Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Claire
Despite my intentions, exhaustion took over. I fell asleep quickly and slept hard. When I woke, Vance’s body was curled around mine, his chest pressed up to my back and his arm slung around my waist.
It shouldn’t have been sexy. We were crammed into a one-person tent, still wearing our thick winter coats and dirty clothes from the night before.
I’d seen myself after a search enough times to know there would be nothing cute about the way I looked this morning, with tangled curls and dirt smudged on my face and wrinkled clothes underneath my coat.
I also knew we were only snuggled up together because it was cold—cold enough to see my breath, even inside our little cocoon.
Even so, I let out a contented little sigh.
Because, to me, this was sexy. Damn sexy.
There was nothing I liked more than the Wyoming wilderness.
Nothing that felt better than the kind of sore you got after a long hike.
Adding Vance into that mix, with his arms around me and his warm breath on my neck as he snored lightly?
In another world, one where we had met for different reasons and had gone camping as a couple… Man. This was the stuff of fantasies.
He was much taller than me, but his body fit perfectly around mine, curled up like this.
I wanted to linger in this moment as long as I could, no matter how bad of an idea it was to get even more attached to him.
But Robin was still out there—without the benefit of a tent and a man’s body to warm her.
I checked my watch. The sky was already getting light and the sun would be up soon. We had to get moving.
I gently pushed his arm, trying not to wake him so I could wiggle away while he slept. But he grabbed me and pulled me even closer, nuzzling his face into my neck with a little moan. His hard body pressed against mine, tempting me even more.
I groaned. He was killing me.
His body tensed. “Claire?” He sounded disoriented.
“That’s me.” I bit my lip.
His fingers tightened on my arm. Then he rolled away, letting me go. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize I’d—”
“It’s fine,” I said, sitting up quickly.
My hair pressed into the top of the tent as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.
I grabbed my boots and shoved my feet into them, forcing myself to focus on our mission.
“I’m going to refill our water bottles. We’ll get a quick bite to eat, check in with the other teams, pack up, then hit the trail again. Can you be ready to go in fifteen?”
“Yes.” That edge of steel was back in his voice.
I unzipped the tent and crawled out of our cocoon, missing it the minute I walked away.
As promised, we prepped quickly, barely talking while we got ready to head out. But despite the difficult conversation we’d had the night before, the silence wasn’t awkward. We settled into an easy camaraderie, working together as well as teams that had been together for years.
The only thing different were the soft looks of affection and longing between us.
We didn’t address it. There was no point in wishing for something we knew we couldn’t have. But as we shared a quick cup of instant coffee and protein bars, the sadness and regret I’d seen in his eyes the night before remained.
And I didn’t need a mirror to know that the same feelings were reflected in mine.
After our quick meal, we broke camp.
“You ready?” I asked, swinging my backpack onto my back.
“Yeah.” He grabbed the second bag, then hesitated. “Do you want to switch? I feel dumb carrying the lighter load.”
I laughed. “Not a chance. No one carries my pack for me.”
His eyes grew serious. “You’ve got a partner now. You don’t have to carry it alone.”
“For now. I have a partner for now.” I was reminding myself as much as him.
His face fell.
My radio crackled, offering welcome distraction for both of us. The other teams were up and on the move, and by the sounds of it, everyone was cheerful and ready to get to work. A few hours of sleep and the promise of daylight brought the familiar surge of optimism that we’d find our target soon.
Vance and I began our careful descent down the ravine, moving slowly even though daylight gave us an advantage we hadn’t had the night before.
Loose rocks rattled and slipped underneath our feet, threatening to send us tumbling with one wrong step.
We stayed closer to each other than we had in the forest, frequently helping each other out with a steady hand while the other crossed tricky terrain.
And we flagged a few more signs that someone had been through here recently.
Each clue gave me an extra hit of energy.
We were on target. I knew it.
I was about to say as much when King came over the radio, giving us the bad news that the trail they’d been following turned out to be a dead end. They were retracing their steps and would move to a new section of their grid.
I looked at Vance. “You know what that means, right?”
He tilted his head. “I’m not the SAR expert here. But it looks like everyone’s at a dead end except us.”
I nodded. “Exactly. I don’t have Cheyenne’s gut, but I’d bet money Robin’s in our section.”
In my excitement, I turned too quickly and put my foot down on a loose rock. I slipped, but before I could fall, Vance’s hand gripped mine. I skidded to a stop, my heart pounding.
“Thanks for the hand,” I said, glancing back at him.
“Anytime.” The look he gave me said he was talking about more than our search. But then his eyes shifted to the side. “Hey,” he said, his face lighting up in excitement. “Look at that.”
I followed his gaze. Ahead of us on the trail, something bright blue flashed in the sunlight. I slowly made my way toward it, using my hands on the steep slope to stay steady.
“It’s fabric,” I called over to him, fresh excitement hitting me as well. “Looks like it got torn. And it’s the same color as what Robin was reportedly wearing.”
He carefully worked his way toward me. “I bet she slipped right where you did. Her jacket probably got caught on the way down.”
“I bet you’re right.” I scanned the area and called out for her but got no reply. “Flag it and I’ll call it in.”
He wrapped tape around the branch and snapped a picture of it while I entered our location into my GPS and tried to radio.
“Dammit.”
“What’s wrong?” He frowned.
“We’re too far down. I’m out of comms.”
“Does one of us need to hike back up and radio?”
I shook my head. “She’s down there and she’s probably hurt. We keep going.”