pity.”
“Pity? I don’t pity you. I think you got a raw deal with your ex, but it isn’t a sense of charity that makes me want to show you how good it could be.” His gaze grew so sharp she felt sliced wide open. “I want you. No one would ever call me stable, but I think I’m exactly what you need—tonight.”
She sat up and crawled out of her sleeping bag. “I’m sleeping in the ranger station.”
“You don’t want to sleep in the ranger station.” He caught her around the waist and dragged her against his body. “You want to sleep with me. Admit it.”
Every muscle in her body molded against his, but she couldn’t allow herself to forget the truth. When it came to powerful men like Russ Donovan, she made terrible choices. “It doesn’t matter what I want. I make decisions based on what is good for my son and me, and I don’t plan on spending even one more night with a man who doesn’t respect me. I got enough of that in my marriage.”
“What makes you think I don’t respect you?”
She’d had plenty of time to make a list on the way down the mountain. “The things you said in the elevator back at Media Life? The way you ran me ragged on the trail yesterday to make me look foolish? That whole dinner thing last night? And the way you moved every branch out of my path today, like I couldn’t manage to step over them? I’m not as helpless as you think.”
He rolled his eyes. “I was being nice.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“So you don’t like it when I push you, and you don’t like it when I don’t. Make up your mind.”
Her simmering anger erupted into a full boil, and she pushed against his chest. “Men like you enjoy making women feel weak, and I’m sick of it.”
His arm tightened around her waist. “There is only one very specific instance in which a man like me enjoys making a woman feel weak, and I am trying to show you what it is. I’ve had my ass handed to me by female black belts. I’ve jumped beside women who made better landings than I did. I’ve been outswimmed, outgunned, and outranked—by women. I’ve got no problem respecting women.”
Now it was her turn to scoff. “But not a woman like me. I’m just good for baking cookies, cleaning the windows, and feeding the babies. Oh, and sex.”
“For God’s sake, I was being an asshole because you were standing there in your perfect pink suit looking at me like I was something you wanted to delicately scrape off the sole of your high heel. And I call bullshit. You want to pigeonhole me with your asshole ex, but I’m not him. I don’t put other people down. I kick them into higher gear. Good God, woman, you climbed a mountain with me today. Have you ever done anything like that before?”
She shook her head, unable to speak. Her ex-husband never would have accepted responsibility for her near collapse on the trail yesterday, and he certainly wouldn’t have apologized. Russ had stepped back so the cameras could get a good shot of her when they reached the top of the mountain today. Ethan would have hogged the peak or at least insisted on being in the picture. Russ was right—he was nothing like Ethan.
She ducked her head to avoid his fierce gaze, but she couldn’t escape his voice. “I know myself inside and out, because I’ve been in a lot of fucked-up situations where decisions had to be made fast to keep people alive. I don’t like to lose—fights, games, competitions, or people. I push hard, I fight hard, I do everything hard, but I take care of my own. Nobody messes with my team. Like it or not, Susie, we’re a team now. I’m goddamn pissed at your ex-husband for leaving you wounded, but I’m fairly certain undoing the damage is within my capability.”
She lifted her chin. “That sounds like pity to me.”
“Not pity.” His erection throbbed against her belly. Her breath caught, and her nipples peaked. He groaned, low in his throat, and the sound vibrated in her core. “Trust me—not
“Pity? I don’t pity you. I think you got a raw deal with your ex, but it isn’t a sense of charity that makes me want to show you how good it could be.” His gaze grew so sharp she felt sliced wide open. “I want you. No one would ever call me stable, but I think I’m exactly what you need—tonight.”
She sat up and crawled out of her sleeping bag. “I’m sleeping in the ranger station.”
“You don’t want to sleep in the ranger station.” He caught her around the waist and dragged her against his body. “You want to sleep with me. Admit it.”
Every muscle in her body molded against his, but she couldn’t allow herself to forget the truth. When it came to powerful men like Russ Donovan, she made terrible choices. “It doesn’t matter what I want. I make decisions based on what is good for my son and me, and I don’t plan on spending even one more night with a man who doesn’t respect me. I got enough of that in my marriage.”
“What makes you think I don’t respect you?”
She’d had plenty of time to make a list on the way down the mountain. “The things you said in the elevator back at Media Life? The way you ran me ragged on the trail yesterday to make me look foolish? That whole dinner thing last night? And the way you moved every branch out of my path today, like I couldn’t manage to step over them? I’m not as helpless as you think.”
He rolled his eyes. “I was being nice.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“So you don’t like it when I push you, and you don’t like it when I don’t. Make up your mind.”
Her simmering anger erupted into a full boil, and she pushed against his chest. “Men like you enjoy making women feel weak, and I’m sick of it.”
His arm tightened around her waist. “There is only one very specific instance in which a man like me enjoys making a woman feel weak, and I am trying to show you what it is. I’ve had my ass handed to me by female black belts. I’ve jumped beside women who made better landings than I did. I’ve been outswimmed, outgunned, and outranked—by women. I’ve got no problem respecting women.”
Now it was her turn to scoff. “But not a woman like me. I’m just good for baking cookies, cleaning the windows, and feeding the babies. Oh, and sex.”
“For God’s sake, I was being an asshole because you were standing there in your perfect pink suit looking at me like I was something you wanted to delicately scrape off the sole of your high heel. And I call bullshit. You want to pigeonhole me with your asshole ex, but I’m not him. I don’t put other people down. I kick them into higher gear. Good God, woman, you climbed a mountain with me today. Have you ever done anything like that before?”
She shook her head, unable to speak. Her ex-husband never would have accepted responsibility for her near collapse on the trail yesterday, and he certainly wouldn’t have apologized. Russ had stepped back so the cameras could get a good shot of her when they reached the top of the mountain today. Ethan would have hogged the peak or at least insisted on being in the picture. Russ was right—he was nothing like Ethan.
She ducked her head to avoid his fierce gaze, but she couldn’t escape his voice. “I know myself inside and out, because I’ve been in a lot of fucked-up situations where decisions had to be made fast to keep people alive. I don’t like to lose—fights, games, competitions, or people. I push hard, I fight hard, I do everything hard, but I take care of my own. Nobody messes with my team. Like it or not, Susie, we’re a team now. I’m goddamn pissed at your ex-husband for leaving you wounded, but I’m fairly certain undoing the damage is within my capability.”
She lifted her chin. “That sounds like pity to me.”
“Not pity.” His erection throbbed against her belly. Her breath caught, and her nipples peaked. He groaned, low in his throat, and the sound vibrated in her core. “Trust me—not
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