by Cassie Hayes
Rocky Mountain Hero
Roberts of Silver Springs Book 2
Cassie Hayes
Contents
About This Book
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Excerpt
About the Author
About This Book
He’s nobody’s hero.
Spike Roberts has no idea why everyone in his hometown of Silver Springs, Colorado thinks he’s a hero. Fixing someone’s flat tire or rescuing a stranded kitten isn’t the stuff of legends. It isn’t until Amy Sanderson drops into his life that he decides being a hero isn’t such a bad thing after all — as long as he can be her hero.
Life hasn’t been easy for Amy, but she’s come out the other side stronger and wiser. Now her two jobs and rambunctious, young son keep her too busy to date — even if she wanted to. Then thrill-seeking vagabond Spike Roberts asks her out, and she knows better than to say yes. But she does it anyway.
When Amy’s past becomes very much present, they’re left wondering if their small town romance can survive a big time scandal.
Rocky Mountain Hero is Book 2 in the Roberts of Silver Springs series. Find an excerpt of Book 3 at the end!
1
“Would you hurry up? You’re embarrassing me!”
When he heard the hissed reprimand, Spike Roberts looked up from helping a woman get started on a Jacobs Ladder machine. Some guy across the small gym stood with his hands on his hips, scowling at a figure clinging halfway up a rock climbing wall. Spike instantly recognized the signs of someone panicking and sighed.
“Excuse me, Kate,” he said to the woman. “I’ve set the timer for three minutes. Just take it slow and I’ll check back in a bit.”
Training sports enthusiasts wasn’t his normal gig, but the owner of the Silver Springs Training Center had asked him to cover for the day. Spike and his partner, Zach McCormick, had a handshake agreement with their buddy, Trent, the owner of SSTC, that they’d help out when they weren’t busy with expeditions. In return, Trent referred customers to their outdoor guiding company, Rocky Mountain Adventures. As a result, their small, just-for-fun “business” had grown nicely in three years. In fact, Zach was off leading the very same Black Diamond ski trip Trent was enjoying…leaving Spike alone to deal with the busy gym.
As he crossed the small yet impressively appointed space, Spike spotted a line of several people waiting impatiently to climb the narrow wall. It was meant to be a timed exercise, where the climber would punch a big red button to start the clock. The challenge was to climb up and down in less than two minutes. The number display currently read 7:49.
He sighed again. Eight minutes. He had no idea if the climber had frozen going up or coming down, but whoever it was hadn’t moved a muscle since Spike had first looked over. And the dude scowling up at her looked pissed.
Someone grabbed Spike’s arm as he walked past the line-up. He stopped and did his best to keep his expression placid. “Yeah?”
“I’ve been waiting here forever,” growled the beefy guy who’d clearly taken an extra dose of steroids with his Wheaties this morning.
“Not forever,” Spike replied with a pained smile. “Eight minutes and ten seconds, maybe, but not forever.”
The guy looked like he was chewing glass but let go when Spike shrugged off his hand. Smart move. He might not match Mr. Muscles in bulk, but he had a good three inches on the man and his tall, lean frame was ripped from leading ski tours, river rafting trips, mountain climbing expeditions, and any other kind of outdoor activity he and Zach thought might be fun and would attract customers.
“What’s the problem here?” he asked as he approached the guy glaring up at the stuck climber. He recognized him as a semi-regular member and, if he remembered right, his name was Dick Johnson.
Cruel parents, he thought as Dick frowned at him.
“The problem is she won’t come down. She made it that far, and then stopped. I keep telling her to just let go, that the belay rope will keep her from getting hurt, but she won’t do it.” Dick shook his head in disgust, then leaned in to whisper something. “I think she’s…crying.”
A crying woman was the bane of every man’s existence. Spike patted Dick on the back in sympathy, even though the guy seemed a little douchey at the moment.
“Have you gone up to try to help her down?”
Dick rubbed the back of his neck and blew out a breath. “Nah. I dunno, man. I mean, she can’t even climb a wall.”
Spike must have missed a crucial piece of information. “So?”
“Dude, this is our first date. I’m all about extremes, bro. I don’t have the bandwidth to deal with a chick who can’t even climb a freakin’ wall. Plus, she has a kid!”
“Ah.”
It made sense, to a degree — mothers didn’t usually climb sheer cliff faces with babies strapped to their backs, and Spike personally shied away from dating moms for this very reason. He was far too busy for an insta-family, but he hoped he didn’t come off as callous as Dick.
“You didn’t know?”
Dick shrugged. “She told me after I asked her out. Couldn’t back out then, or I’d look like a…”
“Dick?” Spike finished.
Dick shot him a glare. “Whatever, man. This is BS. I’m outta here.”
Spike watched in shock as Dick stormed off toward the exit. “Hey, you can’t just leave her up there!”
“Watch me!” Dick flipped him a one-fingered salute and pushed through the double doors.
Spike stared after him until the doors banged shut. He then turned his attention back to the paralyzed woman still frozen on the wall, before shooting a quick glance toward the line of increasingly angry wanna-be climbers. Finally, he looked over at the clock.
10:02.
Spike sighed again. He’d have to go up and get her in order to prevent the growing mob from complaining to Trent. It wouldn’t do to have ten complaints waiting for him when he came back in tomorrow. Spike and Zach worked hard to keep this arrangement moving smoothly, and he wasn’t going to let a petrified newbie mess it up.
“Hang on, I’m coming,” he shouted up to the woman and took a running leap at the wall.
It was only twenty feet high and rated moderate after all. He’d free-climbed much more difficult faces than this. Good thing Trent had insisted he always wear his harness while on duty, just for occasions like these. Landing just a few feet below the quivering figure, he pulled level with her in a matter of seconds.
“Hey, you okay?” he asked.
Her helmeted head was pressed against the grey faux rock so he could only see a sliver of her profile and a spray of dark hair feathering out of the helmet. Her body shook like an aspen leaf in the wind, and a breath of a whisper reached his ears.
“No.”
A pang of sympathy made him frown. “What’s your name?”
Again, a barely audible whisper came from her direction. “Amy.”
“Hi, Amy. I’m Spike, and I’ll be your tour guide today.”
She snorted, then let out a terrified squeak and clung even tighter against the wall. At least she’d laughed, as brief as it was.
“Okay, Amy, it’s time to get you back to solid ground. Sound good?”
“Very.”
“I’m going to wrap my arm around your waist, then you’re going to let go and
put your arms around my neck. Got it?”
She shook her head frantically. “Nope, can’t do it. I’ll fall.”
“I will not let you fall, Amy.” Spike surprised himself by the intensity in his own voice. He’d helped a ton of freaked-out clients extract themselves from sticky situations — most a million times more dangerous than this one — but he felt strangely invested in Amy. “Do you trust me?”
Only then did she turn to look at him. When her terrified, dark blue eyes locked onto his, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to breathe again. They bore into his very soul, seeing things he’d never shown anyone. The feeling was foreign and uncomfortable, and a very big part of him hoped it would never end.
When she’d taken full stock of him, a hardness he admired — but didn’t like — glinted in her eyes. It spoke of difficult times and pain, loneliness and sacrifice, fear and survival. A surge of protectiveness for this woman with the probing gaze startled him. She should never know bad times, only happiness.
“I trust you, Spike.”
Her words nearly blew him off the wall like dynamite. In his entire twenty-seven years, he’d never heard anyone say they trusted him with such sincerity. Mostly because he hadn’t earned it. Sure, he had a surreal reputation in town for being some kind of hero, but he knew the truth. He only helped people when it suited his purposes. Like now. He’d climbed up here to help her down to protect his working relationship with Trent. But now that he was here, looking into the face of an angel, he wanted nothing more than to be her hero.
Holding onto the wall with one hand and one foot, Spike slowly slid his arm around her waist and pulled her body into his, never letting her gaze waver. His body sizzled as their skin connected, and he swore he smelled smoke. When she flung her arms around his neck, panic flared in her eyes for a brief second, and he quickly slid his arm lower, holding on tight and acutely aware he had hold of half a handful of delicious rump.
Her breath came in short pants, but she held onto his gaze like it was her lifeline — forget that her real lifeline could have easily lowered her to the ground ten minutes ago, but then he wouldn’t be holding one of the most magnificent creatures he’d ever laid eyes on.
Dick’s an idiot, he thought, fighting the urge to kiss her. Now was not the time, but he certainly hoped to get the chance very soon. If she’d let him.
He released her just long enough to clip himself onto her belay rope, which brought them pelvis to pelvis — a position he wouldn’t mind trying again at a later time and with far fewer people watching…make that no other people watching. He tried to push the images of the two of them alone together from his mind, but it wasn’t easy. The only thing to do was to get down, and disconnect from her as quickly as possible, even though the thought of doing so made him inexplicably sad.
“Are you ready, Amy?”
He certainly wasn’t ready for whatever was happening here. Spike was a free spirit, a vagabond, a wanderer. Make no mistake, he’d always enjoyed the company of snow bunnies and climber chicks, but they’d never lasted very long. They’d also never had an effect on him like this woman did. It scared and thrilled him at the same time, just like every extreme sport he’d ever tried.
“Yes,” she said, tightening her grip on him.
With a wink and a devilish grin, Spike let go.
“I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life,” Amy Sanderson said, dropping into a folding chair in the gym’s office, as Spike headed toward a water cooler. “And that’s saying a lot.”
As an unwed mother in the small Western Colorado town of Silver Springs, Amy had certainly suffered enough humiliation for ten lifetimes. But this…
Of course, it didn’t help that Spike Roberts, of all people, had to rescue her. The only saving grace was it appeared he didn’t remember who she was.
Thank God for small favors, she thought.
“Don’t worry about it, Amy. Happens all the time. Here.”
Her fingers trembled uncontrollably as she took the Dixie cup of water Spike offered. Once she finally took it from him, he pulled a chair up across from her and settled in. She swallowed the entire cup in a single gulp, then crushed it in her fist, angry at herself.
“I should never have let Dick talk me into trying the rock wall. Actually, I should never have agreed to go on a date with him in the first place. Where is he, anyway?”
Her embarrassment deepened as she realized she hadn’t thought about her date — her first in six years — since she locked eyes with Spike up on that wall. Their hazel depths somehow soothed her panic, allowing her to think again. Not clearly, but it was better than the blind terror which had blanked out her brain. She’d understood his words, but even more, she’d felt his concern for her. That, more than anything, was what had gotten her moving again.
Spike cleared his throat, and avoided looking directly at her. Finally, he sighed. “Let’s just say he really earned his name.”
“Huh?”
He grimaced. “He bolted, Amy.”
Duh! She’d figured out that much. “What did he say? Tell me the truth, I can take it.” She could too. After spending the last six years building up her Teflon surface, nothing Dick Johnson had said about her could scratch it.
Spike shifted awkwardly, but he finally answered. “Said he didn’t want to date anyone who couldn’t climb a wall.”
Amy couldn’t help herself and burst out laughing, which eased her tension better than anything else could have. Except possibly snuggling up to Spike. He sat two feet away, but her body yearned to slide over closer.
Knock it off!
Her body wouldn’t listen. It just kept buzzing and tingling in a way she’d almost forgotten. It had been a very long time since a man had touched her and, as much as she was afraid to admit it, she’d missed it. She was just grateful that man had been Spike and not Dick.
“Anything else?”
“He, um…” He grimaced again, but spit it out, “He said he wouldn’t have asked you out if he’d known you had a kid. Sorry.”
She rolled her eyes, relieved. “Don’t be. He’s not worth getting upset over. I’m just impressed he didn’t ghost me.”
Spike blinked a few times, clearly confused. “Ghost?”
“How is it possible you don’t know what ghosting is? It’s when you go on a date that seems to have gone well, then you never hear from the guy again, and he won’t respond to calls or texts. He just vanishes, like a ghost. That’s ghosting.”
Spike’s eyes grew wide, and a flush of guilt rose up his handsome face. He may not have known the term, but it was pretty obvious he was all too familiar with the practice. Amy pretended not to notice and decided to stick the knife in a little deeper, just to see his reaction.
“Only selfish losers ghost. Real men treat women with respect.”
For some crazy reason, she wanted to kiss away that suddenly crease that formed between his eyebrows. Maybe it was time to take pity on the man.
“You don’t remember me, do you?”
“Um…we’ve met?”
She smiled at his confusion. If she could peek into his brain, she suspected she’d find him wondering if he’d ghosted her at some point.
“We went to high school together. I was a sophomore when you were a senior. Amy Sanderson.”
He looked at her with fresh eyes, as if seeing her for the first time. It sent tingles up and down her spine, and she struggled not to let her self-consciousness show. Maybe he wouldn’t remember. Her dark brown locks were much longer now, and motherhood had changed her body more than she’d anticipated. Where she’d once had flat planes and straight lines, curves had taken their place. It wasn’t that she didn’t like her new body — in fact, she’d never felt more like a woman — but it might throw him off. Besides, it wasn’t as if they’d ever hung out back then.
Then he smiled.
And she nearly fainted.
“Right, I think I remember you now. Your hair was shorter then, wasn’t it?”
/>
He remembered!
“It was. Yours hasn’t changed.”
All the girls in school had swooned over Spike Roberts’ sun-kissed brown hair and tanned skin. He’d participated in every sport the school offered, plus some they didn’t. Every spare moment had been spent snowboarding, playing basketball, or scrambling up mountains. And he’d had the body to prove it and still did — tall and muscular, but not in a bodybuilder way. Of course, he’d never looked twice at her, preferring girls his own age…and there were a lot of them.
“Wow! I know Silver Springs is a small town and all, but how weird is this? Did you just move back or something?”
“Nope, never left. You did, for college, but I’ve never been farther than the city limit. Well, I’ve been to Denver a couple times, but that’s pretty much it.”
“How have we never bumped into each other before? I’ve been back for a few years now.”
She smiled. “I don’t think we run in the same circles. Besides, you probably don’t hang out much at playgrounds or your dad’s real estate office after hours.”
“Huh?” he asked again.
“I spend my days either at playgrounds with my son, or at one of my two jobs. Well…one. No, two.”
“Is it one or two?” he laughed.
“It was two, then it was one, and now it’s two again.” Why was she telling him all this? She had no idea, but his sincerity really drew her out. “I have a small office cleaning business, and your dad is one of my clients. I also worked part-time at a travel agency as a receptionist, but they just closed their doors. I’ve two rare days off in a row before I start work at Mo’s Diner on the other side of town. My mom works there and got me a job until I can find something better.”
“Waitress?”
Why had she brought this up at all? Now she had to tell him the humiliating truth. “Dishwasher.”
“Oh, man. I hated being a dishwasher!”
“You were a dishwasher?” She couldn’t help laughing. “No way! Your family practically owns this town!”