There was a thin layer of snow on the ground here, the harbinger of an approaching winter, but I knew it would only be deeper farther up the ridge.
I hid out while the Sherpas showed Landon the camp. Watched from a distance as he explored the base of the snowy ridgeline.
I sighed with relief when the tents were set up and I could duck beneath the cool exterior of my bright orange North Face shield.
“You’re hiding,” Leah accused as she came in next to me, arranging her sleeping bag in what we’d dubbed the girls’ tent.
“Am not,” I objected. “I’m acclimatizing in private.”
“You’re hiding,” she said again.
“How’s it going out there?” I asked, playing with the zipper on my parka. The temp was a balmy twenty-two, but I knew it would dip once the sun set.
“Weather’s moving in. They say it’s supposed to be a quick storm, though.”
If there was one thing that didn’t give me warm fuzzies, it was hearing the term “storm” sitting at eighteen thousand feet in the Himalayas.
As if he needed to confirm my worst fear, Wilder invaded our tent. When he didn’t bother making goo-goo eyes at Leah, I knew something was wrong.
“What is it?” she asked.
“It’s going to be bad,” he said, his face hardening. “I need to send the chopper back down. It can’t take this beating, and I want you on it.”
“No,” she answered. “Penna needs to go. Her leg will swell at this altitude. Get her down.”
His jaw flexed. “Fine, but you go with.”
“No,” she said again, surprising me with the force behind her voice. “Penna will need help. You have to send Little John.”
“I…” He shook his head. “With the weight limit on the bird, he’s two people.”
“Okay, then you send Penna, Little John, and Little John,” she answered.
Wilder swung his gaze at me with a plea in his eyes.
“Don’t look at me. You’re the one who made her all mouthy. She was docile as a lamb when I sent her to you.”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Fine. But you’re bunking with me.”
“But Rachel will be all alone!” Leah protested.
“Trust me, I’m happily alone. Very alone. Solo. Single. Glad to have some me time,” I responded.
Leah pouted and swore but finally agreed.
I didn’t know how badly I would regret that decision until the snow started to fall and the temperature dropped.
Then I was really alone.
Really solo. Single.
And super fucking cold.
Chapter Fourteen
Rachel
Advanced Camp, Nepal
Cold like I’d never known invaded every cell of my body until I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been warm.
The storm had raged for hours, and though I no longer heard the crackling of snow hitting the tent, the roar of the wind was impossible to ignore. I slid deeper into my sleeping bag, covering my nose with the nylon fabric and using my breath for warmth.
The tent rustled, and I sat up, staring at the door as it unzipped, snow falling into the tent as a huge figure tumbled in. The flash of fear I felt died in the second it took me to recognize Landon’s jacket as he closed the tent.
“Sorry,” he muttered after he ripped the gaiter down that covered his nose and mouth. “Why didn’t you tell me you were alone in here? I had to hear it from Pax when he came to our tent for extra supplies.” He took off his hat and gaiter, tossing them on the floor where Leah’s bag had been.
“It d-d-d-didn’t matter,” I stuttered through the shivers.
“It sure as hell does,” he barked, stripping off his coat. “You’re shaking like a leaf and probably freezing. How the hell would anyone know?”
“I’m f-f-f-fi-fine,” I managed.
“Yeah, seems like it.” A moment later his snow pants joined the jacket on the floor, leaving him in the breathable light track pants he wore underneath and a long-sleeved henley. “Move,” he ordered as he knelt next to my bag.
I was too cold to argue.
He unzipped my bag, and I gasped as the colder air hit me. But then he slid in with me and zipped the bag behind him.
Warmth—sweet, wonderful warmth—hit my face first as he wrapped his arms around me, holding me against his chest. My cheek rested along his neck, and I breathed in his cedar scent. He maneuvered one of his legs over mine until I was completely surrounded by him.
“Fuck, Rachel. You’re a block of ice.”
“It’s cold up here.” My stammering stopped.
“I noticed while I was digging through the snow to get to you.” His arms tightened, and it felt so damn good to be held by him.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I said, voicing the last defense of my brain while my heart told it to shut up. Every nerve ending agreed, savoring his warmth.
“Well, Gabe and Alex both volunteered,” he admitted.
I tensed. “But you risked the storm and fell on the knife, eh?”
His chin rubbed against the top of my head. “I wanted to be the bigger man and give you some space, but the idea of one of them holding you…” He swallowed. “I just couldn’t do it. I’m sorry, I know this isn’t really what you want.”
I relaxed completely, my muscles abandoning the war they’d never wanted to wage. He was wrong—so very wrong. There was no one in the world I’d rather have holding me than Landon.
But that wasn’t something I was capable of admitting, not when it was the equivalent of letting down the drawbridge for him to walk straight into my heart and trample around.
He stretched the bag so he could look into my eyes. “What are you thinking?”
“Nothing I can say,” I whispered.
His hand came up, stroking my hair back from my face, his thumb caressing my cheek. “Okay. Then let’s just get you warm. Tomorrow we can go back to whatever stalemate we seem to be at.”
“Deal,” I agreed. “Besides, you have bigger things to worry about.”
“Not sure I’d agree with you,” he said, tucking me under his chin again to give me as much skin-to-skin contact as we could get without removing clothes.
Remove the clothes! All the clothes! my sex-starved inner demon demanded.
I told her to keep her horny pants on and settle for this, which was better—and more dangerous—than anything I thought I’d ever have again. Landon was breathtaking to look at, but being held in his arms was a whole new torture. He was intoxicating, and if I didn’t keep a tight rein on my self-control, reckless, wonderful, regrettable things would happen.
“There’s a twenty-one-thousand-foot-high ridgeline behind me just waiting for your board. I consider that bigger.”
His hand tunneled through my hair, holding me to him. “I don’t. Damn, I’d almost forgotten how perfectly you fit against me. Shit. Distract me. Talk about anything.”
“Like the giant snowstorm going on out there?” I teased, careful not to move against him.
“It’s a rather small one, I promise. The last guys who did this had a ten-day one to compete with. I think we can handle an overnight.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“Tell me about your paper. Are you really looking for your orphanage? Or is it more than that?”