Taming His Montana Heart(26)

He pulled a digital camera out of a snowsuit pocket and aimed it at where he’d been trying to walk. “I’ve been wondering the same thing. Do you think we have time to ride around the peak’s base? Maybe that’s the best route for racers to take.”

“Maybe, but it’s a good thirty miles around Grizzly.”

“Wow. That’s longer than I thought it would be. Not such a good idea after all. We’d never make it there in the time we have.”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Then I’d better be content with this.”

Watching him repeatedly depress the button, she debated using her smartphone so she could add to her collection of Lake Serene in winter pictures, but his camera looked state of the art. She was probably better off asking for copies. She imagined them sitting side by side while they sorted through the shots he’d taken. Maybe they’d agree on which were the best but maybe his shoulder against hers would be too distracting. She’d forget their separate roles, become a woman in the presence of a vibrant, intelligent, complex, and sexy man.

Want.

Like I already am.

“Tell me to stop,” he said after several minutes. “The way the light keeps changing, I’m tempted to do this until it gets dark. That I would regret.”

“Do you want to keep going or head back?” Now that the snowmobile’s heater wasn’t blowing on her, she was starting to feel chilled. In contrast, Shaw seemed oblivious to the cold. She wished those who considered him a workaholic could see him now. The man was living in the moment, immersing himself in his surroundings, taking her with him maybe without him knowing.

“We don’t have to turn around yet,” he said. “Let’s at least get to Grizzly’s base. Once we have a clearer idea of what racers will encounter, we can double back.”

She nodded and climbed on the snowmobile. Even as she anticipated having heat on her legs, she acknowledged she was looking forward to having him close behind her even more. Today they would experience Grizzly Peak in its unspoiled beauty. Be able to share the memory for the rest of their lives, or until life took them in different directions.

“I understand cell reception’s spotty here,” he said as he climbed on behind her. His legs slid along hers, and his chest became one with her back.

She fought the need to lean against him.

“I like the idea of being out of reach. Sorry, Uncle. I didn’t know you’d called. Guess you’ll have to get someone else to jump through today’s hoops.”

“Is that what it’s like?” she asked to have something other than his warmth and her desire to think about. “You’re always at his beck and call?”

“Pretty much although he has so many irons in the fire with his various businesses it isn’t as if he’s focusing on Lake Serene twenty-four seven.”

“Various businesses? I’m impressed.”

“He thrives on it while I have enough to do with this one thing.”

“You handle it well.”

“Most of the time, not that my uncle is always convinced I know what I’m doing. I don’t blame him.”

“You don’t?”

“Yeah. This is my first gig as resort wrangler.”

“Resort wrangler? That’s one way of putting it.”

“That’s how it feels a lot of the time.”

She suspected he hadn’t told many people that. Maybe she was the only one. “You’re here. Keeping it all together. He isn’t. I think, if it was me, I’d resent having to be accountable to him all the time.”

Shaw took a deep breath that pressed his chest against her back and sent her nerves to tingling. “I knew what I was getting into. Besides, I owe the man a great deal.”

*

Now that he’d seen the part of Grizzly Peak most people never did, Shaw wasn’t sure it had been worth the trip. He had no complaints about the scenery and certainly none about his traveling companion, but Grizzly rose so gently from the forest floor it was nearly impossible to tell where the peak began.

On the other hand, and more importantly, he was thankful for every moment Haley and he were together. They hadn’t said much while they were underway, in part because hearing each other over the sounds the snowmobile made was difficult, but he was comfortable in her presence and sensed she felt the same way. Maybe she was content with who she was. If so, he envied her, wanted to learn from her. That wasn’t all he wanted from her.

At the end of their forward progress, they’d stopped long enough for him to take more pictures. Those moments had been the sum and substance of his world, miles of nothing and everything, ageless and new. Rejuvenating. Perfect. Something he’d never believed would happen.

He’d taken several shots of her staring at an evergreen so tall it looked if it had reached the sky. He didn’t think she’d realized what he’d done and wasn’t sure he’d show those shots to her. He wasn’t deliberately hiding what he’d done from her. He just didn’t want to have to explain his motives since he wasn’t certain he could articulate them. Once his life had depended on knowing everything there was to know about a situation. He didn’t know how to handle the opposite, or if he wanted things to change.

At least traveling was easier if not as exciting now that the snowmobile was retracing its steps and gliding over snow the machine had packed down. Haley wasn’t as intent on where they were going. She frequently straightened and looked all around, even over her shoulders. When she did that, their gazes met, and they smiled. Shared without words.