The Hang Up (First Impressions) (4 page)

Okay, so at least she wasn’t the only perv ogling someone she shouldn’t be. She’d done her very best to keep her eyes off his anatomy the whole way here, not letting her gaze stray below his belt even once.

As she returned to his side, she wiped her hands down the legs of her jeans—pricey, True Religion jeans she’d prefer not to destroy crawling through a cave, but she was going to be a good sport about this. “Okay, so—spelunking.”

“Spelunking,” he said as he plunked the helmet on her head. He began to cinch the straps and maneuver the little wheels over her ears to tighten the straps around her head, and Miriam leaned into his hand just a little. “How does that feel?”

“Really good,” she answered, then realized he was asking about the fit of the helmet and not about his fingers brushing her face. “I mean—I think you have it tight enough.”

He palmed the top of her head and wiggled the helmet, then adjusted the dials again. “There. That’s better. You want to make sure it’s not going to come loose when you bonk your head on a rock.”

“Should I be concerned you said ‘when’ and not ‘if’?”

He shrugged. “It’s kind of a given. We’ll be going through some low caverns and with the helmet on, it’s inevitable you’ll underestimate where the top of your head actually is.”

“So you mean I probably wouldn’t bonk my head if I weren’t wearing the helmet?”

“Maybe not.” He grinned. “But I don’t like taking unnecessary chances.”

He reached out, and for a moment, she thought he was going to touch her face, maybe stroke the side of her cheek. She almost leaned into his palm, then realized he was reaching for her headlamp.

“There,” he said, flicking it on. “Now you can see.”

“That I can,” she agreed, thinking she was seeing a lot of him in the bright, high desert sunshine. His caramel-colored hair glinted in the sun where it curled out from beneath his helmet, and his bright blue eyes were twinkling. The stubble on his jaw made him look rugged and a little dangerous. He was definitely in his element here, and something about that started to dissolve Miriam’s anxiety. To her own amazement, she found herself feeling a tiny bit excited about this whole spelunking thing.

As if sensing her shift in mood, Jason grinned at her, then turned and strode toward the mouth of the cave. Miriam scurried after him, moving at a speedier clip than she was accustomed to. She didn’t usually move this fast unless there was a clearance sale at Barneys. As she hustled across the uneven terrain, she had to admit she was grateful for the boots. They gave her better balance over the bumpy rocks, and the fact that Jason’s presence left her a little weak-kneed made steady footing all the more crucial.

He led her down a steep incline, taking his time, turning back to check on her every now and then. “Nice and easy,” he said. “Try not to lean back so much. It’ll throw off your center of gravity.”

“Like this?”

“That’s good. Don’t be afraid to brace yourself on the rocks. Here, take these.”

He stopped walking and reached into the back pocket of his jeans to pull out a pair of gloves. She started to protest, knowing there was no way gloves that fit his massive palms could ever work for her hands. Then she noticed they were pink.

“You brought gloves just for me?”

“I had those in the car, too,” he said. “I told you I’d provide everything you needed for the cave tour.”

She pulled on the gloves, noticing they were warm from the heat of his back pocket. “You take your job pretty seriously, huh?”

“When it comes to taking care of anyone who’s trusted me with their well-being, damn right I do.”

There was an edge to his voice, something Miriam hadn’t noticed before. She started to ask about it, but stopped herself. It’s not like they were best friends chatting about their personal lives and hang-ups. This was just a business relationship, nothing more.

You keep telling yourself that
.

Jason flashed her a grin, and she wondered for the second time if he’d read her thoughts. Then he turned and continued deeper into the cave, his footing careful and exact.

Miriam held back for a moment to watch him, admiring the slow precision of his steps even more than she admired his ass, which was quite a lot. If she was going to go traipsing into the underbelly of the earth, at least she’d chosen to do it with a guy who believed in being cautious.

Your dad believed that, too, and where did that get him? Dead on the side of a mountain, that’s where.

Miriam pushed the thought from her mind and pushed onward, trudging deeper into the cave. She shivered a little, grateful Jason had told her to bring a warm coat. It might be summer outside, but it was closer to forty degrees underground. He’d seemed surprised she hadn’t brought some froofy cashmere thing, but a real, honest-to-goodness ski coat. She could credit her dad with that one. He’d given her a nice North Face parka for Christmas the year before he died, so at least she was warm.

She snuggled deeper into the coat, imagining she could feel her father’s hug again just one more time. Lost in thought, she didn’t notice Jason had stopped walking until she ran right into him.

“Ooof!”

“Sorry,” he said as he spun around and caught her by the elbows to hold her steady. “I should have warned you I was stopping.”

“No problem,” she said, kinda hoping he didn’t take his hands off her anytime soon.

“I wanted to show you something.”

“I already saw it back in my bathroom.” She grinned in spite of herself.

“Very funny. Here, look up.”

She did as he told her and craned her neck to aim her headlamp overhead. She gasped as the bright beam caught the twinkle of a million sparkling stars. No, not stars, they were in a cave. Gemstones? Silver?

“What is that?” she breathed.

“Condensation,” he said. “Water seeping through tiny fissures in the lava tube.”

“It’s incredible.” She turned in a slow circle to take in the view from different angles. The tiny droplets flashed and sparkled, making her a little dizzy. Jason didn’t say anything at first, and when she dropped her gaze to look at him, she saw him studying her with a surprised smile.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re beautiful. Especially when you’re all full of wonder and excitement.”

She felt herself flushing at his words, but she kept her own words casual. “I’d be full of wonder and excitement over a sale at Nordy’s, too.”

But even she had to admit she’d never seen anything quite like this.

“Look down at the ground,” he said, and Miriam obeyed. Her gaze landed on several rounded humps of ice stuck to the floor of the cave and a few scattered boulders around them.

“What are they?” she asked, stepping closer to one for a better look at the unusual ice formations.

“Ice boobs.”

She laughed. “That’s the technical term?”

“No, but that’s what a lot of people call them.”

“I can see why,” she said, and rubbed a gloved hand over one.

“Stop doing that.”

“Why?” She frowned. “Will it disrupt the ecological systems of the cave?”

“Well, that, and you’re turning me on.”

She rolled her eyes and drew her hand back. “You’re such a guy.”

“Guilty as charged.” He grabbed her hand. “Come on, let’s keep going. I want to show you the next room.”

He trudged ahead of her, letting go of her hand, and Miriam tried not to feel disappointed. At least from this angle she could stare at his ass again, which was becoming deliciously familiar to her.

He led her down a narrow corridor that got progressively smaller. He had to duck his head to continue, though she was still able to walk upright. The guy had to be six two or six three, in contrast to herself, at closer to five three without her heels.

Soon, though, she was ducking as well. She kept following him, tamping down the panic she felt as the space grew narrower and narrower. She ordered herself to breathe, not to think about creepy-crawlies or closed spaces or anything but the awe-inspiring backside of the man walking in front of her. She ran her fingers over the cave walls, reassuring herself with the solidness of the rock.

“You doing okay?” he called over his shoulder.

“I think so,” she murmured.

He stopped moving and turned to look at her, probably making sure she wasn’t bleeding to death or missing a limb. She tried to give him a smile, but she could tell it was weak.

His smile was more reassuring. “A little claustrophobic?”

“Maybe just a tiny bit.”

“It’s okay. I’ve got you. I promise this will be worth it.”

Somehow, she believed him.

“Okay,” he said, pulling on his own pair of gloves. “It’s going to get really narrow here and we’re going to have to crawl for a bit. Would you feel more comfortable crawling in first, or following after me?”

She considered it for a moment, not sure which would be less scary. “I want you behind me,” she decided at last.

A glint of something flickered in his eyes, but he held his tongue. “Whatever you want.”

He gestured her toward the opening. Miriam crawled through but struggled to keep her breathing even. She banged her knee on a rock, but kept going, contorting her body to maneuver through the narrow passageway.

“Nice and easy,” Jason murmured behind her. “Take it slow, we’ve got plenty of time.”

“Okay,” Miriam squeaked, appreciating that the soft timbre of his voice seemed to slow her pulse. “How much farther?”

“About another ten feet. You’re going to hit a really sharp turn in just a second. Just follow it to the left.”

“Right,” she breathed as she squeezed herself through the passageway. “How are you doing this? You’re like a foot taller than me, and your feet have to be a size eleven or twelve.”

“Thirteen, actually,” he said, grunting a little as he followed close behind her. “I’ve had a lot of practice squeezing into tight spaces.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to make a suggestive comment, but she held back. This was a professional relationship, after all, and they were here for business purposes.

The feel of his hand on her ass gave her a moment to reconsider that.

“Oh,” she gasped.

“Sorry about that,” he said. “I was reaching for that rock behind you and you moved.”

“It’s okay,” she said, kinda wishing he’d do it again.

“Almost there,” he said. “You see the opening?”

Miriam nodded, which was dumb, since he couldn’t possibly see her. “I think so.”

“As you start to emerge, you’ll see a big boulder to your right. Grab on to that and boost yourself up onto the narrow rock ledge below that.”

“Got it,” Miriam said, grateful for his gentle coaching and his warm hand and pretty much everything else about him right now. She caught hold of the rock he’d described and pulled her body up and out of the narrow tunnel. The top of her helmet bonked a low-hanging rock, but she kept going until her butt touched the rock ledge.

Then she scooted off to the side, making room for him to get out, too. “What now?” she asked.

Jason’s arms emerged first from the tunnel, impressively chiseled even beneath the puffy arms of his winter coat. He braced himself on either side of the opening, then pulled himself out and into the larger cavern where Miriam now found herself.

He hopped to his feet, dusted himself off, and grinned at her. “Kinda like being born, huh?”

Miriam glanced back at the hole they’d just emerged from. “If that’s supposed to be the birth canal, it’s the sharpest hoo-ha I’ve ever seen.”

He laughed and peeled his gloves off. He stuffed them into his coat pocket, turned, and strode deeper into the cave. “Come on, this is my favorite part.”

Miriam followed behind him, shaking a few pebbles out of her hair. She was feeling more sure-footed now, even a little excited by this adventure.

It’s not like we’re BASE jumping off a mountain or something
, she reasoned.
As far as adventures go, this is a tame one.

Still, it teetered dangerously close to her threshold of outdoorsy pursuits. The one she’d pledged never to cross. Why was that so exhilarating?

“Here,” he said, warning her this time so she wouldn’t go crashing into his back again. “Now look up.”

She half expected to see another series of twinkling lights or maybe a giant octopus. Anything seemed possible at this point.

“Where’s the ceiling?” she asked, blinking to clear her vision.

“About two hundred feet up,” he said. “This is the largest part of the lava tube. Right now we’re standing directly under the highway.”

“No kidding?” She kept staring upward, though she still couldn’t make out the roof of the cave.

“If you look over there, you’ll see some really cool mineral deposits.”

She followed the direction of his finger, letting her gaze drop to the iridescent white patterns on the wall. “It’s beautiful.”

“It’s the same stuff that makes up opals. That’s what gives it the iridescent quality.”

Her hands felt hot now, so she peeled off her gloves and shoved them into the pocket of her coat. She traced a finger over the pattern on the cave wall, noticing the way the formations twisted together like delicate lace.

“Ready for the coolest part?”

“Cooler than this?”

“Cooler than this,” he repeated.

Something in his voice made her tear her gaze off the cave wall to look him in the eye. Jason stared back, unblinking, his eyes molten in the beam of her headlamp. Her pulse kicked up, thrumming in her ears as those bright blue eyes studied her with an intensity that made her dizzy.

He smiled then and pulled something from his pocket. Miriam looked down at his hand, her eyes registering
condom
as her libido telegraphed
let’s go!

It took a few beats for her brain to catch up with the parade and point out she was getting hot and bothered over a Life Saver.

She watched him unwrap the breath mint and slip it into his mouth. As his lips parted, her pulse sped up again. He smiled and reached for her hand.

“You ready for this?”

Miriam nodded numbly, though she had no idea what she was agreeing to.