“I’m at your mercy,” he said, giving her his best grin. “And I’ve brought offerings.” He held out the cup of cider and waited until she took it somewhat reluctantly. She clearly didn’t realize he knew she didn’t drink coffee. She popped open the little flap on the lid and sniffed, her face lighting up in childlike delight.
“You brought me cider?”
Her excitement was contagious and he couldn’t hold back his laugh. Truth was he didn’t bother to try. Being with Amanda made him feel good. There was no good reason he could see to fight that.
“With my own two hands.”
She took a careful sip, judging the temperature before taking a deeper swallow. Her eyes drifted shut in pleasure and damned if he didn’t want to be the one to put that look on her face, but with something much more intimate than cider. Without overthinking, he reached out to cup her face, running his thumb over her cheekbone, and was rewarded with the feeling of her breath catching in her throat. When she opened her eyes, her gaze caught his and held, darkening with desire and something hotter. More intense than simple want.
“You didn’t drive all this way to bring me cider,” she said, swallowing hard before pulling back just out of his grip.
He’d have driven farther just to see her, but now that the guy was out of the picture and he had a real chance with her, he wasn’t about to scare her off with his stalkerish tendencies. Tendencies he’d never exhibited before he met Amanda. He’d decided to ignore for the time being that Ethan was a client and staying on his good side was good for business. Everything took second place to Amanda.
“That and I need to pick up some gear for this weekend. I thought we should coordinate.” The point of the fifty-mile hike and double overnight in the mountains was to test their survival skills, so they were limited as to the gear they could bring. Everything had to fit inside half-sized day packs, which meant they had to choose carefully. There was also a list put out by the organizers of things they had to include.
“Sure. I’ve already got most of what I need. What are you still missing?”
He scanned the list on his phone, and gave her his best sheepish smile. “Everything.”
Her eyes went wide and he hoped he hadn’t completely disillusioned her of his potential tough guy status. Since his teen years, he’d spent most of his time in a gym. He felt pretty confident he could out-lift anyone on any of the teams with the exception maybe of her brother Gabe. That guy had depths he wasn’t sure anyone, including the guy’s sister—maybe especially not his sister—knew about. But Michael’s experience was pretty limited to the indoors. With the exception of a couple of nights sleeping in a room-sized tent as a Cub Scout, he’d never slept outdoors.
“Seriously?” she asked, her shock morphing into disbelief. “You don’t have any gear?”
“Nope.” He rocked back on his heels and waited. Silence seemed like a better plan to preserve his dignity than making excuses.
“Okay,” she said, shaking her head. “Let’s start with a sleeping bag.”
Michael started behind her and almost collided with Mr. Randolf, the owner, as he came barreling out of what appeared to be the stock room.
“You again,” he said, poking his finger in Michael’s direction. “Did you come to spend money this time or are you here to bother my help?”
“Call me the help again, old man, and you can sell your own sleeping bags,” said Amanda, not bothering to turn around.
The words were harsh but Michael didn’t have any trouble hearing the affection underneath. He glanced over his shoulder and caught the older man sizing him up. There was no doubt in his mind that if he put a foot out of line with Amanda, he’d have to answer to her boss as well as her family.
“I’m spending money,” he said, tipping his head toward the older man.
“That’s good,” said Mr. Randolf. “Give him a deal. I like this one.”
“Already planning on it,” said Amanda, rolling her eyes. “This bag will work for this time of year.” She motioned to a blue and green down mummy bag. “It’s rated high enough for the nighttime temperatures you can expect and it compacts down to a decent size to carry.”
“Sold,” he said, not bothering to look at any of the other bags. He’d never had a problem admitting when he was outside his area of expertise. Amanda knew a hell of a lot more about it than he did, and he was more than happy to defer to her skill set.
It took less than half an hour to gather the rest of the things he needed. By the time they were finished, the cider was gone and his credit card was groaning. Even with the substantial discount, good gear didn’t come cheap.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Amanda asked from the other side of the counter. “Between my brothers and me, we probably have most of the gear you need. You could borrow it instead of spending so much for just a weekend.”
“Stop talking the customers out of buying,” called the older man from the back of the store.
Amanda rolled her eyes again and then leaned across the counter, her posture almost conspiratorial.
“You can ignore him. You really don’t need to do this.”
“If things turn out the way I want them to, I’m going to be spending a lot more of my time outside.” He left thewith youoff his statement, but he reached across the counter to take her hand.
Her hands were smaller than his but he could feel the strength they held. There was nothing soft about the calluses on her palms or the scrapes on the back of her knuckles. But instead of making her seem less feminine, the marks of her talent on her skin only added to her appeal. He stroked a thumb over the backs of her fingers and remembered the gravity-defying way she’d danced her way over the surface of the rock. Everything about Amanda was beautiful to him. The marks on her hands were just one more symbol of her power.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake. Stop mooning around. Give the poor schmuck another ten percent off and make the sale.” Randolf crossed behind the counter to start bagging Michael’s purchases. “Now,” he said, after Amanda handed Michael’s credit card back to him. “Get out of here and take her to lunch before I regret this highway robbery.”
