He stared at the ceiling, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger. “I don’t think so. I mean, after high school there was one girl I dated for over a year. She was great and we were great together. Things were comfortable, predictable...”

“That’s not good?”

“It would have been if I wasn’t looking for something more,” he said.

“Like what?”

“Sparks. Fire. Intensity. I mean, I know they say those things fade in a relationship, but they should be there at the start and they just weren’t with her...or anyone else.”

She stiffened. She’d felt sparks between the two of them. Had he not?

“Until now...”

Her shoulders relaxed. She traced a fine white line on his chest above his heart. “Where did you get this scar?” Changing the subject seemed necessary.

He glanced down at her finger. “That one was from my very first rescue mission as a recruit. Three hikers went missing on the side of Snowcrest Mountain. It was spring and the snow had started to melt. The ground was muddy and avalanches had been happening in the area. I was inexperienced, had no idea what to expect. As we trekked along the mountain, I fell against a jagged rock.”

“Ouch.”

“Yes, it was. Eight stitches,” he said with a laugh. Taking her hand, he kissed it, entwining his fingers with hers.

The intimate gesture had her heart racing more than the frantic, explosive sex.

“But luckily, I’ve gotten a little better at the job since then.”

“Accidents still happen.” She saw them all the time. People’s lives and health suddenly in jeopardy just doing things they did a thousand times before. Skiers, hikers, campers, wilderness enthusiasts—she saw them all in the emergency room. She’d once removed a tree branch that was three inches thick from a man’s shoulder. Out here, nothing was predictable.

“You’re right—they do,” Reed said. “We are as careful as we can be.” His fingers trailed up and down her arm, making her shiver. He misread the goose bumps for cold and pulled her closer. “Out there, our main priority is the safety of the search team, then it’s the safety of the person we are trying to find. That’s why we go only as far as we do. We could potentially search forever in some cases.” His voice sounded strained at the reality of the situation.

“How often do things...not work out?”

“They do more often than not. We have a good success rate...not as good as we’d like,” he said. His fingers stopped trailing. She’d obviously touched a nerve.

“Sorry, that’s probably not something you want to think about or talk about.” She bit her lip as she stared at his chest.

“Not with Cassie out there right now, no,” he said tightly.