winced.

  “How long do we wait until we eat the chocolate?” she asked.

  “You can have it all.” Dylan shrugged.

  She shot him an assessing look. “Are you trying to be a gentleman?” she asked.

  “How am I doing?”

  “Not too bad. The whole lying-about-how-cold-the-water-was thing lost you some points, but offering me all the chocolate is definitely a powerful strategy.”

  “Thanks.”

  She smiled, crossing her legs. She really enjoyed his company. In fact, she couldn’t imagine anyone else that she’d rather be lost in the wilds with.

  The flames were mesmerizing, and it seemed perfectly natural to start talking as the night grew older. Dylan told her about his parents, how they’d always thought he was a waste of time. His dad was dead now, but he’d set his mother up in a little house down the coast. He didn’t visit often—he felt guilty about that, but her glass-half-empty negativity made him angry, and his visits always ended in acrimony.