Halfway down, the root tore loose with a wet crack. Grant’s hand slammed hard against the rock face before he caught himself on another root. He hissed between his teeth, pain slashing across his features as his bruised knuckles held his weight.
“Grant!” I scrambled closer, my heart jumping into my throat. “Are you—?”
“I’m fine,” he shouted over the wind, flexing his hand once before gripping the next branch. “Don’t move. I’m almost there.”
He dropped beside me and silently shifted my pack out of the way, reaching for my ankle without hesitation. Thunder boomed overhead, and the dying light made it hard to see, but I didn’t need eyes to know Grant was hurting too. The set of his jaw gave him away.
“Is your hand okay?” I asked as he pressed his fingers along my ankle bone and up my calf.
“Better than your ankle.” His voice was gruff but softer than I expected. “Can you climb if I help you?”
“I think so.” I wrapped my arms around my waist, trying to hold the shivers in.
“Come on.” He braced himself against the embankment and offered me his uninjured hand. “Let’s get you out of this hole.”
With his help, I made it a few feet from the ledge before my burning limbs and bum ankle betrayed me. I slipped, letting out a yelp. Grant caught me, grunting as he hauled me back up by the waist. It was enough leverage to plant my heels in the slippery mud and keep going.
We collapsed at the top and sprawled onto our backs. I closed my eyes against the driving rain.
“Okay,” I panted, voice shaking with exhaustion. “Commence with the murdering. Put me out of my misery. I’m so cold, I’m giving woolly mammoths locked in an ice shelf a run for their money.”
Grant let out a low chuckle, tipping his head back, so the rain traced the strong lines of his throat. “Only you, Spells.”
He rolled toward me, reached out, and hooked an arm around my waist until we were facing each other. Water dripped from his chin, his lashes dark with rain as he looked down at me. He swallowed thickly, the humor fading as my teeth chattered hard enough to make my molars ache.
His palms found my shoulders, just like they had before the tug-of-war challenge. The spell left his lips, and heat flared across my skin, spreading through me until even my toes tingled.
“Thank you,” I murmured. “You have great hands.”
His grip tightened slightly, tugging me closer as if he wasn’t sure who was more surprised, him or me.
“That is the first compliment you’ve ever given me.”
“Yes, well,” I said, lips twitching. “I might have aconcussion.”
His brows snapped together. The heat vanished as his fingers slid up into my hair. “Did you hit your head, Spells?”
“No. No, no.” I caught his wrist, my heart thudding from the look in his eyes. “Hands back at ten and two. I was joking.”
His frown eased, the warmth returned, and the spell seeped through me again. A soft sound escaped my throat.
Grant Delaney was making me feel good. No, way better than good. Warm. Safe. And he looked like Mr. December in a rain slicker while doing it. Was that a trifecta? It was definitely some kind of Bermuda Triangle nonsense, because the logical part of my brain was gone, all hope lost.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
“Sage and the bartender gave me directions, then I just followed the sound of an injured animal.” His mouth curved, wicked this time. “I mean, you singing Christmas carols.”
“Hey.” I smacked him lightly in the chest, my palm lingering against his wet jacket. “I won the fifth-grade talent show with these pipes. It was between me and the hula hoop girl. Sure—she tripped and broke her nose, but I was still the winner.”
“Wow, impressive.” He squeezed my shoulders, those magic fingers firm and enticing. “No wonder they’re considering you for a spot on my team. I’ll have to install soundproofing in the office first.”
I flattened my lips. “First it’s walk-in freezers, now it’s soundproofing. Do you treat all your new hires this way, or just your enemies?”
His gaze flicked to my mouth again, exactly as it had last night. My heart stalled. A delicious ache thrummed inside my body.
It would be so easy to close the distance and kiss him. A gust of wind could do it for me. He’d saved me when I said I didn’t need it. He’d warmed me up when I definitely needed that. Grant was the last person I ever expected to come after me, yet here he was after hiking for hours in the pouring rain—hair soaked, a streak of mud on his chin—looking at me like he'd do it again in a heartbeat.
“Val—” His voice was rough. Then he exhaled, the moment snapping. “Enemies, huh? You can’t go one day without reminding me how much we hate each other. It’s like you’re stuck on repeat.” He shook his head. “Why do you make everything harder than it has to be?”
