Instant Temptation (Wilder #3)(20)

But she couldn’t think about any of that because TJ was with her like white on rice, the poster boy for Distraction. When she tugged off her pack to dig through it for water, he simply pulled a bottle from a side pocket of his annoyingly organized pack, the scrumptiously defined muscles in his back and shoulders working as he twisted off the lid and handed it to her.

He waited in silence under the churning sky while she drank, a low breeze playing with his hair, the sun reflecting off his aviator sunglasses. The wind gusted harder, playing with the hem of his shirt, lifting it briefly to reveal his abs, making hers clench. He drove her crazy, too, she realized. Crazy with lust.

She closed her eyes and downed some water, which did nothing for her parched throat and out of control, not-been-laid-in-far-too-long body. Huh. Seemed she was out of her comfort zone already, without even trying.

At the next rumble of distant thunder, she started walking again, not bothering to wait to see if he followed. She didn’t need to, she couldn’t have lost him if she’d tried. He’d been born and raised in those mountains and knew them like the back of his hand. He could probably track her coyotes better and faster than she could.

They climbed another mile before he spoke. “Going to rain soon,” he said.

She looked up at the still churning and ominous sky. “That problem will have to get in line.”

He slid her an amused glance. “You have other problems?”

Yes. Not the least of which was that they’d come to a fork in the trail, with three possible directions. Two veered right, and she wasn’t sure which she was supposed to take. She looked down at her map and at the little GPS unit Stone had given her, and she still didn’t have a clue.

“Want help?”

Hell, no, she didn’t want help. It was one thing to sit at her laptop and interpret data, but—as she was beginning to realize—it was another entirely to be in the field. “Give me a minute.” She grimaced. “I’m talking myself into not being stupid, into accepting help from one of the smartest, sharpest, best guides in the country.” She eyed her map again. Yeah. She was going to need his help.

Dammit.

“All you have to do is ask,” TJ said quietly, all mocking and signs of humor gone.

She kept her eyes on her maps rather than him because looking at him was doing funny things to her insides. “How much will it cost me to keep you from saying I told you so?”

“We’ll work on a payment plan.”

Lightning lit the sky, followed by another sharp crack of thunder that made her jump again.

“You have raingear?” he asked. “We’re going to need it.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want it right now.” She was still overheated from their kiss. Not him, apparently, because he removed a waterproof shell from his backpack and pulled it on. And damn if he didn’t look good in it, like he could be on the cover of Outside.

Or the centerfold of a different magazine altogether.

“Let me hold your stuff while you gear up,” he said.

“I’m fine for a minute. Here’s where I want to get to tonight”—she said, pointing to the map—“which is where the first malfunctioning camera is set up. I think the best route is this far right trail. You?”

He leaned over her shoulder to take a look. She could feel the heat and strength of him seeping into her, and she had the oddest urge to press into him, sink against him.

“This one drops you in right above Mystic Flats.” His arm came around her as he pointed with a long finger. “And this one ends at Big Oak Flats. They’ll both get you there, but yeah, Mystic Flats is the easier way in.”

She searched that statement for an insult but decided there was none. Even more interesting, he was leaving the decision to her, not taking charge. It defused her, and honestly, also completely charmed her.

So they took the far right trail and she did her best to keep the pace up, wanting to get there before nightfall.

At the next burst of thunder and lightning, the drizzle began, the light mist feeling cool and delicious against her heated skin.

“You want to stop and wait out the storm?” he asked from behind her.

She knew it was stupid to let herself get wet, but it felt so wonderful. Intoxicating. She turned to shake her head and he pulled off his sunglasses to eyeball her.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said. “I like the look, is all.”

The look? That’s when she realized she was smiling from ear to ear. It was just that lately she’d been so damn stressed all the time, awake or asleep, and it’d gotten to her. It’d been slowly sucking the energy and life from her.

But it’d all faded away to nothing when he looked at her like that. “You’re getting wet,” she pointed out.

“No shit, Harley. It’s raining.”

She laughed. “I like it out here.”

His gaze touched over her features, a small smile on his lips. “I know the feeling.”

Common ground.

It was unexpected, and like everything else in regard to him, arousing. They just looked at each other, the moment more intense than the kiss they’d shared. She let out a breath, and they started walking again.

A quarter of a mile later, the skies opened up and dumped on them. Walking became tricky, their feet slipping on the thick carpet of pine needles shedding from the trees all around them. “Here,” TJ said, pulling her under the protection of a tree as the sound of the rain hitting the ground in large, golf ball–size drops deafened them both. They dropped their packs, which felt like a nice relief.