Chapter 4 #2
The practiced answer she’d been giving her parents for years hovered on the tip of her tongue.
But this was a man who’d walked away from Dartmouth.
“I don’t know what I want. Not business.
I don’t like that any more than you do. But I’m kinda too far down this path to jump off.
” Lord knew, if she changed fields again, her parents might kill her, even if they’d long since stopped paying her way.
“It’s never too late to jump off.”
The idea of it was simply mind-boggling. “I’m not as brave as you.”
“I think you’re plenty brave. Look at what you’re doing here for your sister.”
Sarah grimaced. “That’s not brave. It’s foolhardy, as we established yesterday.”
“Still. Deciding to admit you’re on the wrong path—if you are—” he qualified, “takes guts. It’s not for me to say one way or the other.
But seems to me if you’re not happy doing it, if you don’t get excited about going in to do the job or the class or whatever, you’re probably not in the best field for you. ”
When was the last time she’d been excited about her studies?
Her first semester of grad school probably.
Before they’d put her through the hell classes meant to weed out those who couldn’t hack it.
She’d proved she could more than hack it, staying at the top of her graduate school class, but everything since then had been a grind.
Especially this last semester. But if she didn’t stick with neurobiology, if she didn’t go on for her PhD, then what the hell would she do with her life?
Not comfortable with the direction of her thoughts, she declared, “This is way too heavy a conversation for this hour of the morning.”
“Fair enough. It’s time we got started anyway.”
Sarah set her empty cup down. “Teach me, oh wise one. What are we doing today?”
“You’re going to practice your knots, and then you’re suiting up and we’re going to practice falling.”
As she watched him grab the equipment, she didn’t think she needed any more practice doing that.
“—and ascenders are mechanical devices used for directly ascending a rope or as a braking component within a rope hauling system, often used in rescue situations. How’d I do?”
Beckett smiled. “Perfect score.”
Sarah pumped her fist, her big doe eyes lit with triumph and something else. “What do I get for my reward?”
“A reward, huh?”
Her mouth quirked into a grin. “You know I appreciate positive reinforcement.”
He set his clipboard aside and moved to cage her against the equipment shed table, dropping his voice low. “I think we can come up with something.”
Her hands came to his shoulders as he slid his over her backside, behind her thighs to lift her onto the table.
“I’m amenable to this kind of something.”
“For every right answer, you should get a kiss somewhere new.” Beckett skimmed his lips across her jaw, down the length of that lovely neck, lingering when she dropped her head back on a sigh.
“Mmm, I had a lot of right answers.”
“So you did. It happens I have quite a few spots I’m dying to taste.” He brought his hands to her breasts, brushing his thumbs over her taut nipples until her eyes went dark and molten.
“Beckett.” His name on her lips was something between a prayer and a plea as she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him tight against her center.
They both moaned as she rocked her hips against his erection.
“I want to finish this,” he gasped. “I want you naked and under me, over me. Properly. In a bed.”
“We both have very inconvenient roommates. And technically we still have all the hands-on work to do.” She rolled against him, and he almost swallowed his tongue.
“I’m prepared to do all the hands on work you’ll let me.”
Sarah huffed a laugh that turned into a groan. “God, you have no idea how much I want that, but I meant the actual climbing. We don’t have that much time.”
“You can think about climbing right now?”
“I mean, mostly I’m thinking about climbing you, but I still have one or two brain cells left for the practical.”
“I must not be doing this right.”
A bell began to clang in the distance, signaling an end to their study session rendezvous. Beckett dropped his brow to hers. “Breakfast. How terribly inconvenient.”
“Better than being caught at something in flagrante.” She dropped her legs and slid off the table, brushing a kiss to his lips as she began to rearrange her clothes.
Beckett hung his head for a moment, wondering if they were doomed to bad timing the entire time she’d be here.
“How do I look?”
He glanced up to see she’d refastened her ponytail and pulled on a baseball cap. Her lips and cheeks were still flushed, her eyes bright.
“Unsatisfied.”
The color in her cheeks deepened. “Well, there’s time for that yet at some point.”
I sure as hell hope so.
Shifting on her feet, she turned toward the door, suddenly avoiding his eyes. “I’m gonna head on so there’s a gap between when we show up and so you have time to deal with… well, that.” She nodded at the bulge in his shorts. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to—”
“Sarah.”
“What?”
Beckett reached out to snag her hand, gently tugging her back to him until he could tip her face up to his. “I really hope you don’t think the only reason I’m helping you is because I want to get you naked. Or that that’s a requirement. If that’s not something you want—”
“I don’t think either of us is under the delusion that I don’t want you. It’s just…”
“Complicated?”
“Yeah.”
He got it. He really did. They had a built-in expiration date, and he couldn’t blame her if she didn’t want to cross that line because of it. So they’d see what happened.
Pressing a chaste kiss to her brow, he nudged her toward the door herself. “Go ahead. I’ll join you in the dining hall. Save me a cup of coffee.”
It took him longer than he wanted to get himself under control. Didn’t help that one look at that equipment table had him imagining Sarah spread out on it naked and writhing from his tongue. But eventually, he made his way toward breakfast.
Michael was on the stage talking as he slipped in the back of the room.
“One thing you’ll find out fast once sessions actually start is that campers will inevitably do something stupid and get hurt.
We need to be prepared to deal with as many varieties of injuries as we’re able.
Originally these emergency drills were scheduled for the end of the week, but there’s rain in the forecast, so we’re bumping them to today. ”
Oh shit.
“As you can see on your schedules, we’re starting with a climbing accident scenario at Boulder Mountain, being run by Taryn Meadows. There will be other simulated injuries at various other points, all outlined in your packets. So finish up your breakfasts and meet out there at eight fifteen.”
Sarah appeared at his side, a cup of coffee white knuckled in one hand, a sheaf of papers in the other. She handed the latter over without a word.
Michael had assigned Beckett as victim in the fall scenario. And it made sense. He had the most experience and could fake everything safely. But that left Sarah wide open in front of the entire staff. She hadn’t been trained on how to stop falls yet.
Because you’ve been thinking more about getting into her pants than truly preparing her for the job. Good job, Hayes.
Jerking his head toward the door, they stepped out, moving around the corner and hopefully out of earshot of anybody who happened to be going in or out of the building.
“What are we going to do?” Sarah hissed. “I can’t do that. I don’t want you getting hurt or into trouble on my behalf.”
Neither did he. He’d agreed to put his ass on the line, so he was going to get them both through this. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course, but—”
“Okay. Then you be the victim. When you fall, I’ll catch you. I’ll run everything.”
“But Michael…”
“I’ll handle Michael. Can you do this? Are you okay doing this climb as a relative novice and falling on purpose?”
She swallowed, then nodded.
They made it through breakfast and back to the equipment shed to grab all their gear. Despite her nerves, she suited herself up for the climb, and he was satisfied to see she did it properly, with no encouragement from him. Before they walked out, he squeezed her shoulders. “I’ve got you.”
“I know.” She flashed a wan smile.
At Boulder Mountain, the staff was gathered. Beckett didn’t see Michael, but he wasn’t waiting around on him to start things. His friend wouldn’t stop a training exercise in progress. After a few words with his climbing staff, he and Sarah got into position.
“Okay, so Taryn is going to simulate a newbie climber who has overestimated her capabilities. Chances are, we’ll see a fair bit of this over the summer.
Now the rock climbing staff is trained to stop a fall before it becomes something to really worry about, but today, we’re going to run a scenario where that doesn’t happen and staff needs to stabilize her for transport to the parking lot, where medical personnel would be waiting. ”
He turned toward the rock wall. “Taryn, you ready?”
“Belay on?”
Beckett locked her into the ropes. “On belay.”
She began to climb the intermediate path, and he began to pray. Don’t let her get hurt. Don’t let her get hurt.
Ten feet. Fifteen. Twenty.
“Looking good. Check out the view,” he called.
“What?” She twisted her head and looked down. “Oh God.”
Then came the scramble they’d discussed. But it didn’t seem like she was faking it at all as she attempted to flatten herself against the rock face. Her foot slipped and suddenly she was falling.
For one instant, Beckett’s heart leapt into his throat. In the next, he’d braked her fall. She bounced against the rock face. “Ow.”
“You okay?”
“Fine.”
Beckett hoped that was true. He addressed the staff. “Now, in this case, and hopefully in all others, rock climbing staff stopped this from becoming a problem. I’m going to lower her on to the ground, and we’re going to practice stabilization.”
He took the steps, explaining what was happening as he went and walking everyone through applying the neck collar and immobilizing her on a backboard. As members of his team were strapping her in, Michael tugged Beckett aside. “What are you doing?”
Here it came. He figured Michael would show up eventually.
“Running the rescue.”
He kept his voice quiet. “Taryn was supposed to run it. It was supposed to be you strapped to that backboard.”
Beckett jerked a shoulder. “I’ve got more SAR experience, and last time I checked, you made me senior staff in this department.”
Michael frowned, looking more concerned than annoyed. “This wasn’t about search and rescue. It was a drill. What’s the deal, Beckett? Is there something I need to know? Is she not competent?”
Beckett began to sweat. This was exactly the problem, the thing he was trying to cover up. But he didn’t want to make the real Taryn look unqualified. How the hell was he supposed to explain this? He glanced back at Sarah, as if somehow she’d be able to telepathically give him the answer.
Realization dawned on Michael’s face. “I get it.”
Beckett’s gut twisted. “You do?”
“I mean, I kinda thought you’d moved past this.”
“Huh? Past what?”
“You’re really into Taryn, and you’re just awkward about it.”
The hell? “I—”
Michael clapped him on the back. “Let me give you some advice, man. Jumping in and taking over is not the way to woo a competent woman. I’ve seen Taryn’s profile. She is definitely not the damsel in distress type.”
Beckett didn’t even know where to begin processing the insult of all this.
His buddy thought he was bad with women?
Had apparently always been bad with women?
What the actual hell was up with that? But Michael had inadvertently given him an answer.
All Beckett had to do was throw himself under this bus to get out of it.
Fixing a perplexed expression on his face, he glanced back toward where a team of people carefully lifted Sarah and began to carry her toward the main lodge. “I guess that explains the cold shoulder the other day.”
Michael had no idea about all the extra up-close-and-personal time they’d been spending together.
“Don’t worry. You’ve got all summer to get your game back. She’ll come around.”
Except Beckett didn’t have all summer. Game wasn’t his problem, but he had mere days left, and he didn’t know if he’d be able to convince Sarah to pursue what was between them past next week.