Even over the wind, they could hear Jessie yelling in his tent for them to shut up. Grinning, River stayed quiet, at least for a few minutes longer, then she clicked on the radio one last time, pressing it against her cheek.

“Hey, Easton?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad you’re our guide.”

Silence, then her favorite voice in the world rumbled sweetly in her ear. “Me too, River. Me too.”

Chapter 11

Since she was alone in her tent, no one needed to know River slept with the radio tucked under her arm, tight to her rib cage like a teddy bear.

Somehow Easton’s deep voice—so calm and unafraid despite the winds shrieking around them—had allowed River to drift off to sleep. Even with the storm, she slept great. River only started to stir when a loud squawk from the radio startled her upright.

“What? Who—?” Twisting around, her brain tried and failed to keep up.

“Rise and shine.” The radio crackled against her breast. “We’ve got a mountain to climb. Are you coming, or do I need to dig you out?”

River didn’t understand what Easton meant until she rolled over and scooted sideways a few inches, reaching for the zipper on her tent. When she unzipped it, she was met with a wall of white.

“I’m good. Don’t—”

A mouthful of soft fresh powder kicked into her face midsentence. Easton’s warm brown eyes appeared in her view as she blinked snow out of her lashes.

“Good morning.” He chuckled at the expression on her face.

“Is it?” River mumbled.

Easton wasn’t wearing a jacket, meaning the reflection off the snow must have been heating the site enough she wouldn’t need one either. When River drew in a deep breath, her lungs resisted the cold, thinner air. A blast of wind blew the snow past Easton’s crouching form and into her tent. How in the world did this man not need a coat?

“Nope. Nope, nope.” Wiggling backward, River pulled her jacket around her. “In or out, big guy. It’s too early to build a snow cone down my shirt.”

“Sorry, time to emerge from your hidey-hole. We’re getting an early start today. The snow cones will have to wait for later.”

He flicked some snow at her, earning a wrinkled nose and a tongue sticking out.

“You’re not half as attractive as you think you are, Easton Lockett,” she called after him as the tent flap fell back down. River reached for the zipper pull with her sock-covered toes. “Couldn’t even zip…back up…stupid man. Stupid tent. Stupid man-tent.” Dropping back to the ground in a dramatic flop, River groaned. “Okay, self, time to get up. You have no choice in the matter. Get up, get moving, and try not to ice ax any men this morning.”

“River? You okay in there?” Outside her tent, Ben sounded concerned.

“You count as a man, Benjamin. You’re not exempt.”

“Okeydokey. Easton said to tell you he’s got coffee going.”