Instant Attraction

“It l-looked like hard work.”

“Admit it. You didn’t because-”

“It’s not because of the b-bridge,” she said tightly, shuddering. “I wasn’t that hurt then, I was just stuck. Literally stuck. If I c-could have gotten out, I would have-” Her voice broke a little, and so did his heart. “I w-would have tried to h-help the others-”

“You couldn’t have.” He hugged her resisting body as close as he could. “You were too far down the hill, and you know now that even if you weren’t, there was no one alive to save.”

She sniffed, her face buried against his chest. “I didn’t know that then.”

“It’s not your fault that you lived. Tell me you know that.”

“I’m getting there.” She sniffed again. “And on a bright note, I’ve met another cliff and lived. I think the universe is trying to tell me something.”

“You’re the bravest woman I know.”

“I’m a little dizzy, Cam. And you sound funny.”

He felt funny. And weak-kneed with what might have happened to her. “Your head needs looking at.”

“No kidding. I need to have it examined for getting myself into this situation.”

Pulling free enough to lift up his sweatshirt, he tore a strip of material off his T-shirt.

Katie let out a sound, and he looked at her. “What?”

“I hate that I’m pitifully attracted to you ripping your shirt like a he-man, especially after your escape this morning.” She winced and held her head. “How bad is it?”

He pressed the material of his shirt to her wound, applying a little pressure to stop the bleeding. “Not bad.” He pulled out his phone and called the lodge. “We’re going to need a snowmobile about a quarter of a mile past the trailhead,” he told T.J.

“A quarter of a mile?” Katie asked. “That’s all I went?”

“What happened?” T.J. asked.

“Katie slipped off the edge, fell twenty feet. Slight head injury and shoulder.”

“Slight,” Katie muttered. “And that doesn’t count the damage you did to it, of course.”

Cam closed his eyes. “Hurry,” he told T.J.

“Stone’s already out the door and heading for you. I’ll be right behind him.”

“Put a call into Doc Sinclair first. Tell him we’re bringing him a patient.”

“I’m fine,” Katie said. “Relatively speaking.”

Yeah, she was fine. But she’d be even more so after an x-ray and a once-over by a professional. He slipped the phone back into his pocket and lifted her up against him.

“What are you doing?”

“Carrying you back up.”

“I can walk.” When he didn’t set her down, she sighed and slipped her arms around his neck, setting her head down at the crook of his shoulder as he carried her up to the top. “You feel like a superhero.”

“Because I carried you?”

She made a noise that said she thought that assessment fairly ridiculous. “My heroes aren’t cocky, ex-world champs who have lots of muscle.”

“Well, ouch.”

“Yeah, and they don’t wear capes or have superpowers either, in case you were wondering. They…feel. They hurt.” She cupped his face until he looked down at her. “They can love and be loved. They know they’re worthy, and that they deserve it.”

He stared down into her face, his blood pounding. She knew how he’d felt. She’d sensed it, or he’d given himself away, and he didn’t know what to do with that.

From the direction of the lodge came the whine of a snow-mobile engine.

“The cavalry,” she said.

I think I’ve got it together now, he wanted to tell her. He wanted to say that and more, but then Stone was there, reaching out for her. Left with little choice, Cam handed her over, watching Stone settle her in front of him before taking off for the lodge.

The snow had continued to come down now, lightly, and the trail was icy, hampering his speed. He wasn’t as quick on the ice, not these days, but oddly enough, that thought didn’t come with the usual gut twist.

T.J. met him halfway on a second snowmobile. When they got back to the lodge, Cam leaped off and turned toward his truck, intending to start it so he could drive Katie into town, but there was a Jeep in the driveway, blocking him in.

Changing direction, swearing at whatever idiot had parked right behind him, he yanked the lodge door. Stone stood in the foyer doorway, looking disconcerted.

“Katie,” Cam said.

Stone stepped aside.

Katie was wrapped in a blanket on the couch with a woman leaning over her holding a stethoscope.

“The doctor was already nearly here, as it turned out,” Stone said, “bringing Annie some supplies.”

Cam looked at the young, stacked beauty. She was dressed more for a cover shoot than a patient run. “That’s not good old Doc Sinclair.”

“Good eyes, bro. It’s his daughter. Emma.” Stone, a guy who’d never met a woman he didn’t want to get to know better, was frowning. “Apparently he coaxed her to Wishful with the promise she could run his place, but we get injuries out here all the time, and with the ER thirty miles away, we need a competent doctor, not Dress-Up Doctor Barbie.”

As Cam was usually the one requiring the emergency services, he knew this all too well. “How do you know she’s not competent?”