Chapter 15
Cam whipped around to see John grabbing on to Katie for balance. Heart in his throat, he dove past the others as Nick did the same from the rear, both getting there at the same time, shoving the locked together snowshoers against the rock only a fraction of a second before they would have fallen off the edge.
Cam lifted his head and eyed the drop-off, which was at least thirty feet-good enough to have cracked more than a few bones. Fucking idiot.
“I’m okay, I’m okay!” This from Sweetie Pie Drunk Ass-hole John. Accompanying this declaration was a loud belch that smelled like a bad combination of Scotch and sewer. “Whew, doggie.” He let out a goofy smile as he fanned his hand in front of his face. “That’s not good.”
Sally laughed and helped pull him off of Katie. “You okay, Sweetie Pie?”
Cam put his hands on Katie’s hips, holding her still when she would have gotten up. She’d taken John’s full weight, and Cam’s and Nick’s as well. “Take a minute. Are you okay?”
“I think so.” But she didn’t give him her usual megawattage smile. She sat up, holding her arm close to her chest as she peered over the edge. She didn’t quite go green but close enough, and he knew she was probably only a minute away from hyperventilating. “Oh God.”
Crouched beside her, Cam blocked her from the view of the cliff, as well as the others, giving her a minute to collect herself.
“I’m fine.”
“Just sit another minute. Bad memories, or something more?”
“I think just memories. Dammit.”
Not convinced, he reached for the zipper on her jacket to get a look at her arm.
“No, it’s fine. Fine,” she repeated when Cam started to speak. The others had shifted close to check on her. “Look, if I don’t keep going, then I let the idiot take this away from me-No offense,” she said to John, who shook his head, suitably sober now.
“None taken. I am an idiot.”
Katie looked at Cam. “I’m good to go.”
Because she wasn’t a quitter. Not even close.
Using her poles, she struggled to get to her feet, never easy in snowshoes so he helped her, then hugged her close to him. “You’re still shaking.”
“I’m okay.” She peered over his shoulder at the drop and swallowed. “I’m okay,” she repeated, but he hugged her in tight anyway, letting her have the illusion of telling him when he knew it was herself she was talking to.
“Hey, I’ll take the merry couple back,” Nick said. “He’s not fit to get to the top.”
The others decided to go back with their friends, and Cam looked at Katie. “I’m sorry.”“No, I can still get there.” Her eyes blazed with determination, tugging on something deep inside him, making him want to give her whatever she wanted.
He knew what was on the top of her list. It was on top of his list too.
“Please.”
Ah, hell. Cam looked at Nick.
“I’ll take her if you want,” Nick offered. “You can take the others back.”
“No.” Hell no.
Nick sighed. “Some guys get all the luck.”
As they climbed, Katie’s lungs felt like they were going to burst, but when Cam asked her if she wanted to stop, she said no and managed to keep going, even if she was breathing like a lunatic. When they finally crested the top, she staggered to a halt at the view. “My God.”
The land had leveled out, revealing a 360-degree view that quite simply took whatever breath she had left, admittedly not much. The thin, icy air was still barely soughing in and out of her lungs as she shook her head in disbelief. “It’s like being on top of the world.”
Cam came up beside her, and as if he knew exactly how she felt, how awed, how small and insignificant they were in the whole scheme of things, he didn’t say a word, just let her take it all in.
“It’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.” She turned to look at him. He stood there tall and strong and vital. Tough. Silent. A virtual rock whenever she’d needed one, and definitely not the quitter he thought he was, and she amended her thought. He was the most gorgeous thing she’d ever seen. “Well worth the terror of getting here.”
He dropped his backpack, then pulled hers off as well, making her sit on a rock outcropping before crouching at her feet to unhook her snowshoes. “Don’t try to walk around up here without those,” he warned as he tugged off his gloves, shoving them into his pocket. “That whole drunken fiasco never should have happened. I could have killed him.” Cam looked into her eyes, his own dark and troubled. “Are you really okay?”
Unable to help herself, she cupped his face and kissed his jaw. “So fierce and protective over the woman you don’t quite know what to do with.”
“I know you’re still fighting the memories.”
“It’s better. So much better.”
“Are you sure?”
“Very.” She began to stand up, but he held her back.
“Just sit still a minute.”
“Why? You want to have your merry way with me?” she teased as he reached up and unzipped her jacket.
“I’m checking on your arm.”
“It’s fine-” But she hissed out a breath when he pulled her arm out of the jacket and then pushed up her sleeve, which was stuck to her arm by her own blood. “Oh boy.”