Stealing His Heart (McCormick's Creek Series Book 4)

by Jen Peters

  Raine looked down the trail—a slight curve, a rocky section she could see, and then it dropped off out of sight. Completely. She gulped.

  He cleared his throat. “It’s okay to admit you’re in over your head. I can call Mick, and he’ll come back. He’s not even back down the mountain yet.”

  “In over my head?” It didn’t matter how rough the trail looked. She’d done crazy hard things before, and she wasn’t going to have Brandt using this against her. They were on opposite sides as it was—she didn’t want to give this blasted man more ammunition. Besides, she needed to prove to herself, and him, that she could do what she set out to do. “I said I’d do it, and I will. You coming?”

  And with that, she took a deep breath and launched herself towards the first curve.

  It was a smooth bend, and she was going slow enough that she made it around. She wobbled over the rocky part, but at least she could see where she was going. And it didn’t look so steep now.

  Until her bike picked up speed.

  She bumped and rattled and held her breath as she aimed between the cut sections of a huge tree.

  “Slow down!” she heard Brandt call out.

  But her back brake didn’t do much, and she was afraid to brake too hard with her front. There was a time for everything, though, so she squeezed a little more firmly. Hurray! She actually slowed without flipping upside down.

  Two more curves, and then a rock sent her sideways. She planted a foot and slowed almost to a stop.

  Brandt was right behind her. “You okay? You got going a little fast there.”

  “I know, but I handled it. Besides, didn’t you say this was all about speed?”

  He shook his head. “Speed and control. And you don’t have enough control to take the speed. So slow down, okay?”

  She nodded, took a breath, and went on. She managed to make the curve around two more trees, but the trail got steeper and windier.

  She held her breath as a massive tree jumped out at her. She tried to turn, didn’t make it, and wiped out against a smaller one. Her shoulder bruised, her bike slid out from under her, and one pedal scraped her leg as it went.

  She just lay there, waiting for the world to calm down.

  The shade behind her eyelids darkened. “Raine? Come on, open your eyes, Raine.”

  She sighed and obeyed slowly. Brandt’s normally blue eyes were dark gray with worry. He helped her sit up, and she tested the movement in her limbs.

  “I’m okay. Just give me a minute.” Her body rebelled at the thought of getting up right away.

  “I told you this wasn’t a good idea. We can always walk out.”

  “No, I’m doing this.” She felt his chest rise and fall, felt his breath soft against her hair. She shook her head—she’d never make it down if she started thinking about him this way. “Help me up.”

  He sighed, but his hand was strong as he pulled her up. He looked her over, sighed again, and said, “Slow, right? Let me talk you through.”

  She was conscious of him behind her as she rode on down the trail. He’d call out to keep pedaling over a rise, or take the left trail instead of right.

  The track was narrow, and if she didn’t steer perfectly, she’d run off and hit something. She kept it as slow as she could, which really wasn’t slow enough, and her back wheel spun out sometimes. She’d put her foot down, make it around the bend, then breathe again while she looked for the next problem.

  And the trail was nothing but problems.

  Branches whipped against her arms, but she couldn’t move fast enough to avoid them.

  Immovable trees threatened her very movable self.

  Rocks and roots jumped into the trail just for her, despite Brandt’s coaching.

  She finally lost it completely in a spot that was rocky, twisty, and steep all at once. Her bike wobbled, she couldn’t steer, and when the front wheel dropped down, so did she.

  There were no ferns along this spot to cushion her. Her shoulder hit a tree again while her hip hit one rock, and then another. Her arm slid along the gravel, and something scraped her leg.

  She let out a groan, but even that hurt. She’d just stay quiet for a bit.

  * * *

  Brandt rode as close as he could to Raine, but he’d never felt so helpless in his life. He couldn’t balance for her, couldn’t get up out of the saddle and turn for her, couldn’t do anything.

  Her fall happened in slow motion. He watched her try, wobble, and go over. He was off his bike and running to her almost before she stopped moving.

  “Raine? You okay? Raine?”

  She took a deeper breath, but didn’t answer.

  “Raine, come on, sweetheart.” He held her hand, touched her cheek.

  She sighed, but that was all.

  He’d never thought of himself as a praying man, but he prayed now. “Raine, wake up.”

  “I haven’t given up yet,” she murmured.

  His body sagged in relief. He ran his hands down her arms, her legs, gently rotated her ankles. “What hurts?”

  “What doesn’t?”

  “Raine! You haven’t even opened your eyes yet. You know what I mean.”

  “And you know what I mean. Everything hurts. But I don’t think anything’s broken.”

  “Come on, will you look at me?”

  She opened her eyes slowly and blinked at him. “See, I’m still here. Can’t get rid of me this easily.”

  Brandt couldn’t believe how his heart was pounding. If she was joking, she was okay, not to mention exciting, enchanting, enticing and any other E word he could think of. Except he could hardly think. His senses were on alert, his muscles quivering.

  He didn’t care about the challenge she had laid down the day before. Right now he didn’t even care that she might steal the grant money away from him. All he wanted to do was know that she was okay.

  He pulled a strand of hair from her cheek, stroked her bangs back. She lay quietly, searching his eyes.

  He stroked her hair again, but no more—they were blocking the trail, and she was hurt. Besides, he shouldn’t feel this way, especially about someone as off his list as she was.

  “Mind if we just stay here for a few minutes,” she asked.

  “Well, actually…” He looked back up the trail. “No one’s coming, but we really don’t need to chance getting run over.” He held his arm so she could pull on it for support, all at her own pace.

  She took deep breaths once she was upright, and he helped her off the trail. A tree to lean on, a pine needle cushion beneath. He got her to a comfortable position, went back for the bikes, then rummaged in the small first aid kit he carried.

  “You’re just a sucker for a damsel in distress,” she said.

  He snorted. “You’d hit me if I said that.”

  “Probably.” She smiled and closed her eyes again.

  He looked over her injuries. Scrapes on her face, including a couple places that would bruise badly. A long cut on her arm, probably from a sharp-edged rock, was still bleeding. And who knew how many bruises on her shoulder, ribs and hips. But she hadn’t really hit her head, so that was a blessing.

  He cleaned the worst off with a sanitary wipe, as gently as he could, and put a couple butterfly bandages on her arm.

  They sat quietly for a few minutes before Brandt spoke again. “If you can, we need to get you up and walking around or you’ll stiffen up like one of these trees. I’m not sure I could carry you down this mountain.”

  “Weakling.”

  “Tough girl.”

  He couldn’t pull his eyes away from hers. They were darkened with determination and pain. He’d much rather see them sparkling with laughter and challenge.

  She nodded, took his hand, and grimaced as she stood. He plucked a few twigs out of her hair and then steadied her as she walked in the clearing. In a moment, she was moving well again, although limping a bit.

  “OK, let’s go.” She picked up her bike and straddled it.

  B
randt was sure his eyes bugged out. “What? You can’t ride the rest of this!”

  Her eyes flashed. “I told you before I’m not a quitter. I said I’d ride it, and I will.”

  He crossed his arms. “You proved your point. There’s no need to get suicidal about it.”

  She set her jaw and stared at him.

  Stubborn woman. Heart-thumping beautiful, but dangerously stubborn. He knew people who had broken bones on this mountainside, and she’d fallen twice already. “This is crazy, Raine. Let’s just walk out.”

  “No.” She brushed the dirt off and re-settled her helmet. “I can do this. There’s not much farther to go, is there?”

  “We’re not even a quarter of the way down.”

  Her face whitened and he watched her control the emotions running across her face. “Wh-what’s it like the rest of the way?”

  “There’s a section of meadow that’s still downhill, a long section where the mountain drops off on the right, and a lot of steep, twisty stuff like we’ve had.”

  She closed her eyes and just stood there.

  “Look, Raine, you’ve done a lot more than any other person would have—it wouldn’t be quitting to walk the rest of the way. I never should have dared you in the first place.”

  She opened her eyes and sighed. “And I never should have taken you up on it. But then, I’m not known for making great decisions, am I?”

  Brandt kissed her cheek. “Just chalk it up to experience.”

  She huffed. “I’ve got all the experience from bad decisions that I need, thanks. It would be nice to make some good ones sometime.”

  He picked his own bike up, and they started walking. “I know the feeling.”

  “You? What bad decisions have you made lately?”

  Brandt chuckled. “I’m not sure. Maybe moving up here and thinking I could start a bike shop and get out of my family’s drama. Or maybe it was waiting so long to do it.”

  They talked about his life in a pressurized real estate office, the fulfillment in helping someone find the exact right house for them, and the ups and downs and drama of having the whole family in business together. Which led to stories of fancy events Raine had put together in Seattle, the quirky people she’d met, and her moving back home again.

  “But if Seattle was so awesome, why did you come back to a place where you can’t do the same thing? There’s just no market in McCormick’s Creek.”

  Raine was silent behind him. Finally she said, “I needed to make a change. I didn’t do so well with the party atmosphere up there.”

  “Surely Seattle doesn’t party all the time.”

  “No, but my social group did, and it turned out not to be good for me.”

  She didn’t say any more, and he didn’t press her. It wasn’t like he had a right to know, after all.

  As they maneuvered down the mountain, stepping sideways through the steepest parts, he realized that while he couldn’t deny the attraction, he really would like to get to know her better. She wasn’t like Chelsea or Jasmine or any of the women he’d lumped her in with. She was smart, funny, and more determined than just stubborn. And he bet she’d enjoy mountain biking if he started her off right, not with this nightmare of a dare ride.

  She gasped suddenly, and Brandt looked up. They were on a section of meadow where the mountainside dropped away, and she was gazing over the vista.

  “This is amazing! In all the years I lived here, I never knew it looked like this.”

  Brandt grinned. “This is why I can’t just have a bike shop in Portland. City streets can’t compare with Mother Nature.”

  Raine looked down. The drop off was only a foot or two off the well-worn trail. “Yeah, well, city streets don’t have you worrying about falling off cliffs, either. Maybe I’ll just come for walks up here.”

  “You could do that. Just remember to listen for bikes!”

  She blew a raspberry, then took the lead.

  Brandt followed her, pointing out the trail to take when it branched off. He would have enjoyed the view from behind if he weren’t worrying about her limp and the blood still dripping down her arm.

  Chapter 13

  Brandt pulled the first aid kit from his truck and began cleaning off Raine’s cuts. Her arm was a mess, and she had a lot of road rash on the other, not to mention a bruise on her face. Her knees were all right, simply because of the protective gear.

  She hissed as he dabbed at one scrape. “Sorry, can’t help it,” he said.

  “I’ll live,” she muttered.

  There was a buzz inside him, being so close to her right now, and he needed to concentrate. The cut on her arm didn’t look good—he’d have to clean it off at the shop and put on a couple butterfly bandages. Or send her in for stitches.

  Stubborn woman. Stubborn in their arguments, stubborn and crazy in not backing down from his challenge. It was going to get her in serious trouble someday.

  But he recalled the look on her face at the top of the mountain, and her determination to keep going. Every time she fell, she muttered, picked up her bike, and got right back on.

  As crazy as she was, he had to admire her guts. And her unexpected willingness to break fingernails.

  He cleaned off her face as gently as he could, but she still winced a few times. “You’re going to have a quite the shiner tomorrow,” he said, dabbing ointment on a scrape.

  “It figures.” She paused while he dabbed at a cut near her mouth. He kissed it lightly and she sighed. “I didn’t make the best decision, did I?”

  Brandt shrugged. “Probably not. But you did great.”

  “Yeah, crash course in mountain biking, emphasis on crash.”

  “Hey, at least we didn’t need to call an ambulance!”

  “That would really cement my reputation in town. A new way to be a troublemaker.” She winced again and pulled her head away.

  A troublemaker was just what she was. Now that they were safely down, Brandt made an effort to remember that. But couldn’t they be on opposite sides of one thing and still build something between them? He tried to picture how that would work, but it was too much for his tired self. “I think we need to get back to the shop to clean you up properly. Come on.”

  He helped her up, and she climbed stiffly into the cab of the truck. When they got back to the store, she hobbled out. Before he could help her inside, he heard Chelsea’s voice.

  “Whatever happened to you?” she exclaimed, hurrying along the sidewalk.

  “Biking accident,” Raine said.

  “With Brandt?” He could hear the jealousy in her voice.

  Brandt nodded to Chelsea but didn’t say anything—he wasn’t going to give her any encouragement. He took Raine’s arm and beeped the truck’s lock. “We’ve got to get her patched up.”

  “You certainly do,” Chelsea said. “You go on in, Raine. I’ve got to talk to Brandt for a minute.”

  Raine shrugged and headed for the store. Chelsea hardly paused before taking his arm. “Brandt, honey, you know that barbecue I promised you? It’s next Sunday, and I’m counting on you to come.”

  “Probably not, Chelsea. Sundays can be busy days in the shop.” And besides, he’d rather spend it with Raine if she wasn’t working.

  “But we need you to liven it up! And I need to enjoy your company.” She danced her fingernails up his arm.

  Brandt stiffened and pulled away. He had to set some boundaries, but not necessarily in public. Maybe he could just lower her expectations. “I’ll see, but I can’t promise anything,” he finally said. “Look, I’ve got to go.”

  Chelsea followed his gaze and narrowed her eyes as the door closed behind Raine. “She’s really messed up. Got in over her head, didn’t she?”

  “Goodbye, Chelsea. You have a good day.”

  * * *

  Raine perched on the edge of the extra chair in Brandt’s office and grit her teeth as he gently scrubbed a soapy rag over her arm. She hadn’t been hurt this badly in a long time. What in the wor
ld had she been thinking? That she had to prove herself? And why—just to impress a guy she wasn’t supposed to care about?

  There’d been something in his eyes…not just the challenge, but an attitude she’d sensed. Something that said she couldn’t do it, would never do it, would never be capable of doing it. And that had brought her inner stubbornness to a raging level.

  So chalk up another bad decision to stupidity, with bonus points for a black eye. She could feel it swelling as Brandt worked on her arms. “Um, you wouldn’t have an ice pack around, would you?”

  He stood immediately. “Sorry, I should have thought about that first.” He returned quickly with an ice pack wrapped in a dishtowel with pink polka-dots.

  She raised her eyebrows, which made her eye hurt more.

  He chuckled. “Don’t do that. Rudy’s granddaughter gave them to me for Christmas. What could I do?”

  She held the pink polka-dots against her face, switching arms after he had the butterfly bandages on and moved to her other elbow. He was more gentle than she would have imagined, and she tamped down the memory of his kisses and the thoughts that rose unbidden. She was not tingling at how close he was. She did not have fluttery feelings running through her.

  But she did. Why, she didn’t know—Brandt wasn’t anyone she really wanted to get close to. He was the enemy to her goals—it had to be simple physical attraction. And even if it wasn’t, today was proof that she couldn’t trust her decisions. When emotions took over from common sense, disaster happened.

  Raine stood abruptly, and Brandt rocked back on his heels. She handed him the ice pack. “Thank you. A lot. But I can take care of the rest of this.”

  His eyes darkened. “If you say so. Don’t be such a daredevil next time.”

  “Don’t challenge me next time.” She nodded goodbye, her muscles stiff. A fitting consequence for not thinking things through and for being too proud to back down.

  When she got out to her car, though, Chelsea was waiting.

  “Hey, Raine. You really got banged up, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah. Took a challenge I shouldn’t have. But I’m not good at admitting defeat.”