Max laughed and Tiffany narrowed her eyes at me. Excellent. The war was officially on.
The challenge started, and couples scattered like buckshot. Within ten minutes, I realized that my quip about survival might not have been so funny after all. Max’s stride was long in direct contrast to mine, thanks to my short, stout legs.
“Why are your legs so freaking long?” I panted, my lungs working for air.
He stopped and looked at me, hands on his hips.
“What? I’m sweating in places that shouldn’t sweat.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You’re doing fine, Frankie.”
“Umph, remember to put that on my tombstone.” When I started to move forward, he took my hand, entwining our fingers and I suddenly felt ten times better.
The trail got tougher the further up the mountain we went, riddled with more roots and rocks. But every time I stumbled, Max was there. His hand at my waist. His arm under my elbow. Like he couldn’t stop himself from touching me. Which absolutely did not make my heart do weird little somersaults.
Not at all.
At one steep ledge, he stepped behind me and simply lifted me up by the waist like I weighed nothing.
I squeaked.
Actually squeaked.
I couldn’t ever remember being lifted by a man.
His hands flexed against my hips as he set me on the rock above him, his expression darkening for one dangerous second. “You okay?”
No. I was absolutely not okay. Because the look in his eyes was pure, unadulterated hunger. It wasn’t fake dating heat. It wasI’m going to eat you aliveheat. A frantic, liquid pulse centered itself between my legs.
“I’m fine,” I managed to croak out.
Liar.
Complete liar.
We found the first marker in a rotted-out stump. The second in a tree. The third was almost insulting — a tiny red flag shoved directly beside the trail like Leo had run out of ideas halfway through planning this stupid event.
The fourth marker, unfortunately, involved crossing behind a waterfall. Leo probably thought it was cinematic. I thought it was a lawsuit waiting to happen.
“Absolutely not,” I announced the second I saw the slick line of moss-covered rocks cutting through the rushing water. “I am not a mountain goat, Max. I’m a woman with a high center of gravity and zero desire to spend the evening in the emergency room, despite that being a viable option to leave gracefully.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“I’m going to fall, and you’re going to have to explain to Leo and Tiffany why the coroner is now a wedding guest.”
“You’re not going to fall.” The smile he gave me was devastating. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen Max smile like that.
“I can’t swim, Max. I just thought I should tell you that. Along with the fact that people have drowned in less than two inches of water. It’s a statistical fact.”
Max stepped onto the first rock. “Come here, Frankie. I’ve got you.”
If only, my traitorous brain supplied.
I took his hand, and the world narrowed down to the rough, calloused heat of his palm. I’d been fantasizing the entire time he’d been holding mine of what those hands would feel like on my skin. Running up the sides of the thighs, over my hips, cupping my breasts…
“See, almost there.”
His voice jolted me out of my fantasy land and what happened next was inevitable. My foot hit a patch of slime and the next thing I knew, the world was cold, wet and very silent.
