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My hands shake as I push off the ground and to my feet. My head spins when I'm upright. "Just give me a minute, and I'll be good."
The park ranger makes a sound somewhere between a huff and a growl and turns his back to me. Then he squats and bends at the waist.
And says nothing.
"Are you asking for my opinion on your ass, because if I'm being honest,…"
"Get on my back."
"Seriously, both my legs still work. I don't think I need—"
"I don't care what you think. The last thing we need is for you to sue the National Park Service because you hurt yourself while in my care. Get on my back or stay here and wait for me to get back with help."
He says all this while remaining perfectly still and in that awkward position. His quads have to be burning and I'm beyond tempted to argue with him some more just to see how long he can hold that position.
Not to mention the view isn't bad at all. His ass…
"Now, Weston," he growls.
That growl does something to me. My cheeks get hot and a sensation like sexy, warm honey drizzling from my chest and down to that spot between my legs… You know what, maybe I am shocky.
I hop onto his back before I'm forced to analyze my reaction to him.
Ranger, as I'm going to call him since he hasn't told me his name, grunts his approval and straightens into an upright posture.
Then he walks up the hill like I'm not even on his back. I may be petite, but I'm still a full-grown human woman with hips and an ass. This guy just moseys on up the hill like I weigh nothing.
"You carry a lot of damsels on your back after you've nearly scared them off a cliff?"
"Part of my training plan." He's barely winded.
"Training for what? How to be the rudest park ranger in all the National Parks in the land?"
"Maybe don't call me rude while I'm carrying you up the mountain."
"Hey, buddy." I wrap my arms tighter around his shoulders in case he gets any ideas. "I didn't ask you to carry me. You insisted."
"Best way I could figure to keep you from killing yourself."
"Killing myself? You're the one who snuck up on me like an ax murderer and shouted in my ear."
"I was trying to get your attention before you jumped. Or have you already forgotten that I saved your life?"
"Jumped? You think I'd throw myself off a cliff over twenty dollars?" I snort, because the idea is truly laughable.
Ranger doesn't laugh.
"Wait. You're serious? You thought I was going to kill myself?"
"What it looked like to me," he says. "Wouldn't be the first time someone walked into these woods and never walked out again by choice."
The way his voice develops a distinct rasp and the tightening of his arms around my legs makes me think maybe he knew a person who'd done just that. Maybe he'd cared about someone who'd done it. "Well, I wasn't trying to kill myself. I was enjoying the view."
"Ah," he says with a brisk nod. "Should have known. You're just an idiot from the city who doesn't understand that the wilderness isn't a fun ride at the amusement park."
An idiot? Who the hell does he think he is? "I was enjoying the view. I like to feel like I'm standing on the edge of the world."
"You know how many people every year die by falling off the side of a mountain?"
