I rolled my eyes. “If I didn’t, I’m sure you’ve got enough for both of us.”
“You can’t rely on other people in survival situations. You need to have everything.”
It was going to be a long day.
I stopped and turned to face him on the trail. “I know you do things in a very organized, military kind of way. I do things a little more haphazardly—”
He made a dismissive sound and crossed his stupid sexy arms over his chest.
“But, I spend as much time in the bush as you do and guess what? We’re both still alive.”
“Yeah well you’ve been lucky,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “No, I’ve been smart. I just don’t do smart the same way you do.”
He moved a step closer, looming over me in a strange sexy forest-creature sort of way. “You’re reckless, you lost something in the lake, you got a sunburn, you—”
“Ooh, a sunburn,” I interrupted. “Big deal. It’s not like I tried to pet a bear or wandered off a cliff.”
He made that dismissive sound again.
“Look,” I tried to inject some calm into my voice even as my pulse pounded. “We’re both almost forty and I spend as muchtime in the bush as you do, we’ve both managed to survive. Can you just cut the big brother routine and enjoy the hike.”
He glared, his arms still flexed across his chest. I fought to keep my eyes on his face and off his muscles. Something about verbally sparring with this guy just worked for me.
“I actually am friends with your big brother,” he pointed out.
“Yeah,friendswith him. That doesn’t mean you are him.” We were standing way closer than necessary, almost chest to chest and I could smell the subtle spice of his deodorant or aftershave. “I mean, there are things I’d do with you that I would never—”
I snapped my mouth shut, realizing I’d said too much.
Aaron didn’t need to know I’d rather climb him than the mountain.
His eyes went a little wider, and he cleared his throat. His blue eyes dipped to my mouth and stayed there long enough for my face to heat. “I was just checking, that’s all,” he muttered.
I nodded, then took a step back, half-tripping over Kyle, who was hunting a rock. I caught myself before he could lecture me on ankle hazards or something equally ridiculous. “Let’s just keep going.”
Chapter Five
Aaron
The unsaid end of that sentence haunted me as we climbed. She was trying to say she didn’t see me in a brotherly way. That she wanted to donon-siblingthings with me.
I’d definitely had somenot-brotherlythoughts about her too. If the feelings were mutual, that was temptation with a capitalT.
Having her hike in front of me, her ass flexing in her little hiking shorts, was not helping the situation either.
The situationbeing my chubbed up cock.
The woman drove me nuts. Unfortunately, opposites apparently attracted hard.
Coming on this hike was starting to feel like a mistake.
The celebrity adventure cat proved to be a good distraction. He didn’t pull ahead like a dog on a lead. He did whatever he wanted.
Kyle’s internal monologue probably sounded something like:
Flower over here? Let’s look.