Chapter Eight
A fter climbing up to the first zip line launch platform with Drew, Peyton turned in a complete circle so she wouldn’t miss any of the glorious vista that seemed to go on forever. She could have stood there a long time appreciating the view, but there were thrills to be had.
After the operator attached her trolley and harness to the line, Peyton lifted her feet off the first wood and concrete launch platform and settled her weight on the harness anchored behind her thighs. The same sort of buzzing excitement she experienced right before nodding for the bucking chute gate to be pulled open zinged through her. Only this time without the chaser of fear.
With both hands on the trolley’s brake control handle, she leaned back to be able to see around the young woman operator to where Drew was being attached to the cable next to her.
“You ready, Dr. Drew?”
“And if I’m not?”
The operator paused, glancing at Drew’s face.
He closed his eyes and gave a quick shake of his head to let her know he didn’t mean it.
Peyton grinned. She’d known he’d be game. He wouldn’t have taken on the challenge of riding herd on someone like her if he weren’t. The guy was starting to grow on her.
When the operator gave them the good to go, Peyton said, “Race you, Doc!” She pulled down on the hand brake to release the trolley from the cable, hitched herself forward enough to start the trolley along the thick cable as they’d been taught during the training, and away she went. They didn’t call this zip-lining for nothing.
“Wooohooo!” Peyton exclaimed as she quickly gained speed until she was going so fast her eyes teared up from the brisk alpine air rushing by.
A masculine “Yeah!” sounded next to her, and she turned in time to see Drew blast by her through her watery vision. His much larger body obviously generated more momentum than hers. Every competitive fiber in her, which she already knew to be pretty much all of her fibers, screamed for her to catch up and pass him. But gravity was in charge at the moment.
As they approached the large slow sign on the ground, she heard Drew apply the hand brake to his trolley, gradually slowing his descent.
Peyton didn’t, continuing at full speed until she flew past him. Yes.
“Peyton!” she heard him yell from somewhere behind her.
Judging the distance remaining between herself and the platform, where the operator was frantically signaling her to slow with flapping arms, Peyton pushed up on the brake. A little at first, but as the platform rushed toward her and the operator braced himself to catch her, she jammed the brake upward with all her might.
With a whirring scream, Peyton’s trolley brake caught hold, and she arrived at the platform under control.
Mostly.
Her trolley hit the huge, thick metal spring with a very loud, and very embarrassing, clank , stopping her with a jolt that was mitigated by the lanky young man who caught her by the waist.
Peyton gave him an apologetic smile as he lowered her to her feet and released her trolley from the cable. She told him, “Wow, you’re brave. Good thing I didn’t kick you in the face.” She lifted a booted foot.
“I have tons of practice.” He winked at her.
Drew arrived at the platform, under complete control. At least under control of his speed of descent. His temper, not so much. “Peyton! What the hell?”
She winked back at the operator. “Oops.”
He gave a what can you do shrug and tucked her trolley into her backpack for the walk over to the next launch tower.
The minute Drew had been freed of the cable, he stomped toward her. The other operator, a young woman not much taller than Peyton, followed on tippy-toes so she could tuck his trolley into his matching black backpack.
“I know you saw the sign, Peyton. Why didn’t you slow down?” His ice-blue eyes were again filled with the heat she was starting to really like.
“Because we were racing, silly.” Peyton headed for the stairs down from the landing platform and the path to the next launching platform. Over her shoulder, she said, “I won, in case you didn’t notice.”
His frustrated groan made her smile. Who knew he’d turn out to be so much fun?
As they walked the twenty feet or so to the next tall, poured concrete launch tower, obviously built to withstand the harsh winter conditions so far up the mountain, Peyton asked Drew, “You thought that was fun, right?”
“Expecting to see you splat into a concrete wall like a bug on a windshield was a real hoot,” he answered sourly.
She laughed. “Oh, come on. Didn’t you see that fine young gentleman ready and waiting to catch me?”
Drew snorted. “I’m pretty sure he was shitting himself watching you hurtling toward him, squealing like a mad woman.”
“I was not squealing. I’ve never squealed in my life.”
“If you say so.” He waved for her to precede him up the stairs to the next launch platform.
She laughed again, a bubble of happiness growing to the point of exploding in her chest. This was a good day.
And when she was flying down the next section of zip line, she told herself that out of consideration for the poor zip-line employee waiting at the end of the line, she was ready to apply the brake when told by the huge slow sign that appeared among the volcanic rock. But when her momentum swung her legs toward Drew, she saw him keeping pace with her on their descent with a look of either worry or appreciation on his face, she really couldn’t tell. She found herself pushing up on the brake until her trolley whined out of consideration for him.
Drew must have slowed, also, because they arrived at the landing platform together. The smile he sent her completely derailed her brain. The operator had to tell her twice to put her feet down so she could be detached from the cable.
Okay, so he was a handsome guy. A very handsome guy. But she’d spent her entire life around handsome guys. Drew shouldn’t be any different. She just had to keep telling herself as much.
They walked down the stairs from the landing tower together and headed toward the next, and last, launching platform.
Picking her way over the loose rocks, Peyton said, “This is fun. Don’t you think this is fun?”
Drew grunted.
Peyton glanced up at him to see if it was a good grunt or a bad grunt. The corners of his mouth were curled upward in a definite smile. A sneaky smile, but still a smile.
A good grunt. She felt like skipping.
They rounded a large boulder, and instead of skipping, Peyton abruptly stopped. Before her was the most magnificent view she’d ever seen. Snow-topped mountains, some smaller than the one they were currently working their way down and other, much larger peaks appeared stunningly close. The blue of the sky was so blue, the white snow gleamed, the water in puddle-like lakes sparkled in the sun, and the green of the forests covering the lower hills was the most vibrant she’d ever seen.
She threw out a hand to stop Drew. “Quick, get my phone out of my backpack pocket. Please?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He stepped behind her and moved her ponytail out of the way by sweeping it over her shoulder. His fingers brushed along her neck and sent delicious little shivers down her spine. Her breath froze, and she found herself wanting more.
Which was stupid as hell. Drew was a doctor. She didn’t do doctors. On so many levels.
But he merely fished her phone out of the zippered, smaller pocket of the black backpack and stepped away.
“What a sight,” she breathed out.
When he moved around her to hand the phone over, he was smiling outright.
Her gaze hung up on his now even more handsome face. Drew Neisson had one hell of a smile. But he wasn’t any different from all the other handsome cowboys she knew, she reminded herself.
Nevertheless, she still found herself saying, “You should do that more,” as she took her phone from him.
“Do what?”
“Smile.” She touched the screen of her phone and accessed the camera app. Moving away from him to better frame the photo, she said, “You have a very winning smile.”
“Winning?” He sounded skeptical.
Tempting, actually. “Yes, winning.”
Again with the grunt.
Peyton found herself smiling as she took several amazing photos.
She heard the telltale sound of a photo being taken behind her and turned to see Drew just lowering his smartphone. He’d slipped his backpack off to get his own phone out.
He shrugged. “It is a pretty view.”
Heat blossomed in her chest and spread up her neck to her face. She had no idea if it was caused by pleasure or embarrassment.
Drew gestured her toward him. “Come here. I’ll put your phone back in the zip pocket. It’d be a shame for you to lose it now.”
As she went to him, he bent to replace his own phone, then straightened to take her phone. She turned and allowed him to secure her phone in the backpack she still wore. She could have sworn his hand lingered on her neck and shoulder when he moved her ponytail again. The first time had probably been accidental, but this time, his touch had seemed more purposeful. She shivered as she stepped away, and he was forced to retrieve and don his own backpack.
Peyton was suddenly overheated. How could the sun have grown so hot so fast?
Knowing that careening down a mountain while dangling from a cable was a sure way to cool off, Peyton wasted no time getting up the next launch tower. Luckily, Drew kept up.
The last leg of the zip-line tour was the longest, steepest, and fastest. Peyton couldn’t wait.
And judging from the look on Drew’s face as their trolleys were being attached to the cable and they were attached to the carriage, he was anticipating the ride with the same sort of excitement.
A ridiculous amount of self-satisfaction swelled throughout Peyton.
She’d known she could get Dr. Button-down to loosen up and enjoy living.
*
Drew pushed up on the trolley hand brake to slow his descent enough to keep him even with the hooting and hollering beautiful redhead riding the zip line a little under seven feet away from him. Just the sight of her, feet kicking and long red ponytail streaming behind her, made him smile.
She really was something.
Though they had been instructed, repeatedly, to keep both hands on the brake at all times, when Peyton saw him looking her way, she released the brake with one hand to point at him as she let loose another long and loud “Woooo!” including him in her revelry.
Normally, seeing someone put themselves at risk would send him into British nanny mode, but there was something about Peyton’s brand of recklessness, at least when he knew she was safely strapped into a three-point harness, that loosened something in his chest. Something that had had a vise grip on him since he’d been a child, lingering unseen in the corner of his mother’s sickroom.
But loosened did not equal gone. And considering the future he’d always wanted was dependent on him keeping her safe from harm, any kind of harm, he yelled, “Both hands on the brake, Peyton!”
She fist-pumped instead.
He was about to yell at her again when they passed over the slow sign propped up on the ground, and Peyton dutifully grabbed hold of the brake with both hands and pushed up to slow her descent.
Good girl.
He found himself grinning when he reached the platform.
He looked to Peyton, and she pointed at him again. “Ha! I knew it. You’re having fun.”
“I’m just happy you didn’t slam into that big metal coil and embarrass us again.”
“I wasn’t embarrassed,” she retorted.
“That’s okay. I was embarrassed enough for both of us.”
She laughed, obviously not buying it. “Poor Dr. Drew.”
He realized he was grinning again. But he still had to keep her safe.
As they walked down the stairs of the last landing pad, he lifted her backpack up off her shoulders. “Unfasten this so I can carry it.”
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “I’ve carried it all the way down the mountain. I’m pretty sure I can manage this last leg.” She gestured to the elevated yurts about thirty feet away where they would return their gear and reclaim their belongings.
“I know you can.” He’d seen her successfully ride Karen From Finance. He was pretty sure Peyton Halliday could carry any load she set her mind to shouldering. “But I want to carry it for you. My masculinity demands it.”
She turned toward him, her beautiful smile wide. “Being a fan of your brand of masculinity, who am I to deny it?” She pulled her chin back and blinked as if stunned by what she’d said.
Had she really meant to say she was a fan of his masculinity? The notion actually made his chest puff up a little.
But then her smile broadened, and she reached up to unfastened the clasp holding the backpack secure over her chest. Drew’s gaze automatically went to how the letters on her Cowboys shirt were squished together, among other things, leaving just the C and b visible until she released the clasp.
He held his hand out for the backpack as she shrugged it off.
“My hero.” She sent him an exaggerated smile that scrunched her face up in the most adorable way.
The girl definitely had cojonas.
He liked it.
And he also knew the only way he would keep her from accepting any challenge that came her way was to keep her busy doing safer things.
He took the backpack from her. “I live to serve.”
“Is that why you became a doctor?”
“No.”
She stopped abruptly and met his eyes.
He hadn’t meant to answer so sharply. But he’d told her the truth.
He pulled his gaze from the concerned glow of her hazel eyes and looked toward the day lodge. “Seeing as my Reuben has been sitting in a hot truck for a couple of hours, you game for grabbing a bite to eat here?”
She snuck a peek at her watch. She was obviously calculating how much time they had until the women’s exhibition rides before tonight’s official start of the rodeo. Drew knew exactly how much time they had.
The exact amount of time he needed to waste.
“Sure.” Her bright smile was back.
It struck Drew that this particular smile of hers might not be genuine. Interesting.
He chewed on the prospect as they climbed the stairs to the yurt platform and placed the backpacks containing their trolleys in the designated bins after retrieving their cell phones and Drew’s truck keys from the packs’ zippered pocket. The helmets went in a different bin and their harnesses in another.
As a bronc rider, he knew she had exceptional balance, but he couldn’t help himself from offering her a hand to help her remain steady as she stepped out of her harness. She accepted his help, sliding her hand into his. Her hand was small, calloused, and strong. He liked the way it felt within his.
The zip-line employee who’d taken their paperwork when they’d first arrived brought their cowboy hats to them, having retrieved them from the cubby shelf they’d left them in.
Drew released Peyton’s hand so she could take her hat and plant it on her head. She did so without looking at him.
After tipping the staff, Drew followed Peyton back toward the lodge. Her attention appeared to be on the mountain looming above them, but he had the distinct impression her thoughts were elsewhere.
When they reached the bottom of the metal stairs leading to the vast patio, Peyton stopped. “Um, would it be okay if we just hit a drive-thru? I’ll buy.”
Drew hesitated. A fast-food drive-thru would not consume the amount of time he needed to waste to make her miss her exhibition ride. He pointed up the stairs. “They have some pretty great sandwiches here, too.” He was counting on her enjoyment of the Reuben to sway her. Pretty lame, but he couldn’t think of anything else quickly enough.
Peyton reached out and touched a hand to his forearm. “I really need to get back, Drew.” She gave him a gentle squeeze. “But this was a lot of fun. Thank you for doing it with me. And for bringing me all the way here.” She slid her hand away, but he could still feel the warmth of her touch.
He automatically said, “You’re welcome.” All the while thinking that he hadn’t exactly had any choice.
And aside from physically restraining her, he couldn’t keep her away from the rodeo. Not in this day and age of rideshares. Maybe there was another way.
“Okay, then.” He gestured toward the parking lot. “Let’s get you back to Pineville.”
He allowed her to walk ahead of him, taking his phone from his pocket and texting Liam with what he considered a simple request. He was tucking his phone back in his pocket when it rang. He looked at the caller ID. Liam.
Peyton turned back toward him, but he waved her on, clicking the button on his key fob to unlock the truck. As soon as she’d increased the distance between them, he answered the call.
“Liam.”
“What do you mean, switch Peyton Halliday’s horse out?”
“Just what I texted you. Switch out whichever horse she drew this morning and replace it with a nag.”
“We don’t own any nags, Drew.”
“You know what I mean, Liam. I need you to make sure Peyton Halliday is matched with a horse that won’t hurt her.”
Liam’s sigh was long and loud through the phone. “I’ll see that she rides Mustard Gas.”
Relief washed over Drew. “Thank you, Liam. I owe you.”
“Damn straight—wait…Peyton Halliday. Isn’t she the one who rode Karen From Finance?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you worried—”
“I’ll explain it all later. Will you still make sure she’s matched with Mustard Gas?”
“I will. But I’ll expect that explanation.”
“You’ll get it. Thanks, Liam.”
“You bet. Talk to you later.”
Drew clicked off and returned his phone to his pocket. When he reached his truck in the vast parking lot, he found Peyton leaning against the front bumper.
“I unlocked the doors…”
“I know. But it turns out Reuben is a stinky fellow.”
“Sorry. I was afraid of that.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“The phone call?”
“Oh, yes. Everything’s fine.” He almost told her he was checking in with Doc at the clinic, but he couldn’t say the words. It was one thing to arrange for a tamer horse for her exhibition ride, and another to out and out lie to her.
Hopefully he could at least keep her safe.