Chapter 8 #2
He dropped beside me and silently shifted my pack out of the way, reaching for my ankle without hesitation. Thunder boomed overhead, and the dying light made it hard to see, but I didn’t need eyes to know Grant was hurting too. The set of his jaw gave him away.
“Is your hand okay?” I asked as he pressed his fingers along my ankle bone and up my calf.
“Better than your ankle.” His voice was gruff but softer than I expected. “Can you climb if I help you?”
“I think so.” I wrapped my arms around my waist, trying to hold the shivers in.
“Come on.” He braced himself against the embankment and offered me his uninjured hand. “Let’s get you out of this hole.”
With his help, I made it a few feet from the ledge before my burning limbs and bum ankle betrayed me. I slipped, letting out a yelp. Grant caught me, grunting as he hauled me back up by the waist. It was enough leverage to plant my heels in the slippery mud and keep going.
We collapsed at the top and sprawled onto our backs. I closed my eyes against the driving rain.
“Okay,” I panted, voice shaking with exhaustion. “Commence with the murdering. Put me out of my misery. I’m so cold, I’m giving woolly mammoths locked in an ice shelf a run for their money.”
Grant let out a low chuckle, tipping his head back, so the rain traced the strong lines of his throat. “Only you, Spells.”
He rolled toward me, reached out, and hooked an arm around my waist until we were facing each other. Water dripped from his chin, his lashes dark with rain as he looked down at me. He swallowed thickly, the humor fading as my teeth chattered hard enough to make my molars ache.
His palms found my shoulders, just like they had before the tug-of-war challenge. The spell left his lips, and heat flared across my skin, spreading through me until even my toes tingled.
“Thank you,” I murmured. “You have great hands.”
His grip tightened slightly, tugging me closer as if he wasn’t sure who was more surprised, him or me.
“That is the first compliment you’ve ever given me.”
“Yes, well,” I said, lips twitching. “I might have a concussion.”
His brows snapped together. The heat vanished as his fingers slid up into my hair. “Did you hit your head, Spells?”
“No. No, no.” I caught his wrist, my heart thudding from the look in his eyes. “Hands back at ten and two. I was joking.”
His frown eased, the warmth returned, and the spell seeped through me again. A soft sound escaped my throat.
Grant Delaney was making me feel good. No, way better than good. Warm. Safe. And he looked like Mr. December in a rain slicker while doing it. Was that a trifecta? It was definitely some kind of Bermuda Triangle nonsense, because the logical part of my brain was gone, all hope lost.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
“Sage and the bartender gave me directions, then I just followed the sound of an injured animal.” His mouth curved, wicked this time. “I mean, you singing Christmas carols.”
“Hey.” I smacked him lightly in the chest, my palm lingering against his wet jacket. “I won the fifth-grade talent show with these pipes. It was between me and the hula hoop girl. Sure—she tripped and broke her nose, but I was still the winner.”
“Wow, impressive.” He squeezed my shoulders, those magic fingers firm and enticing. “No wonder they’re considering you for a spot on my team. I’ll have to install soundproofing in the office first.”
I flattened my lips. “First it’s walk-in freezers, now it’s soundproofing. Do you treat all your new hires this way, or just your enemies?”
His gaze flicked to my mouth again, exactly as it had last night. My heart stalled. A delicious ache thrummed inside my body.
It would be so easy to close the distance and kiss him.
A gust of wind could do it for me. He’d saved me when I said I didn’t need it.
He’d warmed me up when I definitely needed that.
Grant was the last person I ever expected to come after me, yet here he was after hiking for hours in the pouring rain—hair soaked, a streak of mud on his chin—looking at me like he'd do it again in a heartbeat.
“Val—” His voice was rough. Then he exhaled, the moment snapping. “Enemies, huh? You can’t go one day without reminding me how much we hate each other. It’s like you’re stuck on repeat.” He shook his head. “Why do you make everything harder than it has to be?”
The words hit like a bucket of ice.
My spine went rigid. “Excuse me? Did you think my jungle quest gave me amnesia?” I threw up my fingers in case he had trouble counting. “Two years, Grant. You’ve been a thorn in my side ever since you were supposed to pick me up from the airport for my first seminar.”
He swore under his breath, raking a hand through his soaked hair.
“Like I said, stuck on repeat. There was a blizzard. The airport shut down. How was I supposed to know the random girl I met at the bar was you, and that you'd taken an earlier flight? We’d only exchanged hostile emails at that point, and you’re the one who thought it’d be fun if we didn’t trade names over cocktails. ”
“Because I was trying to be cute and mysterious. Haven’t you ever seen a movie?” My voice pitched higher as the rain blurred my vision. “And don’t even get me started on your pickup line.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Pickup line?”
“It had one-night stand written all over it,“ I shot back, rolling my eyes.
“As if you’d ever let a guy like me get within five feet of your precious ‘Soulmate Zone.’” He made air quotes around the words.
What an ass. Who uses air quotes?
I scoffed, shoving against his chest and pushing out of his lap. The warmth of his spell vanished, leaving me cold and shaky.
“But my favorite part,” I bit out, hobbling toward the trail, “was when your phone rang. You excused yourself, but I overheard you on my way to the bathroom. You said, you couldn’t pick up the Meet-Cute Ice Princess from Planet Sunbelt because you’d already hit the jackpot. Gross, Grant.”
He was on his feet in seconds, storming after me.
“Yeah, well, the house always wins in the end, doesn’t it?
Because we haven’t been able to have a civil conversation since.
” His gaze raked over me. “And just so you know, you’re going the wrong way, Ice Princess.
The closest resort is thirty minutes south. ”
I turned on my heel, nearly wiping out, and changed directions.
“Don’t help me,” I snapped as I limped past him.
“I’d rather get mauled by a leopard,” he shot back, falling into step anyway. “But a piece of advice. If you see a giant-toothed cat, run fast.”
I growled, literally growled, and limped quicker. I couldn’t believe I’d ever considered kissing him. Twice! If the third time was supposed to be a charm, the universe had better tie me up in tinsel and leave me in a snowdrift.