“Nope. Nope, nope.” Wiggling backward, River pulled her jacket around her. “In or out, big guy. It’s too early to build a snow cone down my shirt.”
“Sorry, time to emerge from your hidey-hole. We’re getting an early start today. The snow cones will have to wait for later.”
He flicked some snow at her, earning a wrinkled nose and a tongue sticking out.
“You’re not half as attractive as you think you are, Easton Lockett,” she called after him as the tent flap fell back down. River reached for the zipper pull with her sock-covered toes. “Couldn’t even zip…back up…stupid man. Stupid tent. Stupid man-tent.” Dropping back to the ground in a dramatic flop, River groaned. “Okay, self, time to get up. You have no choice in the matter. Get up, get moving, and try not to ice ax any men this morning.”
“River? You okay in there?” Outside her tent, Ben sounded concerned.
“You count as a man, Benjamin. You’re not exempt.”
“Okeydokey. Easton said to tell you he’s got coffee going.”
Okay. So maybe he wasn’t quite as terrible as he’d seemed a moment ago. River dressed, then started applying liberal amounts of sunscreen and the heavy-duty moisturizer she had brought for her lips. Finished with her preparations for the day, River put her heavy jacket aside, opting for a windbreaker instead of the thinner long-sleeve shirt Easton had been wearing. Emerging from her tent, River rubbed her arms briskly against the cold air.
“Easton’s nuts for not needing a jacket,” River told Ben when she saw him. “You are too.”
Ben headed over to make the rounds past Bree’s and Jessie’s tents. “I don’t know,” he called over his shoulder. “Feels good to me.”
True, the sun was heating up the mountainside, but River had spent too many years in the mild temperatures of Los Angeles. It was more than cold enough for her.
As they crawled out of their own tents, River noticed her crew were dragging their feet.
“Why are you all so tired?” River asked them, joining her friends. “I slept like a baby.”
Jessie rolled his eyes at her.
“At least someone got some rest.” Bree rubbed tired-looking eyes with the back of her hand.
“It’s your fault,” Jessie told River as they headed to the dining tent.
“What did I do?”
“You and Sasquatch over there kept wanting to talk,” he grumped. “It was so annoying.”
Easton was heating up coffee for their breakfast inside the tent, where the heater’s fumes could air outside and not make anyone sick. At Jessie’s comment, he merely raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, I don’t care how many scary eyebrows you waggle at me. You two need to figure out whatever this is.” Jessie made a circle in the air, indicating both River and Easton. “I need my sleep, man.”
Ignoring Jessie and his snarking, Easton walked over and handed River a thermos of coffee. “Are you feeling up to another climb?”
Before she could answer, Easton took her elbow, silently asking her to step away from everyone for a private conversation. Since he’d brought her coffee, River was more than happy to sneak away with Easton, even if the sneaking away was a few boot scoots to the left outside the tent’s entrance.
“If you aren’t, there’s no shame in that,” Easton added. “It’s better to know now than to get in trouble later. We have a solid day ahead of us, and all this powder isn’t going to make the traveling any easier.”
As she looked around her, River could see what he was talking about. The snow had piled on, leaving their camp mostly buried. She could only imagine what the unfamiliar ground in front of them would be like.
“I’ll be fine,” River promised, enjoying a sip of the hot liquid.
“Drink up.” His voice was gentler than usual. “And if you start to feel off at all or start to get another headache, tell me. We can take breaks if we need to or redistribute the gear.”
“Are you saying I can’t pull my own weight?”
“I wouldn’t dare.” Easton took a sip of his own coffee, nodding in greeting to Ben as the other guide went past and into the tent. Then Easton dropped his voice even quieter. “Listen. Yesterday, before the call came in. And earlier, at my place.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Outside your torture barn?”
“It’s not a torture barn.”
“It really seems like a torture barn.”
Easton snorted, but she could see amusement in his eyes. “Outside my perfectly normal barn, things got a little…”
River waited for him to finish. Instead, he paused midsentence.
“What?” she asked.
“This is where you usually jump in with a clever comment. I’ve started building in breaks for you, so the conversation flows more freely.”
Sticking her tongue out at him for the second time that day didn’t make River any more mature, but it sure felt good.
“Things got heated,” River finished for him because Easton was still waiting for her. “And they were on the verge of getting a lot more heated.”
Easton gazed down at her. “Were they?”
“Weren’t they?”
“I want to make sure you and I are on the same page. And if we’re not, I won’t mind.”
That stung more than it should have. “Way to show a lady the love.”
Easton turned his head to scan the rest of the campsite. Since all three of their companions were busy eating breakfast, Easton rested a hand on her hip, then slipped an arm around her waist.
“What I’m saying is, if you want me to keep doing things like this, tell me. If you don’t, tell me. The last thing I want is to make you uncomfortable.”
“Did it ever occur to you that I’m the one making you uncomfortable?” Her fingernails traced down his breastbone.
“Different kind of uncomfortable,” Easton rumbled. Could his voice be any sexier, his mouth warm against her ear? “And all. The. Time.”
“You should have kissed me at the barn,” River told him.
“Definitely.”
Moving closer, she added, “And yesterday.”
He nodded in agreement. “Exactly what I’ve been thinking.”
River smirked at him. “Or about three seconds ago, before I smelled breakfast. Too bad, huh?”
This time, his warm laughter stole her breath away. “Terrible.” Easton’s arm lingered for a moment, strong and solid around her waist. Then he stepped back. “Guess I better work on my timing.”