by Jill Shalvis
The man was clearly insane.
She walked up to the wall and stood next to a tall, lanky guy in cargo shorts and a store employee shirt. His pale blond hair was a wild mane around his face. His name tag said Dusty.
“Can he hear me if I yell up to him?” she asked.
“Dude hears everything. We think he might have bat hearing.”
“It’s true,” Levi said calmly, like he wasn’t hanging high above them.
“Hey, Tarzan,” she called up. “Have you lost your marbles?”
He smiled. “Nope. They’re all in play.”
“Really? Because you’ve had a concussion, which comes with blurry vision and dizziness. So being a hundred feet up is a bad idea.”
“It’s thirty feet and I’ve been cleared by my doc.”
She crossed her arms, and his smile went to a full-out grin. “You’re worried about me. Cute.”
Cute? She was a lot of things. Sarcastic. Irritated. Stubborn . . . not cute. “We need to talk,” she said.
He grinned down at her. “Sure. Come on up.”
“Funny.”
His laugh floated down to her. “Thought you weren’t afraid of anything.”
Turned out, she was afraid of plenty, including how just looking at him could change the rhythm of her heart.
Kicking off from a rock, Levi suddenly arced into the air, making her gasp as she looked over at Dusty, who stood there hands on hips, just watching. “Wait, aren’t you belaying him?”
“He’s on an auto belay system.”
Levi dropped to the ground, landing lightly on his feet like a cat. A sleek, powerful wildcat. Eyes bright with the thrill of adventure, Levi flashed Jane a smile and killed a bunch more of her brain cells.
“You do that on purpose,” she murmured.
“Do what?” he asked innocently.
Dusty snorted and moved off.
Jane went hands on hips. “There’s no way you’re cleared for rock climbing. Who’s your doctor?”
“Mateo Moreno.”
She blinked. “Dr. Mateo Moreno?”
“Yep, and he’s an old friend. Best friend, actually, from middle school. So trust me, he knows me well and realizes climbing in here is tame in comparison to half the shit the two of us did growing up.”
“Huh.” How had she not known this?
Levi cocked his head. “You know him?”
“He lives next door to the house I’m staying in. He’s a good guy.”
“The best,” Levi agreed. “And he cleared me for whatever I felt up to doing.” He grinned and she was momentarily stunned by all the sexy testosterone and pheromones.
“You are a menace,” she decided.
“And you’re here at the store. Either you missed me or you need something.”
As far as guesses went, it was fairly accurate. Not that she would admit it. He studied her. “Interesting.” His eyes were lit with good humor. “You’re here to agree to go to a family dinner as my girlfriend.”
“Fake girlfriend,” she said. “And . . .” She bit her lower lip. “Maybe.”
“I like the maybe.” He gestured to the wall. “Want to try?”
She opened her mouth to say he was delusional, but he raised a brow, his eyes filled with the unspoken dare. And damn if her competitive nature didn’t have her lifting her chin. “I’m not trained.”
“We’ve got an expert on staff.”
“Where?”
He smiled.
“You?”
He shrugged. “Seen a guy do it once or twice.”
She narrowed her eyes and he laughed. “Grew up climbing this wall. And every mountain peak around here. And did I mention there are Calk Walk cookies ’n’ cream cupcakes for people who climb?” he asked.
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re teasing me.”
“When I’m teasing you, you’ll know it.”
Okay, so there went the funny quiver low in her belly again. She pointed to the shortest of the three walls, the single-story one. “What are my chances of dying on that?”
“On average, there’s two point five accidents per ten thousand hours of mountaineering.”
“Two point five?” she asked in disbelief. “How do you get a point five fall? Do you half fall or what?”
He grinned at her. “It’s just a statistic.”
“But it doesn’t make any sense.”
“Neither does the bravest woman I’ve ever met turning down a simple challenge.”
The bravest woman he ever met was stunned. She’d never thought of herself as particularly courageous. In fact, she often felt the opposite. Running scared from connections, ties, roots . . .
Maybe it was time to stop running. She blew out a breath. “Any tips?”
“Don’t look down.”
She laughed and then tipped her head back to take a closer look at the wall. The highest one, where Levi had been, was actually inverted for the last ten feet, making her shudder in horror. The middle peak looked only slightly less intimidating, but the lowest one . . . there were two kids on it. How hard could it be? “Okay. But that one.”
He got her harnessed so quick that she knew that he knew she was a flight risk. “Safety first,” he quipped, using her words from the night of the blizzard.
She snorted. “‘Safety first’ is a bunch of crap you say only when you’re worried or a complete idiot.”
He smiled. “Do I look like either of those things?”
She had to admit he did not.
After a surprisingly professional rundown on what exactly she’d be doing and when, he added, “I’ll be climbing too and will be right beside you the whole time. Dusty will be belaying you. I promise you’re perfectly safe.”
She looked over at Dusty, who’d come back when Levi had gestured for him. “Look,” she said, “I’m sure you’re nice and all, but I’m not big on blind trust.”
“You already signed on for the blind trust program when you filled out the release form,” Dusty said.
“Um . . .”
Dusty flashed a grin.
“Not funny. If I fall—”
“You won’t,” Levi said. “Dusty will be right below you on the rope. He’s on the local search-and-rescue team and is the best of the best.”
Jane stared at Dusty. “I knew you looked familiar. You were there that night of the blizzard.”
Dusty’s smile faded and he nodded. “Yeah, and that was the closest you’re going to come to dying on my watch. You got your necklace back?”
She pulled it out from beneath the neckline of her sweater. “Yes. Thank you so much.”
“Don’t thank me, thank him,” Dusty said, nodding at Levi.
Levi’s gaze locked with and held on to hers.
“He said he’d do whatever he had to in order to get it back to you,” Dusty said. “You okay with heights?”
Jane jerked her gaze from Levi with some difficulty. She felt a little dizzy with the rapid subject change. Or maybe it was from realizing what a good guy Levi really was. “I’m better with heights than enclosed spaces.”
Dusty laughed softly in commiseration. “Say stop at any time, and we’ll get you down.”
She smiled her thanks and turned to Levi. “So I need a real live belayer, but you don’t?”
“Yes,” Levi said firmly.
Dusty nodded.
All righty then. She began to climb, with both men quietly, calmly offering helpful tips. As he’d promised, Levi was right at her side. Whenever she struggled to find the right hand- or foothold, he’d make a suggestion with a quick explanation, and though she wanted to say, “I do it!” like a toddler, she listened to what he was saying and began to understand—and get into—the rhythm.
Until she looked down to check her progress. Stupid, stupid move. The ground felt a mile away, and instantly her head spun and she thought she was going to throw up.
“Jane.”
She dropped her forehead to the rock, closed her eyes, and gulped i
n air. “Sorry, can’t talk right now, very busy having a panic attack.”
Levi curled an arm around her. “Breathe,” he said softly into her ear. “Just breathe for a minute.”
She opened her mouth to tell him she was already breathing, only to realize she actually wasn’t. Dammit. Her heart pounded in her ears and the muscles in her legs trembled. Logically, she knew she couldn’t fall, but mentally it was a whole other ball game.
“You’re doing great. And you’re safe, I promise.” He had an arm around her. “You can’t slip or fall. The rope has you. Dusty has you. And I’ve got you.”
I’ve got you . . .
And suddenly she was even more scared. Not at the idea of falling. Not of suddenly knowing that she was definitely going to agree to be his pretend girlfriend. Not even at the idea of spending an evening having dinner with his family—well, okay, so she was a little scared of that.
But what scared her most was the idea of him having her back.
When was the last time she could say that about a man? She couldn’t remember. Unable to help herself, she took another peek down and let out a wimpy whimper. “It’s like the blizzard all over again.”
“Except there’s no wind, no snow, and we’re not dangling seven hundred and fifty feet in the air.”
“Wait— Seven hundred and fifty? That night you told me we were at five hundred and fifty!”
“Is there really a difference?”
Good point, but she opened her eyes to glare at him anyway. His gray eyes weren’t stormy today, they were a shiny silver. And damn, he had long dark lashes that wouldn’t require mascara. “Unfair,” she whispered.
“That I lied?”
“That you have ridiculously long eyelashes.”
His lips quirked and her gaze went rogue, dropping to his mouth, which slowly curved as she watched.
“Jane?”
“Hmmm?”
“We going to finish this climb?”
“Yes. And I’m going to beat you to the top.” She had no idea why she said that. Oh, wait, yes she did. She couldn’t handle losing.
Apparently amused by her competitive spirit, he laughed, but she went back to climbing. And a few sweaty minutes later, she had to admit, it actually was a huge rush, even when she faltered or took a moment to find the right hold. And when she scrambled to the top and rang the bell, she found herself sweating and smiling from what felt like Mount Everest. A twelve-foot-high Mount Everest. “I did it.”
Levi grinned at her. “You did.”
She nodded and then sat right there at the top because her knees were knocking. He handed her a bottle of water and sat with her. “I’m impressed,” he said. “Turns out, you’re a badass in an emergency, and a badass in a competition.” He smiled. “I like it. I like you, Jane.”
She snorted the water up her nose and then choked.
He rubbed her back until she could breathe. “So you aren’t comfortable with compliments. Noted.”
Actually, it was the “I like you,” which she hadn’t expected. Or her own reaction. She played with the condensation on the water bottle. “So . . . about that pretend girlfriend thing. I’ve got questions. And stipulations.”
“Hit me.”
“You’ve got a close-knit family.”
“If by close-knit you mean half the time we want to kill each other, then yes.”
She met his gaze then. “Look, I assume from how important it was to you that you call them when you thought we were going to die, that they love you very much. I just don’t want to be the one to screw that up for you.”
He looked baffled. “How could you possibly screw it up?”
“Trust me. Families don’t like me.” Starting with her own . . .
“Jane, there’s no way they aren’t going to immediately fall in love with you.”
She felt her face heat up and got annoyed at herself. “I’m . . .” She searched for a way to make him understand. “I’ve got a weird sense of humor. I laugh at things no one else thinks is funny. I’m sarcastic. I say what I think, and it’s not always . . . nice.”
“There you go,” he said. “You’ll fit right in.”
She stared at him. Why wasn’t he scared off?
“What else?” he asked.
She took a deep breath. “What would this thing entail exactly? I mean, nothing . . . physical, right? Pretend or otherwise?”
When he spoke, his voice was serious now. “I wouldn’t want pretend physical anything from anyone. Especially you, Jane.”
She frowned. “Because . . .”
That got her a small smile. “I think I’ll let you wrestle with that one.”
She drew a deep breath. Oh boy . . .
“You mentioned stipulations,” he said, sounding amused.
She nodded and tried to remember what they were. “You have to promise me that this thing stays pretend no matter what, that you won’t fall for me.”
He smiled.
She pointed at him. “Hey! It could happen!”
His smile faded. “I have no doubt.”
Her heart did a somersault. “Promise me,” she whispered.
He was quiet a moment. “I get it,” he finally said. “Us falling for each other wouldn’t be smart. We’re both leaving Sunrise Cove sooner rather than later, and we lead very different lives that would make it nearly impossible to maintain a relationship.”
Well, if he was going to be all grown up about it . . . And yet, she appreciated that. His honesty. She appreciated it a lot, and it made her feel a whole lot better about things.
“My turn for a question,” he said. “You mentioned not really having a family. What happened to yours?”
Moment of truth. She looked away, eyed the high warehouse ceiling and the lighting, the people milling in the store—
“Jane?”
“I’m not in contact with them.”
Gently he turned her face back to his. “None of them?”
“Not in a long time, no.”
“Jane,” he said softly.
“Believe me, it was for the best.”
“What happened?”
She shrugged. “I got bounced around a lot as a child between anyone even halfway related to me. Kind of soured me on the idea of family.” She shrugged again and even smiled, though she hated to talk about her childhood.
Hated.
And then there was the way Levi was looking at her, like he felt sorry for her. The thought of anyone pitying her made her feel anxious again, and though she knew how much worse it could have been—that she’d had her basic needs taken care of, had never gone hungry or without clothes—thinking back on her life never failed to make her feel like a spare button, the ones that came attached to new sweaters but were easily removed and tossed aside. “My turn now,” she said. “Do fake girlfriends get the friends and family discount?”
He laughed, breaking the emotional tension, but his eyes remained serious. “Fake girlfriends get whatever they want. Why?”
“I was hoping to buy my roommate the jacket sitting at the checkout counter.”
He smiled. “Smart. Funny. Sexy. And a shrewd businesswoman. You got it. So . . . we’re doing my parents’ dinner party?”
“Yes.”
He nodded. “We should probably spend a little time getting to know each other before the dinner.”
She blinked. “Like a date?”
“Great idea,” he said. “Yes, a date.”
She stared at him.
He smiled.
She narrowed her eyes. “Did you just trick me into going out with you?”
“Or . . . did you just trick me into getting the discount?” he countered.
She had to laugh. “Smooth. We’re talking a pretend date, though, right?”
“Whatever you want, whenever you want. Just name the time and place.”
She hesitated, shockingly tempted. “I don’t know . . .”
“If it helps, you could consider it a fact-finding mi
ssion on your pretend boyfriend. We can get to know each other.”
“When I’m ready.”
“When you’re ready,” he agreed.
At just the thought of what she was agreeing to, meeting his family while playing a role that she’d never been any good at—doting girlfriend—she quivered with more nerves than she’d battled while climbing up this wall.
Levi’s mouth curved, like maybe he was reading her thoughts. “You trust me, Jane?”
“No.”
“Damn.” But he was grinning again, clearly, unabashedly not worried. “Then this isn’t going to be nearly as much fun.”
“What isn’t?”
He stood and took her hand, pulling her back to the edge of the wall.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“My first act as your boyfriend is to get you safely to the ground.”
“Pretend boyfriend,” she corrected, and then screamed all the way down.
Chapter 10
Charlotte cranked up the radio and mainlined a huge mug of black coffee to keep herself awake as she drove home from her shift. She was coming off twenty-four straight hours in the OR, and thanks to the season and all its icy snow, she’d been on her feet the entire time.
Car accident victims had arrived on top of car accident victims. Heaven forbid people slow down or take the road conditions into account as they leave their cities and hit the mountains. Nope, they were on vacation, so caution went out the window.
She used the drive home to decompress. She breathed deeply and calmly, sang along with the radio even though she couldn’t carry a tune, and did her best to stick with happy thoughts. All to shed off the horrors of the day, the shocking and devastating results of those accidents that rivaled any episode of Grey’s Anatomy she’d ever seen.
By the time she parked at the top of her driveway, she felt almost human again, and out of habit, glanced over at Mateo’s house. No vehicle in the driveway. He hadn’t been on shift, but he wasn’t home either. At the crack of dawn.
Doing her best not to think about whose bed he was in if he wasn’t in his own, she let herself inside her house. It was quiet. Empty. She knew Zoe and Mariella were at work. She had no idea where Jane was. There was a stick-it note on the fridge in Jane’s scrawl that read Don’t worry.