“What?” River didn’t understand whatever passed between them, but neither answered.
As they took down the cameras and settled into a game of UniMagP, River tried to pretend that she wasn’t keeping the radio glued to her hand. She tried to read when the game was over, but eventually, she gave up and picked up the radio.
“Easton? How about giving a girl a check-in?”
Silence.
“Easton, Ben, if I’m in charge, that makes me in charge of everyone. Give me a progress update. Over.”
A crackling static noise made her fingers reflexively tighten on the radio. “Someone’s pushy,” Ben joked through the radio, his voice nearly lost beneath the roaring of the wind. “We’re taking a break right now. Boss man says to tell you someone else came through here and made a mess of his lines. He’s been swearing up and down this mountain, but we’re almost done fixing the new ones.”
Nodding, River said, “Tell boss man he’d better get back down here soon.”
“Ten-four.”
That low chuckle was undoubtedly Easton. He must have been standing right next to Ben. For some reason, hearing his voice helped calm the nerves that had been spiked from knowing they were up there, doing something dangerous without River to keep a watchful eye on him.
Them. Watchful eye on them.
When she set the radio down, she saw her coproducer watching her knowingly. “You really do like him, don’t you?”
River didn’t need to answer Jessie. They both knew she did.
• • •
They’d been gone a total of four hours before they got the second call.
Frankly, Easton was surprised she’d lasted so long. River wasn’t the type to sit around wondering what was happening. If he hadn’t been so close to camp, Easton would have radioed her in a few minutes anyway. His respect for her as a mountaineer and as a woman far outweighed his respect for her patience.
“Easton, Ben, it’s River. Over.”
“Riverover? Not sure what that means,” Easton teased her.
There was a pause, followed by an audible sigh of relief. “You may be the most annoying human being alive. You know that, right?”
“Have you met my best friend?”
“Yes, and I’m increasingly aware of how you and Graham are made for each other. How soon will you be back?”
Easton answered, taking his long, sweet time to do so. “We’re coming around the outcrop now. Don’t be worried about the blood.”
“The blood?”
Ben shot him a wolfish grin when Easton didn’t answer her. “That was mean.”
“She’s earned a little teasing. You should hear the crap she’s been giving me since we met.”
“True,” Ben agreed. “But she watches out for you almost as much as you watch out for her. Don’t be surprised if she’s ready to skin you alive when we get there.”
Sure enough, River was waiting for him outside camp, radio in hand and first aid kit tucked under her arm. Her concern was cute, but the expression on her face was far less cute when she realized he’d been messing with her. Smart man that he was, Ben kept walking, leaving Easton in relative privacy with River.
“Blood? Really?” Hmm. It had been a long time since a woman had looked so ticked at him, like she had every right to put him in his place. To be honest, he rather liked it.
Chuckling, Easton wrapped his arm around River’s shoulders, hauling her into a big hug. At first, she resisted the hug, a wolverine ready to chew his face off, but Easton had it on good authority that he gave especially good hug.
Even River could only last for so long.
“Uhhh. You’re so warm. It’s so good, but it’s so bad.”
“You were worried about me,” he teased her.
“Shut up. I wasn’t.”
“Were too.”
She snuck a peek up at him. “Are you sure you’re okay? The blood was a joke, right?”
He was absolutely fine. The fact that it mattered to her though…
“I’m perfect.” He couldn’t feel her cheek through the thick glove he wore, but he liked the pressure of her leaning into his palm.
“Can I kiss you?” River asked softly.
A woman had never asked him that before. Blinking somewhat stupidly, he said nothing.
“Okay, well that answers that.”
With the wind biting into their skin, flushing their cheeks rosy, there was no way to tell if he’d embarrassed her or not. But when she took a step backward, her rueful smile said it all.
“You could’ve kissed me. I wouldn’t have minded.”
“Nope, you can’t grab someone and kiss the crap out of them.” With a small huff, River added, “Even if you would look cute dipped in a dramatic embrace, consent is sexy, Easton. Try to keep up with the times.”
She wasn’t wrong. Knowing she wanted to kiss him only made him want to even more. Easton didn’t chase women. He was too large, his presence too overwhelming to too many people. He never wanted anyone to feel uncomfortable around him, especially not a woman half his weight and a foot shorter than him. But if she wanted him, Easton was more than willing to oblige her.
“River, you don’t ever have to ask me if you can kiss me,” he told her, voice lowered and husky with desire. Reaching for her hand, Easton gave her gloved fingers a gentle tug, an open invitation. “Consider this a yes for whatever.”
“Hold on there, buddy.” Her bright, pretty smile stole his breath away, the way a hard day’s climb couldn’t. “I’m not offering whatever. Just a kiss.”
Leaning down to make his face more accessible, Easton waited. And waited.
“Well, we’ve overtalked it now. You’ll have to wait for the moment again.”
With a playful growl, Easton snagged her around the waist. River burst out laughing as he spun her in a circle. Her booted foot hooked behind his knee for balance, her arms grasping his neck. Face-to-face, Easton stopped, holding her up with one arm, his free hand carefully threading into her hair.
“I think we’re back in the moment,” River whispered, her cold nose brushing his.
“Are you sure?” he rumbled, because her breath was warm on his skin, and he was ready to know if her lips were as soft as they looked.
“So sure. Super-duper sure.”
“Extra sure?” Easton started to tease her, but River had already pressed her mouth to his.