“What can I say? Love makes you do crazy things.” She grinned up at him as she stepped onto the ledge beside him. Even with a smear of trail dust on her cheek, she was gorgeous. His gaze snagged on her full lips.
Love. Crazy things. Yeah, it tracked.
And maybe this was the perfect time to bring up that kiss.
Dani was in so much trouble.
She didn’t want to break Michael’s heart—not when she’d been dreaming of this moment since she was twelve years old. But still…chances were she’d mess this up like everything else. And she couldn’t live with herself if she hurt Michael Martinelli that way.
But the desire pooling in his eyes, the strong grip on her hand…she couldn’t ignore them. Even the scenery conspired to lure her into the deep end of the pool where she had no business being.
And it was so tempting to give in when he looked at her like that.
No! It’s just my impulsive nature. I need to be methodical. Smart.
She was only in Renegade long enough to prove herself, and then she was out of here.
She would be a horrible long-distance girlfriend.
She’d sacrificed everything for this job. Staying wasn’t an option. And Michael’s whole world was here. He would never leave, and she couldn’t ask him to.
So whatever these old feelings were stirring inside, she needed to shut them down—now!—and remind Michael that they were just friends.
“Hey, is that a peregrine falcon?” She pointed behind him at a tall craggy pine. A childish move, but effective.
He dropped her hand and turned around. “I don’t see anything.”
“Up there on that high branch.”
Michael dug out his binoculars. “Yeah, it’s a peregrine. Cool.” He handed her the binos. “I’ve never seen one this close.” The bird dive-bombed over the side of the mountain. “I wonder if we’ll see more on the trail.”
She tried to hand the binoculars back to Michael, but he shook his head. He started to move closer again, so Dani hooked the strap of the binoculars over her head and resumed the hike. She focused on soaking in the glory of the mountains, the sun warming her arms, and putting way more energy into not thinking about kissing Michael Martinelli. She should enjoy the peaks while she could. They didn’t have mountains like this in New York City or Miami.
Michael gripped the straps on his pack. “I’m glad we have good weather today and can see the wildlife. Won’t be long before the snow flies.”
“Do you still ski?” Perfect topic. Sports and activities. Nothing that would stir up unwanted memories.
“I haven’t since our senior year of high school with the youth group.”
“Why not? You and Josh were up here all the time when we were growing up.”
“After that season, I left for college. And getting into med school was all-consuming. I spent breaks studying and helping at home.”
Except for that one party that did not need to be brought up. One of the many times he’d rescued her from her own dumb decisions. “Must’ve been worth it since you got into one of the top medical schools in the country.”
Michael shrugged as they continued up the trail. “Not really. I quit and moved back.”
“Do you regret it? Quitting med school?” Part of her brain said she was moving into personal territory, but she still cared about the guy.
He stopped and turned to look at her. He shook his head slowly, gave her a sad smile. “I’m where I’m supposed to be. The hardest thing was probably disappointing my dad. We always talked about going into practice together. But I guess I’m more like my mom than I realized.”
“I could’ve told you that.”
“Really?”
“I remember when that little girl was missing and it was all over the news. Your mom wouldn’t stop until she was found. She was on the search for how many days without rest?”
“Three days and nights. She eventually found her. Then she ended up in the hospital with pneumonia.” Michael gave a mirthless chuckle. “She was relentless.”
