The way he said those words, she thought he might have experienced waiting for help. She hoped he would tell her that story one day—as if their interaction would go beyond this predicament, or even her short stay in Montana.

She leaned to the right to see around his broad shoulders. She couldn’t make anything out through the curtain of water—shades of blue and white and maybe some green, but nothing specific. Would they be able to see if someone made their way through to find them?

She pulled her gaze from the water and took in the wonder of the cave—or rather, not a true cave, as Alex had explained, but a hollow created from the erosion. Amazing what water could do, washing stone away little by little over time, transforming it into something completely new.

In the same way, time affected everything in existence—chipping away, little by little, to form something new, sometimes better and sometimes worse—people too, whether they realized it or not.

That left her with a question.

How did I come to this moment—standing behind a waterfall with a special agent from an obscure agency?

She’d never considered what she would find behind the waterfall. Alex had opened up a whole new world—the drone in the sky and the shelter behind the cascade. Had he been trying to show off by bringing her here? She half smiled at the thought. No. Alex wouldn’t take that kind of risk.

He remained steadfast in holding his weapon, his protective stance strong and true, and stared ahead as if he could see what was happening on the other side. The guy was full of surprises, so maybe he could see something she couldn’t.

On the day Alex gave her the grand tour, she suspected he would be trouble. He was trouble for her heart, and by default that meant he was trouble for her well-kept secrets. For her honed professionalism—an attempt to always rise above and beyond the mischief of her past.

Once again, Mackenzie lifted her hand and hesitated, letting her palm hover over his back a few seconds before pressing it against his wet shirt. Energy sparked, surging up her arm. She jerked her hand away and covered her mouth as he stepped back, closer even than before. He shifted, turning toward her.

Then he leaned in, his cheek almost touching hers, and whispered, “Wait here.”

What? Not again. No . . .

He pulled back to look her in the eyes, and she shook her head. She didn’t want to be left alone to shiver in the dripping waterfall cave and wonder what happened to him.

His somber expression shifted, and he offered up a confidence booster in his roguish grin. “It’ll be alright.”

Without another word, he stepped away and around the smallish outcropping behind which they had huddled, taking her only source of heat with him. He slowly moved toward the waterfall.