Jaz accepted the Vector Ascent rep’s offer of fresh clothes and a ride to urgent care, promised the nurse practitioner who saw her to follow up with a doctor if anything felt worse, and called an Uber to take her back to the hotel. It was easier to be with a stranger than alone with herself just now, and she asked him to take an extra lap around the city before dropping her off. Even then, she veered off to a coffee shop, striking up an irrelevant conversation with the barista just to keep from being alone with her mind—because no matter what she did, Liam wasn’t far from her thoughts.
She knew she’d made the right decision to walk away, because any more time in Liam’s company would have torn apart the stitches holding her heart together. She hated admitting it, even to herself, but she knew that she’d always been in love with Liam Rowen. But she needed a partner who’d be there to push her forward, not just help her up.
She couldn’t be with him. And she wouldn’t be returning to Denton Valley anyway. Her apartment was gone. Her graduate school enrollment canceled. Her Vector Ascent sponsor and the PR person from the Clash of the Titans had already started blowing up her phone with invitations to talk shows. They had a whole spin to the story they wanted her to champion. Female Climber Survives a Mountain Assault and Saves Her Competitor’s Life. She even had emails from several literary agents wanting the story and promising to hire the best ghostwriters to pen the words. They were all good offers, and Jaz needed the money. Yet her soul couldn’t get excited for them.
Her phone vibrated. Since she had it in privacy mode, it alerted her only for the few people in her white list—basically the climbing officials and Sebastian. Biting her lip, she shut it off without answering and headed for the hotel. She needed to think more.
The side-door keypad turned green in recognition of Jaz’s room key, and she stepped into the pastel-colored corridor, trying to focus on the mountain photographs that decorated the place. Maybe she could take up nature photography on her PR circuit. Would that fill the growing hole in her chest? She tried to imagine herself with cameras in her climbing pack as she took the stairs to the second floor, found her door and stepped inside what should have been an empty room.
Except it wasn’t.
Jaz couldn’t tell what exactly tipped her off, but she knew at once that she wasn’t alone. Her heart stuttered, then rushed into a gallop, her limbs tight and tingling with the sudden flow of strength and blood. Time seemed to slow around her, her ears picking up every creak of the floor. Every scuffle of boots. Though she’d never taken up Liam’s offer of self-defense lessons, her fingers rolled into fists even as a blood-curdling scream started to make its way up her throat.
A hand clamped over her mouth.
Jaz bit into it. Tasted blood.
“Holy shit on a stick,” a familiar voice hissed in pain. “I like biting and all, but this isn’t exactly the right venue.”
Holy shit indeed. Jaz gasped for breath over her pounding pulse.
“Promise not to scream if I let go?” said Liam.
She shook her head.
The pressure on Jaz’s face disappeared anyway, the shape in the darkness stepping back from her. Liam’s shape. Liam’s voice.
Now that Jaz’s eyes were adjusting to the dimness, she realized the hotel room wasn’t altogether as dark as it seemed after first walking in from a brightly lit hallway. A few feet away, Liam ran his hand through his short-cropped hair, then sucked on his index finger, which was showing droplets of blood.
“You don’t have rabies, do you?” he asked. “I hate shots.”
“I’m going to murder you in your sleep,” Jaz vowed, then crossed her arms over her chest. “What the hell are you doing here? And how did you get in here?”
He motioned to the window. “It’s only the second floor. I didn’t actually mean to scare the daylights out of you.”
“No? So you were laying siege in the darkness by freakin’ accident?”
“No.” Liam flipped the nearest light switch. Nothing happened. He then pointed toward the little cardholder near the door. “The electricity only works when your card is inserted. I didn’t really have a choice about that. You weren’t answering your phone, and it’s not like the front desk would have made me a key if I asked really nicely.”
“That’s because maybe, I don’t know, I didn’t invite you.” Jaz stuck her room key into the trigger mechanism, and the lights obediently came to life. She crossed to the other end of the room from Liam and leaned against the wall. “What are you doing here, Liam?”
After walking over to the table, Liam pulled out one of the two chairs and sat. “Getting the next best thing to scheduling an appointment with you. You did say Trident Rescue and Security can give you a call if we need help. And we need help.”
Jaz cocked a brow. “Yes, you do. But I know nothing about being a shrink.”
“I’m serious. I’m offering you a job.”
“Because security is such a strong point on my résumé?”
“I wouldn’t trust you to run security for my neighbor’s cat,” Liam said bluntly. “But I’m not offering you a job in security.”
Jaz crossed her arms. “Are you expanding into knitting, then? Because I can make a mean scarf.”
Liam signed. “All right. Let’s try this a different way.” Picking up a folder she’d failed to notice before, he now slid it across the table to Jaz. “Now that Trident Rescue isn’t just a hobby for a few friends, we’ve needed to get new personnel on board. These are the copies of safety certifications, gear schedules, and call-out reports from the new cadre of mountain search and rescue operators we brought on in the past six months. Open it and tell me what you think.”
Jaz opened the manila folder. “There’s nothing in here.”
“Yes. So I’ve been told. I’ve also been told this is a problem.”
She stared at him. Trident Rescue had been a huge part of her brother’s life for years, but once Bar was born, he had to take a step back from the shifts. Apparently, so did the others, and no one had stepped in to fill the void. “I thought Aiden—”
“Aiden doesn’t run rescue.” Something dark entered Liam’s voice. “Please don’t ask why.”
Jaz nodded, her mind racing all over again. The irony of being offered a job when she finally didn’t desperately need one wasn’t lost on her. “Thank you, but I’ve already has offers from Vector Ascent and Clash of the Titans both. Your charity is no longer required.”
“Good. Because I don’t put people’s lives on the line for fucking charity.” Liam rose and strode over to her, his shoulders spreading. “Do you want to be a talking head on TV, being paraded around like some bejeweled poodle, or do you want to climb, Jaz? You said I wanted a damsel in distress—but I think you haven’t looked in a mirror lately.
“I saw you today. You needed to rescue Corey. You savored pushing your skills for the sake of others. And even when Roman threatened your life, you protected his. That fire and drive that lives inside you, it doesn’t burn for talk shows and endorsements. It burns for making a real difference. We’re the same that way, you and I. That damsel of yours, we don’t want her in danger—but if she is in danger, we want to be there to help.”