“The beard. It moved the opposite way.”
“I have no idea what that means,” he grumbled. When Easton checked her toes, her skin was still its normal color. But her littlest toe was numb. Easton unzipped his jacket, then took her foot and put her leg beneath his arm, toes wedged inside his armpit.
She looked at him like he was crazy. “What are you doing?”
“Body heat helps the most to warm you up. So I’m putting your foot in my armpit.”
River’s eyebrow rose. “And I don’t have any say in this matter?”
Frown deepening, Easton cut his head to the side once. “No.”
After a moment, she flashed an adorable grin at him. “You totally have a foot fetish.”
“I’m trying to save your toe,” Easton said, because he wasn’t ready to cave yet. “My armpit is the warmest part of my body, so you can either deal with it or complain about it, but either way, you’re walking down this mountain with all your body parts still attached.”
He hadn’t meant to come off as rough as he did. Ashamed at the tone he’d taken, Easton added softly, “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Settling back on her palms, she wiggled her toes. “Is this what being warm feels like? I’d forgotten.”
“The Veil is brutal.” Easton didn’t like thinking about it. “And you were in there a long time.”
Too long of a time.
He could have gone easy on her, told her it was okay. Made the peace she clearly wanted. Instead, Easton decided to get real with her. “River? Have you ever seen someone die on a mountain?”
River opened her mouth to say something, possibly to make a joke. Then she pursed her lips and shook her head. “No, I haven’t.”
Easton had, and it wasn’t something he’d ever forget.
“Sometimes you have to leave them,” he told her quietly. “When someone is hurt badly enough, there’s nothing you can do. The crevasses in the Veil are deep, but the fall might not finish you off.”
Looking down at his soup, Easton readjusted her foot in his armpit. “You would have been in a lot of pain, and you would have lain there, knowing I was above you, but there would have been nothing I could do. I would have stayed with you as long as I could, but the Veil’s windchill can be the coldest part of the mountain. Eventually, I would have to leave, and you’d die alone. Freezing in an ice tomb, all alone.”
Easton raised his eyes to her. “I’m not being dramatic. I’m trying to make you understand. There is nothing on any camera, anywhere, worth that. And I don’t know how I’d step off this mountain without you with me. I’m not sure how I’d live with myself,” Easton added softly. “Knowing I’d let it happen.”
“It’s not your job to protect me, Easton. I’m a big girl; I can make my own choices.”
His lips curved. “You can make your choices, and I’ll make mine. Hate to break it to you, but if you jump, I’m jumping after you. It’s the way I’m wired.”
“Fine, but all rescue attempts have to be made shirtless with your hair down.” She wiggled her toes to try to tickle him. Unable to keep the smile from his face, Easton removed her foot from beneath his arm and cupped her toes within his hands.
“Can you feel my fingers against your toes?” he asked. River nodded. “Even the little one?”
“Not as much as the others,” she admitted, “but I can feel it now. I might be hyperaware of it at this point.”
“Can you feel my fingernail digging in?”
“I mean…yeah but—ow!”
Easton smirked. “You’ll live.”
Wrinkling her nose at him, she glared as she pulled on her sock. Somehow in her annoyance at him, she’d become even more beautiful. He was going to marry her if she let him. Also if she didn’t kill him first.
“If my toe falls off, I’m blaming your adamantium claws.” River huffed, then she sighed and reached her fingers to his cheek, tugging his beard. “You know this is about more than a documentary for me, don’t you?”
“I’ve suspected it was more than only making a point to Hollywood, but you don’t talk about it.”
She was quiet for a while before answering. “Have you ever spent your life wanting something, but you can’t figure out what you’re missing? And you try and try, but nothing is ever quite right? That’s me. That’s been my life. And I feel like whatever it is I’m searching for, I’m going to find it up here. I’m already finding it up here. And I can’t quit halfway through. I can’t lose half the footage. I can’t fail, not when I’m this close.”
“This close to what?” Easton asked quietly.
“I don’t know. But I’m so close, I can taste it.”
He nodded. “Then try to keep those toes on. You’ll need them to summit.”
The words rolled off his tongue of their own accord, but as soon as he saw her eyes widen, Easton knew he’d get them up this mountain if he had to carry her entire crew on his back. With a squeal of delight, she flung her arms around his neck, then she pulled back, frowning at him.
“This isn’t you trying to make up with me, right? We’re actually doing this because we earned it.”
Easton nipped the finger waggling sternly in his face. “We’re doing this because—today aside—you earned it. I’m conveniently forgetting you unclipped today in the hope you’ll conveniently forget I could have been more diplomatic about being pissed about it.”
“Selective memory is better when both parties are involved,” River told him. “Can I kiss you?”
At this point, he was never going to figure out what she would say next, so he’d stopped trying. Instead, Easton said, “Already told you. You never have to ask.”
She was all fire, but when he put his hands on her, pulling her close, River was sweet and rich on his tongue. He wanted her, so much more than he’d ever wanted a woman. The sheer idea of drawing someone into his arms, pulling her onto his lap and relishing the feel of her legs tightening around his waist on a climb was so unprofessional. Before her, he’d never been tempted. He’d never had a partner he literally couldn’t resist, but she was it.
River was his drink of choice, and Easton didn’t have the willpower to say no.
This time, she didn’t ask permission before resting her gloved hand on his face and kissing him again. Then she peeled off those gloves, and bare, chilled fingers found his jawline.