“Stop that.”
“Stop what?”
A fingernail poked him in the chest. “If you want to sexy loom, bring it on. Sexy loom to your heart’s content. You see this?” She gestured to herself, neck to knees. “Unaffected. Un…a…ffected.”
“You’re wasting a lot of effort trying to convince me of a lot of things today.”
“And you’re going to see what happens when you try to force a cowgirl into a corner. We don’t wait patiently for someone to save us. Or dance with us. Or do that Dirty Dancing lifting move. We are not doing any lifting moves, Easton.”
Barking out a laugh, he stepped back. “I have literally no idea what to say to that.”
River exhaled a hard breath, eyes lingering on his shoulders, then sliding down to his chest and abdomen. “You realize it’s only seven in the morning, and you’ve got me ready to start some hard drinking.”
“It’s nine. You spent two hours not listening to the safety talk.”
“It’s still day drinking.”
An old, life-weary Jeep pulled up to the parking lot, looking like it could use a drink or two as well. The driver, a fit climber in his early twenties, popped out with an enthusiastic wave.
“Hey, man,” Ben greeted Easton, a hand clasp turning into a hug. “Boy, you surprised me this morning. Can’t say I mind though. You know I love taking a run at the Old Man anytime I can.”
“Congratulations, folks,” Jessie murmured into his camera. “We’ve found another overly developed male specimen. This one had daddy issues and is two feet shorter than our monotone leader, which will help tell them apart.”
Easton gave River a pained look, but she shrugged. “Hey, I only pay him. I don’t control him. Your climb, right? Us peons have to do as we’re told.”
Turning to the entire group, Easton made introductions. “Ben, these are the three stooges. Get ready to sign a ridiculous amount of paperwork to be in their company. Three stooges, this is Ben. He’s coming with us. Congratulations, you have yourself better than a two to one client-guide ratio.”
“Almost a private tour,” Ben added cheerfully, reaching over to shake everyone’s hands. The poor guy almost swallowed his tongue when he set eyes on Bree. Ben mumbled under his breath to Easton. “Damn, that woman is beautiful. How do you work with her without going all tongue-tied?”
Bree raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t her “love at first sight” eyebrow.
“Don’t hit on my crew, Ben,” River said firmly. “Especially if they’re not interested.”
Jessie peered over the top of his camera. “I think she put you in your place.”
Ben seemed crestfallen, but only for a moment. Then he grinned at them. “A trip up the Old Man is always better than staying at home. I’ll take it.”
“Hey,” Ash yelled. “I’ve got more jobs to do today than hauling you lot around. Stop flirting and start grabbing your crap.”
Throwing him a smirk, River looked at Easton. “She’s talking to you.”
“She’s talking to you.”
“She’s talking to all of you,” Jessie decided, stealing the copilot seat. “All right, people. Tuck your sex drives in your back pockets. Let’s make a documentary.”
If looks could kill, Ash would have flown them right into the mountainside. Instead, she started the rotor, checking her instruments one last time.
“If anyone asks, I was not party to any of this,” his sister muttered under her breath.
River waggled her eyebrows at him as she followed Bree into the helicopter. “Welcome to the dark side, Easton.”
Considering the view as he climbed in after her, Easton figured this once, the dark side was worth it.
Chapter 9
River had flown before, and she’d even been in a helicopter. But nothing had prepared her for the reality of flying to Mount Veil.
The heavy whip of the rotor blades above her head drowned out everything but the rapid beating of her heart. Below her feet, the flat, sparsely vegetated tundra gave way to huge slabs of rock thrusting into the sky, peaks speckled white with snow despite the summer warmth. In the distance, growing closer by the second, was a mountain rising higher than the rest. A beautiful behemoth of ice and snow, darkened below the tree line with thick evergreen cover.
River had never seen anything so exciting—and so frightening—in her life.
“That’s Mount Veil,” Easton informed them, speaking louder to be heard over the rotor blades as they approached.
That was her film. That was what she would climb. Without thinking, River reached over and gripped Easton’s hand. She couldn’t remember the last time she had wanted to do something as much as she wanted to climb the mountain before them. The challenge was intense, and that was what she loved about it.
“You ready?” He gave her fingers a light squeeze.
“So ready,” River replied.
The helicopter was strong, but it wasn’t big enough to carry all of them and their gear. This first trip was River, her team, and Easton, and then Ben and the supplies would follow. So far, the flight out had consisted of listening to Bree and Jessie argue about light reflection in the aircraft’s windows while River stared in wonder through the lens of her own eyes.
Wedged in between River and the door, Easton didn’t look very comfortable. Every so often, she would glance over at him, and more than once, his eyes had been on her instead of looking at the insane view around them.
Maybe he was used to this place, but still…she couldn’t help her racing heartbeat from being the center of his attention.
“You might want to look out the window,” Easton suggested. “You’ll be too tired to care about a pretty view when we’re on the way back home.”
“Some views are better than others,” River said teasingly. Because, well, she’d been doing some looking too.
Instead of flushing or turning away, he held her eyes. Overly aware of the pressure of his hip against her own and her hand still gripping his, River inhaled a deep breath. The motion caused his gaze to flicker down, and she snickered at the expression on his face when Easton realized he was totally busted checking her out.
“You’re determined to get me in trouble out here, aren’t you?” he murmured ruefully.
River released his hand. “Hey, what happens on the mountain stays on the mountain.”
“Unless we film everything,” Bree piped up, changing the angle of the camera braced against her shoulder. “Then whatever happens on the mountain will be up for mass consumption.”
“Am I going to have to call a hand check on you two?” Ash asked. “Hold on, kids. This part always gets rough.”
The closer they got to Mount Veil, the bumpier the ride became. They angled upward instead of setting down at the base, flying higher on the heavily forested mountainside than River would have expected.
“Why aren’t we starting down on the tundra?” River asked as the trees started to thin with the higher elevation. “Aren’t we climbing the entire thing?”
“We’re starting below the tree line so I can get a grasp of your skill levels,” he explained. “No point heading up there unless you can handle it down here.”
“Aren’t we missing all the wildlife down there?”
“That’s some of the most heavily populated grizzly country in these parts. Do you want to climb, or do you want to be eaten for dinner?”
Even though his voice was teasing, River cringed. “Good point. Keep flying, Ash.”
The landing was smoother than the approach, despite setting down on an open slab of what looked to be granite. At their pilot’s direction, they hopped out with their filming gear, then waited for Ash to go back for Ben and the rest of their supplies.
The view from the mountainside wasn’t as grand in scale as it had been in the air, but it was equally impressive in its own ri
ght. Everywhere they turned, mountains rose around them. The thick, heady scent of evergreen overwhelmed her senses. They’d dressed for the weather, but the lower temperature at this elevation caused her lungs to inhale cold, fresh air with every breath.
She loved it.
“Is that really necessary?” River turned to see Easton grimacing at Jessie and the camera pointed his direction. “I thought you wouldn’t be filming me.”
Undeterred, Jessie continued filming. “We agreed to only minimally film you. It’s a small mountain and you’re a huge guy. At some point, the cameras will have no choice. Sorry, it’s part of the deal. What’s the point of having a documentary if we’re not going to document any of it?”
“I thought the rule was knees only.”
“You can go thigh level, Jessie,” River said, having sympathy for their guide.
Yes, he’d signed the paperwork. Yes, he knew he would be on film, but they’d assured Easton the camera would only turn his way when necessary. But it was clear he was far from comfortable being filmed, and there was no reason to make him twitchy now, when technically, Ash was coming back with an escape route. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that Easton could jump ship and leave them there.
The crisp, clean air wiped free the lingering worries and doubts River hadn’t realized she still felt about this project. Gazing up at the mountain above them, River couldn’t help but turn a circle, arms outstretched as she soaked it all in.
“Ignore her,” Bree suggested to Easton as she passed by, camera panning their surroundings. “She gets like this every time we’re away from civilization.”
“Yeah.” Easton nodded at River. “Me too.”
Then he was forced to sidestep, because Bree was going to film where he was standing, and it was either move out of her way or get stepped on.
“So what’s the plan?” River asked, hoping to distract him away from the crew.
“We wait for Ben, gear up, and start for that ridge.” He pointed up the mountain a solid thousand feet above their heads. “There’s a few stops along the way that might make for a good shot for you.” One wide shoulder shrugged. “I’m guessing on that. Not quite sure what you’re looking for up here. I usually take people up and get them back down again.”
“If there’s anything cool you can think of,” River said, “I’d love to film it. Otherwise, we’ll grab what we can get along the way.”
She craned her neck, trying and failing to see the summit above them. The cloud cover was too low, blocking their goal from view. “I can’t imagine having a lack of amazing footage from here.”
River’s theory wasn’t wrong. In the time it took for Ash and Ben to return, both her camera crew had wandered off in opposite directions, filming everything around them. Easton led the way as Ben trailed behind, making sure no one got lost. Ben was a fun, likable presence as they hiked. Unlike Easton, he was happy being on camera, sharing tales of Moose Springs as they headed for the ridge Easton had indicated.
The day’s climb wasn’t easy, but River loved every minute of it. Stuck on a climbing wall in LA was nothing compared to being out here, the wind in her hair and real rock beneath her gloved fingertips. A sea of mountains in every direction, with Veil itself rising above her, taunting her with its elusive summit.
But, man, it was cold. And as the sun drifted lower on the horizon, the cold only increased.
“You can almost forget it’s summer, huh?” she murmured as they set up camp beneath an alcove of overhanging rock.
The new tents she’d purchased for the climb were tricky. Like the rest of her crew, River was struggling to put up her tent, and it didn’t miss her attention that Easton was watching them all with a critical eye.
“I could put up my other tent while blindfolded in a blizzard,” she told him. “Keep your judgy looks to yourself.”
She knew when he was standing over her because the guy was massive, and the shadow on the ground was massive too.
“If you’re going to lurk, please do so out of my light.” River nodded her head toward her crew. “If you’re bored, Jessie could use some more stock footage right now.”
The beard twitched, giving him away. “You really want to be caught on film putting this up wrong?”
“It’s not wrong, it’s…” Breathing a soft curse, River realized he was right. “I would have noticed that. Trust me, I can stand over you and find lots of things to point out you’re doing wrong too, buddy.”
Dropping down to his heels didn’t make him seem much shorter, not with those broad shoulders and muscled chest. But his normally deadpanned face was creased with humor.
“You aren’t intimidated by me at all, are you?”
“Is there any reason I should be?” River arched an eyebrow at him.
Chuckling, Easton shook his head. “Not that I can think of. I already set up my tent, and we don’t need the dining tent until we get to the snow. Want some help?”
“Nope, but I appreciate the offer.” River’s name might have been fake, but her spine was strong as steel and true. She could, and would, set up her own tent.
“You remind me of whisky,” Easton murmured.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Depends on how long I stay within arm’s reach.”
River wasn’t sure what to say about that, but if she was whisky, he was the biggest, most decadent brownie. And chocolate sauce.
Easton was all the chocolate sauce.
“Why do I have a feeling I don’t want to know what you’re thinking?”
“My mind’s a wild, sticky, confusing place,” River admitted. “Trust me, I don’t want to think what I’m thinking either.”
This time, he didn’t ask. Easton simply took the piece of her tent frame she couldn’t figure out and locked it into place, a casual action by someone who actually could do this with his eyes closed.
“You’re my kind of confusing.” His eyes sparkled with humor. “And you might want to film that.”
“Film what?”
“The grizzly watching us right now.”
He nodded toward the edge of the ridge, some twenty feet away. Sure enough, a grizzly bear was standing there, watching them curiously. At which point River learned something very important about herself. She wasn’t the best at putting up a tent, but at least she didn’t run screaming when a four-hundred-pound grizzly with allergies sneezed.
Jessie would never be able to say the same. Never had River seen anyone panic to the extent Jessie panicked upon realizing there was a bear in their camp.
“Stop, drop, and roll!” Bree kept yelling to Jessie as he shrieked and panicked…doing all the things one was not supposed to do in the presence of an apex predator. “Don’t climb the tree! People, Jessie climbed the tree.”
Ben stood there, fingers wrapped around the bear spray in his hand, looking concerned for the first time that day. “Dude. That’s a great way to get eaten.”
“No one will eat Jessie,” Bree decided as the bear gave them some serious side-eye before lumbering away. “There’s not enough to eat.”
As Jessie and Bree immediately started arguing about who had the better survival instincts, River glanced at their guide.
“We’re not making it off the mountain alive, are we?” River asked him as Jessie started to climb down from his tree.
“You will,” Easton said as he rose to his feet. “No promises on the rest of them.”
• • •
Easton didn’t know when the marmot started following them.
Marmots tended to be shy creatures, similar in appearance to beavers and cute as could be with their tiny faces and mass of fluffy fur. The movement of this one caught his eye as they hiked, but Easton was used to seeing marmots in the bush. They tended to live at or below the tree line, but sometimes they lived higher. He doub
ted one would be camped out on the summit waiting for them, but they were as likely to hang out at high elevations as Dall sheep.
He figured it would disappear at some point, but for some reason, it paralleled their path as they passed through the tree line at eleven thousand feet. Here the world was ice and snow. Still, it hung close, at first staying even with Ben, then moving up to Bree. It tried Jessie, then River, but like Goldilocks and the three bears, apparently Easton was just right.
The marmot stayed with him.
Easton tried to ignore it when the thing started making chittering noises at him. Because, well, it kind of sounded like the marmot was talking to him. Which was weird. What was weirder was when it decided to walk closer, keeping up the running commentary.
“What’s with the furball?” Ben called up. “I’ve never seen a marmot this friendly.”
“Yeah, Easton,” Bree said. “I think someone has a crush on you.”
“Don’t tease him.” River pointed at the marmot. “Tease him and film it. Come on, people. This is gold.”
Easton stopped in his tracks, well aware of the camera on him as he turned to look down at the animal at his feet.
“What?” he asked the marmot. “Did you need something?”
Apparently, it needed to be acknowledged and maybe a hug, because it scooted nearer and all but stood on his foot, gazing up at him with beady, soulful eyes.
“Do you think it’s all the hair?” Bree asked softly. “Maybe the marmot thinks Easton’s a really big, grumpier marmot. Are you getting this, Jessie?”
“I’m already on it.” With a purr of satisfaction, Jessie knelt at marmot level. “Easton, what’s its name?”
“How should I know?” Easton said, knowing they were making fun of him. But when he saw the huge grin on River’s face, the part of him that became stupider in her presence grudgingly played along. “The idiot with the camera wants to know what your name is.”
The marmot chirped.
“It said it refuses to be defined by the confines of a name. It’s far too cosmopolitan for that.” Okay, that was worth the soft peal of delight he pulled from River. “Come on, people. We have a schedule here.”
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