“Falling down the mountainside was so easy.” She said when his boot caught on the ice. “Why is this so freaking hard?”
Finally, the campsite came into view. “Easton, I don’t care how heavy you are. You and I are going to get to our tent. We are going to get warm. And safe. And we’re going to get back down tomorrow. Because I’m not freezing on a mountaintop thousands of miles from home with a man who doesn’t even know my real name.”
“What’s your real name?” a masculine voice rasped.
“Now you wake up?” River could have kicked him if she weren’t so glad to see those warm brown eyes blinking up at her, finally able to focus on her. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“You’re not holding up any,” Easton replied.
“Good. You’re fine.” She dropped back to the snow, too tired to move even the short distance between where they were and the tent.
“What happened?”
“You fell then decided to take a nap. It’s getting ridiculously cold, and I had to get you down before you turned into a Popsicle.”
Blinking in surprise, Easton looked at her. “You carried me?”
“It was more like a dog mushing situation.”
Easton sat up, wincing as he touched his forehead. “Must’ve knocked my head on something.”
Tougher than most, Easton staggered to his feet. He turned, waiting for her.
“Go. I’m right behind you.”
“I’m pretty sure I used that line on you.” Despite his wobbly legs, Easton bent down and took her arm, helping her up.
Together they crossed the remaining distance to the tent, climbing inside. Easton sat down, pressing a hand to his head. “How long was I in and out?”
“Hours.” She crawled to him, then lay down.
“River.”
“I know.” Even as she said it, River didn’t know what she was insisting she knew.
“River, don’t fall asleep.”
Why would he ask her to do something so cruel? Hadn’t she saved his bacon? “You must have a brain bleed. A guy without a brain bleed would be giving me thank-you kisses instead of bugging me to stay awake.”
“Take slow, steady breaths for me, River.”
Even though he was injured, River couldn’t fight Easton as he put a mask over her face, opening the second small portable oxygen tank they had. Within moments, her head cleared, when she hadn’t even realized how fuzzy everything had gotten. As focused as she was on getting him to camp and getting into the tent, River hadn’t noticed she hadn’t taken her boots off. She wasn’t on the sleeping pad either. Instead of the extra layer of protection from the frozen ground, she was lying next to the side of the tent.
Hooking an arm beneath her, Easton muscled her over to the sleeping pad. One more breath of the oxygen and River pushed at the mask.
“Your turn.”
He didn’t fight her, instead taking several long, slow breaths of his own. Then Easton closed the tank, setting it aside.
“How cold is it?” Easton asked.
“The last I knew, it was negative thirty-four.” It hadn’t occurred to her to check the sensor since talking to Ben.
“It’s too cold to be out there. We have to stay here.”
“After lugging your solid self from halfway down the summit, I’m not going anywhere.”
“It shouldn’t have dropped this low,” Easton told her as they lay together, body heat no longer heating the air between them. “Not for another couple of weeks.”
“It’s not your fault,” River promised him, pressing her face to his armpit in an attempt to find somewhere warmer. “Stupid climate change. Tell me why I dragged us up here again.”
“Not exactly what you planned, was it?” Nuzzling his face to the crook in her neck, Easton’s strong arms squeezed her tighter. “Remember, this is a really great story we’re going to tell everyone about how we met.”
“I thought we met on the side of the road.”
“That story doesn’t paint either of us in the best of lights.”
“I’m going to tell everyone you thought I was a hooker,” River teased him.
“That day was the best day of my life.” Easton’s rumbling voice was like soothing fingertips across her soul. “I didn’t even know it.”
“You’re not actually hitting on me right now.”
“If not now, then when?”
Then he kissed her, because if they were going to have to wait in the freezing cold, they might as well make the most of it.
• • •
The night took its toll. One look at his client, and Easton knew immediately River’s trip was over.
The amount of energy she had expended getting him to camp had depleted what was left of her reserves. The cold had taken what they didn’t have to spare. She’d stayed awake with him all night, but she was having a hard time remaining that way. Even when the sound of the rescue helicopter’s blades whipping through the air finally cut through the soft cry of the wind, she barely stirred.
In this location, there was nowhere to safely land, so Ben radioed to Easton to come to them if he could.
“Come on,” he murmured, gathering her up to his chest. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What’s happening?” she mumbled.
“I’m getting you home.”
“About time you earn your keep. Don’t forget my camera.” No. Anything but that. “Or the marmot.”
Even now, she made him laugh.
She probably could have walked, but it was easier for Easton to simply scoop her up into his arms, carrying River toward the National Park Service helicopter hovering beyond camp. Ben was with them, the first one to climb down the ladder to help. “Bad string of luck,” he said. “We’ll get them all up next time.”
“Thanks for coming back,” Easton replied with a grunt.
“Not gonna leave you behind a second time, boss.” Ben took River from Easton’s hold. “Not if I can help it.”
As he watched Ben hook River up to a harness, lifting her to safety, Easton knew he had made the right choice helping her summit. Some things were worth fighting for.
And for him, River had always been worth the risk.
Chapter 18
The nursing staff at the Moose Springs Medical Clinic couldn’t have kept Easton away from River if they’d tried. And boy, were they trying.