Authors: Robin Kaye
Was she serious? “Don’t flatter yourself. I came up to babysit my little sister when I almost rear-ended your car. Have you ever heard of pulling off the road?”
“I would have if I’d been on a road in the first place. Besides, I hit a rock and broke something in the undercarriage. I couldn’t turn the wheel. It wasn’t moving no matter what I wanted it to do. Believe me. Stopping before I reached my destination was not on my ‘to do’ list.”
“Look, why don’t you come down from there before you break your neck? What were you thinking climbing alone?”
“I was thinking I could call for help. It didn’t look so high from down there.” Her voice shook, and she hesitated before taking a tentative step toward the edge. She took what looked like a deep breath, got on her hands and knees, and dropped her feet over the edge, feeling around with her sneakered foot for a hold, clinging to the edge with her arms.
Fisher ran directly beneath her, ignoring the stones raining down on him. He shielded his eyes. “To the left, dammit!” God, his voice was shaking too. He probably strained his vocal cords yelling her name for the last half hour. “Jessica, open your eyes for God’s sake. Look where you’re going.”
She shook her head as her foot inched to the left. “I can’t look down. I’m afraid of heights.”
“Of all the—” He cut himself off. Calling her names, even if she did deserve them, was not going to get her down safely. “Okay, just a little bit more. There. You got it. Now wait for me. I’m coming up.”
“Why?”
“So I can talk you down.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
She grabbed a new handhold and slid her right foot farther down, hitting a solid foothold without his help.
Fine, he’d stay put. “There’s a better handhold to your right, down a little farther. There.”
He directed her, staying directly below in case she fell. He wondered how bad it would hurt to break her fall. Hell, he still hadn’t recovered from their last run. The woman was going to be the death of him.
When she jumped the last four feet, he was forced to step out of her path and didn’t know if he wanted to hug her or strangle her.
***
Jessie wiped her raw hands on her jeans to keep from throwing her arms around Fisher and making a complete fool of herself. That was way higher than it had looked from the ground. She’d be damned if she ever did anything like that again.
Fisher clenched his jaw, and a vein popped out on his forehead. She thought he looked hot when he smiled, but oh mama, when he had a full head of steam, he was downright incendiary.
She swallowed hard, resisting the urge to fan her face, and reminded herself that she was supposed to be indifferent, not turned on. She put her hands on her hips and looked him up and down. “What is your problem?”
Fisher brushed dust, dirt, and a few rocks out of his hair and off his shoulders. “You are, apparently.”
“I never asked you to follow me.”
“I was minding my own business, until I almost hit that windup toy you call a car that you abandoned in the middle of the road.” He clenched his fists in time with the throbbing of that vein. “I was not following you. I was rescuing you.”
“In your dreams maybe.”
“Nightmares more like. Believe me, the dreams I have about you do not involve scaling rocky cliffs.” Fisher turned and stomped away.
She stood there watching him. He dreamed about her? That was kind of sexy in an awkward-take-me-now kind of way. Still, she’d be damned if she was going anywhere. Not with him.
He looked back over his shoulder. “Are you coming?”
“Where?”
“I thought you were heading to the cabin. You’ll probably have an easier time finding it if you drive with me. It’s about a three-mile hike, and I’m too tired to follow your ass any farther.”
“What cabin?”
“My brother’s cabin. The one Karma invited you to. Oh, and by the way, she asked me to tell you she’s not able to make it. There’s a new addition to the Humpin’ Hannah’s family, so she’s covering for her bartender, who is doing whatever it is that new fathers do.”
“She’s not coming?”
“The last time I spoke to Karma, she was working. But here.” He held out a cell phone. “Call her if you want. My sister’s number is on speed dial—she’s number four.”
“Karma’s your sister?” Oh God. This can’t be happening.
“Unfortunately.” His grin widened. If he was doing his Joker impression, he was right on target. “Even though the resemblance can’t be denied, my brothers and I still checked her birth certificate just to make sure. And yeah, it’s legit.”
She’d thought Karma’s eyes looked somehow familiar, but she hadn’t put it together. Of course, she’d never seen Karma and Fisher side by side. Jessie shut her mouth, which she realized had been hanging open, and remembered all the things she’d told Karma about Fisher. Her face flamed, but there was nothing she could do to hide it, so she didn’t bother trying. She closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re not the only one who fell for her stunt, and while I can’t prove it, I have a feeling she set us both up. Karma’s a master manipulator. To her credit, she usually means well. Of course, that doesn’t keep me and my brothers from wanting to kill her on a regular basis.”
Jessie shoved past him toward her car. “I can’t believe she’d do this to me. I thought we were friends.”
“Oh you are.” Fisher fell into step beside her. “You should take it as a compliment. Karma only manipulates the people she loves. The fact that she manipulated you after knowing you such a short time—” He took hold of her arm, stopping her, and shot her a don’t-bullshit-me look. “She
has
only known you a short time right? You didn’t know her in college or something?”
Jessie pulled free of his grasp and rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, Karma and I are old friends. I’m the one who talked her into tricking you, so that I could get you alone. All those times you asked me out, I was just playing hard to get, so I’d have a chance to trap you in a secluded mountain cabin and take advantage of you.”
“Well, a guy can hope, can’t he?”
“You know, maybe my first impression of you was right after all.”
“Yeah, what was that?”
She stepped over a fallen tree and scanned the surrounding area. “And to think my mother was worried about bears. She never warned me about the locals.”
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll just get it out of Karma eventually.” That Joker smile peeked out again, a little bit evil and a little bit hot.
It stopped her dead in her tracks.
“Believe me, it won’t be difficult. She’ll be crowing about how the four of us fell for it. It must have been a doozy to spur Karma to go to the trouble of pulling off a complex con like this—it takes planning.”
“She wouldn’t dare tell you.” Without even looking where she was going, she stomped into the woods.
“Oh wouldn’t she?”
She sliced a path with her arms. “You really want to know my first impression of you? I thought you were a little slow on the uptake. Are you happy now?”
“I guess we’re even then.” He trudged after her. “I thought the same thing about you when I almost rammed into the back of your Barbie-mobile.”
If he was trying to piss her off, he was doing a fine job. “I told you, I couldn’t move my car if I wanted to.” Why she was explaining herself to him was a mystery. “It just went kathunk and stopped.”
“Kathunk? Is that a technical term?”
She fought the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. How did he do that? He was the only person alive who could piss her off and make her laugh at the same time. He was impossible.
“Jessica?”
Damn the man. Even his voice could get her heart pounding. He was the reason she was up here in the first place. She’d thought it would be safer to be far away from him, and now he was within touching distance. Not that touching him ever entered her mind.
“I really am sorry you got caught up in one of Karma’s schemes.”
And now he was being nice? “Me too. But believe me, it won’t happen again.”
“Uh-huh. Where have I heard that before? Oh right. From my brothers.” He took a bottle of water from his pack and held it out to her. “It’s amazing. The three of us know Karma and the damage she’s capable of, and still, we never see it coming.”
“Thanks.” She took the bottle. Holding the cuff of her sweatshirt, she unscrewed the cap and took a long drink. God she was thirsty.
“Did you even think to bring water with you?”
“No, just beer and wine.”
“I meant as part of an emergency kit, not a damn hostess gift.”
“What would I need that for? This isn’t the Antarctic. And I’d appreciate it if you would stop yelling at me.”
Fisher yanked off his baseball cap and raked his hand through his hair, dislodging more dust. “I’m not yelling. I’m just saying you need to carry survival gear in what you insist on referring to as a ‘car’ in case you get stuck in the wilderness like you are now. You shouldn’t leave the Treasure Valley without it.”
“Overreact much?”
“No, I don’t.” He took her arm again, effectively stopping her. “I don’t think you understand.” He spoke slowly, in a controlled voice. It would have been believable if she hadn’t seen the heat of anger in his eyes. “This isn’t New York, Jessica. Almost two-thirds of Idaho is public land—wilderness, desert, mountains. The City of New York has over eight million people in three hundred square miles. Idaho has one and a half million people in eighty-three thousand square miles. Forty percent of them are in the Treasure Valley. You do the math. If I hadn’t come along when I did, God only knows the next time someone would. Probably not for weeks. If you’d fallen and broken your neck up there, who knows if someone would have ever found you.”
“You did.”
“I was looking for you, dammit. I had fresh tracks to follow. And I was damn lucky to see a snapped branch. If you had stayed with the vehicle like you’re supposed to, at least you would have been easy to spot by plane.”
“Karma knew where I was going. If I went missing, she would have called someone.”
“Shit.” He tossed his empty water bottle in his pack and reached for his phone. “I forgot to call her.”
“Call her how? There’s no cell coverage, Einstein, remember?”
“That’s why I carry a satellite phone.” He hit a few buttons and held it to his ear, his not-so-evil grin exposing itself again. “Ingenious, isn’t it?” It was there for a second and gone just as quickly as it appeared. “I found her no thanks to you. Call the ranger station and tell them we don’t need search and rescue.”
“Search and rescue? Seriously?” Was he nuts?
His hand rested on her shoulder, and then he shook his head. “Yeah, well, I’m not sure she wants to talk to you.” His eyebrows rose in question.
“I’ll call her later.”
“You heard Jessica. She said she’d call you later. And no, I’m not going to cut you a break. I’m tempted to wring your little neck, but I won’t because then Mom would kill me.” He did a teenaged eye roll that would make any mother want to smack him. “She could have been hurt, Karma. You should know better than to send a lowlander into the mountains in a two-wheel drive car with six-inch clearance and no emergency kit.” He released her shoulder and turned his back as if she wouldn’t be able to hear every word out of his mouth. “I don’t care if she is in good shape. People need water—she brought beer and wine like she was going to a damn party.”
“Hello. Remember me? I’m standing right here, and for your information, I was going to a damn party.”
“Call your boyfriend at the ranger station and tell him I’ve got her.” He kept right on ignoring Jessie and yelling at Karma. “I wonder what he’ll think when he finds out all the trouble you caused. And no, this is far from over. You and I are going to have a nice long talk when I get back.” He pressed the end button and cursed under his breath. “Brat.”
Fisher turned, and Jessie caught sight of his face just as his scowl disappeared. He didn’t look happy. No, he looked exhausted. Maybe he’d spent too many late nights with the ladies. He certainly hadn’t been on any early morning runs with her—not that she’d missed him or anything.
Waiting for him to pop up suddenly had been like walking through a haunted house expecting a ghost to jump out of the darkness and yell boo. The tension had taken its toll—she’d been edgy, irritated, and a little bit bitchy, or so Andrew had said. But the thing she’d resented the most was the way Fisher had invaded her thoughts, dreams, and life without her permission.
“Come on.” He took her arm. “I’ll take a look at your car and see if I can fix it.”
“No, but thanks anyway. I’ll call a tow truck when we get back to town.” She wished Fisher would stop touching her. His touch created all sorts of tingles when she wanted none. Well, none from him at least.
“I’m almost as good at working on cars as I am at working on legs.” His gaze dropped from her face and did a slow perusal of her body. The corner of his mouth tipped up as if he was fighting a cocky grin. “How’s the hamstring?”
“It’s fine, thanks.” All her blood rushed to her face. God, what was it with this guy? His voice got deep and gravely, and her body reacted like an ice carving under a heat lamp. Oh yeah, she definitely needed to find a date. Maybe she’d go to Humpin’ Hannah’s for Ladies’ Night
after
she forgave Karma. She wasn’t sure how long that would take, but Karma was the only female friend Jessie had ever had. Maybe this was what girlfriends did to each other—trick them and fix them up with their brothers.
Jessie hadn’t seen it coming—she hadn’t even had an inkling Karma had been up to something, and she’d always been able to read people really well. There hadn’t been one slip on Karma’s part to even hint at her being related to Fisher.
Jessie made a mental note never to play poker with Karma Kincaid, but she wouldn’t mind learning a few of her secrets. She was especially curious as to why Karma would fix her up with Fisher after everything Jessie had said about him. She’d called Fisher a dim-witted stalker with processing problems. But then she’d also said he was gorgeous and told her about the leg and ass massage. Just thinking about it had her melting again.