“Don’t worry about it.” He watched her, an amused gleam in his eyes. “I’d rather talk about why you asked me.”
She was so focused on the wordmurderedthat it took her a moment. Heat rushed into her cheeks. “Um… well, no reason, really. Curiosity, I guess.”
“Right.” The humor in his eyes told her he wasn’t buying it. “I interrogate people for a living, you know.”
“I guess I find you interesting.”
“You guess?”
Her cheeks burned hotter. “Okay. I definitely find you interesting—and alluring.”
“Alluring?”
“Yeah. You know.Hot.” Did he have to make her come right out and say it? “You’re not like any man I’ve ever met.”
He turned the tables on her. “Haveyouever been in love?”
Sasha thought about it for a moment, sipped her hot cocoa, remembering Elias and Remy. “No, not really. I’ve dated a couple of guys, but I’ve never been in love.”
But she could play at this game, too. “Now, Mr. Detective, why did you ask?”
His lips curled in a slow smile. “Curiosity, I guess.”
She shook her head, laughing. “If I can’t get away with that, you can’t either.”
“You want honesty? Okay.” His expression grew serious. “It’s everything I said earlier. You’re beautiful—truly. You’re good to people. You’re also an elite athlete who saves lives when there are so many other things you could do. You intrigue me.”
“No one has ever said that before.”
He frowned. “I don’t understand that.”
“I get a lot of male attention, but most of the time, it’s from guys who want to sleep with me—or who want to prove that they can climb better than I can.”
“I’m guessing they fail?”
“On both counts.”
They both laughed.
“I started winning competitions when I was still a kid, and everyone treated me like their little sister. But when I turned sixteen or so, boys’ attitudes toward me changed. They started to get angry if they couldn’t outclimb me. That’s when the sexual attention started, too—from grown men and boys.”
She told him how she’d gone to her first regional championship and overheard two male climbers talking about her in the hallway of their hostel. “Then one of them said, ‘That’s what I love about these competitions. It’s the perfect place to bump uglies with super-fit chicks.’”
Darius’ face took on a look of disgust. “Classy.”
“I’m really glad I overheard them. When he hit on me later, I threw his words in his face. I told him I’d come to climb, not to hook up with creeps.”
“Was he ashamed of himself, or did he get angry with you?”
“I’m not sure. Both? He walked off, red in the face. The next time I saw him, he seemed embarrassed and barely spoke to me. He died in a BASE jumping accident a few years later.”
“Sorry to hear that. Did you tell your parents what happened? I’m sure they tried their best to protect you.”
“I was afraid they’d pull me out of competitions if they knew, but I told my brother. He said I was a girl in a man’s sport and that I should expect things like that to happen. Then he told me to be careful.”
“I’m not sure I like his response. A man’s sport? Women climbers shouldexpectthat sort of thing? That sounds like victim-blaming.”
Sasha hadn’t thought of it that way, but then she’d been much younger. “He was right that I needed to be careful. I didn’t realize it then, but that confrontation forced me to think through my reasons for competing. I was successful at such a young age that I could have gotten swept away by it. But that experience forced me to think hard about what was important to me.”
