Chapter 5 #2
Her body crashed into his, and with flailing hands, he fell forward.
Every stabilizing branch, just beyond his reach.
Landing hard on the ground knocked the wind out of him.
He gasped, then realized the woman on his back was doing the same, only worse, even though she’d been lucky he’d cushioned her fall.
He slid out from under her and pulled her up with him, but she doubled over with her hands planted on her knees and worked to catch her breath.
Alyssa and Hannah flanked Bianca.
“Are you going to be okay?” Hannah asked.
Bianca gasped and shook her head. “I...” gasp, “don’t...” gasp, “know.”
“You’ll be fine. You just knocked the wind out of yourself,” Hannah assured.
Hunter’s racing heart stilled, and his gaze landed on the woman’s designer tennis shoes. He should never have let her hike in those. Well, it was her own damn fault for not adhering to the packing list.
“I told you to pack hiking boots,” Hannah scolded.
Bianca straightened her spine. “Don’t scold me. We’re on this trip for you. If it had been up to me, we’d be on a sandy beach somewhere.”
Hannah’s nostrils flared. “I didn’t force you here.”
Oh, God, this was all he needed. Clients fighting halfway into their trip.
Alyssa edged her way between her two friends. “It’s all fine. Everyone is fine. Please, let’s not argue and make the best of this. Okay?”
Not everyone was fine. His ribs and forearms hurt like hell. He’d taken the brunt of the fall, and yet nobody cared to ask him if he was okay.
Hannah and Bianca glared at each other.
“Please,” Alyssa pleaded.
“Fine,” Hannah conceded.
All gazes turned to him.
Hannah’s emerald irises softened when she looked at him. “Are you okay?”
“All good. Thanks for asking,” he replied as he brushed the mud and debris off his forearms and clothes.
After a few cleansing breaths, he gestured to the left. “Right this way, ladies.”
Hopefully, the refreshing mist from the falls would cool his clientele down so they could get back to enjoying the hike.
In silence, the group followed him over the wet, narrow rock ledge behind the falls.
They scooted along the ledge with their backs pressed against the stone wall.
Being that the sheet of the falls was less than ten feet wide, it didn’t take but a few side steps to get to the tiny cave.
The mouth was barely wide enough for them to stand shoulder to shoulder to watch the mesmerizing flow of water.
Though there was an inch or so to spare to the right of him, he slid over a smidge to touch Hannah’s warm shoulder. Exhilaration shot through him.
The skin where she touched protested when he turned his body. He pulled a small flashlight from his pocket, flipped it on, and pointed the dim beam downward to a small entrance of a secondary cave within the cave.
“Any takers?” he asked.
They’d have to drop to their hands and knees to enter that part.
“No,” Bianca immediately replied.
Alyssa shook her head.
He turned to look at Hannah and arched a brow in challenge.
“How big is it?” she asked.
“We only have to crawl a couple of feet before it opens into a room just large enough for me to stand in. If I spread my arms, I can touch both sides.”
“What’s in it?”
“Nothing really. Some pools of water and some mossy plants.”
He put the penlight in his mouth and dropped to all fours. The rock beneath his palms and knees was damp and cool. The scent was mildewy, but he didn’t mind.
Hannah was on his heels. Within seconds, they’d both popped up in the tiny space that would have been black as night without the light.
He flashed the light along the walls to show Hannah.
It really wasn’t much to look at. Climbing into the cave was just something fun to do.
He and his brother and sister spent hours in this tiny cave when they were kids.
Hannah quivered when he showed her the bats in the corner. He probably should have warned her about that. After the initial shock, she smiled.
“This is so cool. You played in here when you were a kid, didn’t you?”
“Guilty.”
“I would have, too.”
Exactly what he wanted to hear. He liked her even more with each passing moment.
“You guys, okay?” Alyssa’s voice echoed through the tunnel.
Hannah giggled. “I should yell back, no, and see if she does anything about it. She’ll never climb in here. She’s claustrophobic.”
He nodded in acknowledgement. “Yeah, your friends aren’t as adventurous as you are, that is for sure.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. Bianca can tip that scale sometimes.”
“I meant in an outdoorsy kind of way.”
The corners of her mouth tilted upward into a full smile. She liked his compliment.
“That part’s true. I like nature. The sight of it, the smell of it, the feel of it… all of it. And you’re a great tour guide.”
His heart hitched. She was definitely his kind of woman.
He wanted to kiss her, but he hesitated, wondering if she wanted to be kissed by him.
Recalling her standoffish behavior toward him the day before when he’d reached out to help her up the gigantic step to the top of the hill to see the Wild Canyon Falls.
He thought he’d better hold off and see how today went.
Lifting his gaze from Hannah’s kissable lips, he caught her staring at him.
Even in the dim light, he saw the desire in her eyes answering his question.
She wanted him to kiss her. He leaned forward and pressed his lips lightly to hers.
Heat soared through him. His heart raced.
He’d shared many first kisses before and experienced the thrill of that first shared kiss.
This time, the exhilaration he felt kissing Hannah rocked his limbs so hard that he almost fell.
Hannah leaned against him and wrapped her arms around him—stabilizing him. The initial shock of her touch eased a smidge, allowing him to think more coherently. Their lips moved together in some sort of well-choreographed manner, as if they’d kissed many times before. His mouth hummed with delight.
“Hello?” Alyssa’s voice reverberated in the small cave.
Hannah pulled away from him. The smile on her face let him know she was as pleased as he was with the kiss they’d shared.
He gestured toward the small tunnel. “I suppose we’d better get back out there before they think something bad happened to us.”
She sighed. “I suppose. Or maybe we should keep them wondering.”
He winked at her. He’d like that.