Then Danny’s hand was on my cheek, turning me to look at him. He’d slipped off his glove and his palm was gloriously warm against my skin. “You and me, together. We’re going to pull this off.” His voice was unshakeable. He believed it.

And that meant I believed it, too. I swallowed…and nodded.

Danny gave me one of those huge grins, the ones that made my brain light up like a pinball table. He looked so proud that I just melted. And then, underneath the pride, I saw something else. That fierce, burning need. His hand tensed on my cheek just a little. I saw his eyes flick down to my lips…

Then he took hold of my hand instead and squeezed. When he spoke, I could hear the strain in his voice. He was keeping that need restrained…just barely. “C’mon,” he said. “Let’s go.”

And we set off into the wilderness.

27. Danny

27

DANNY

As we climbed the foothills of the mountain, it got colder and colder. It began to snow, just a few flakes at first and then heavier and heavier, deadening all sound and wrapping us in a silent white world.

I shouldn’t be here, I grumbled to myself. I don’t know anything about the wilderness, I’m from bloody London. If Cal was there, he’d carve a cabin out of a tree and whip up a banquet out of a squirrel and a pine cone.

But there was someone who belonged here even less than me. I looked across at Erin. If something happened to her….

That protective urge again, stronger than ever. And right on its heels, all the other feelings. That pull towards her, an ache that throbbed through me: the closer I got to her, the stronger it was. Being on the mission with her had been hard enough. Now the snow was falling in silent white curtains all around us, creating a tiny, isolated space where only the two of us existed.

Why does it have to be her? Why does the one woman I feel like this about have to be JD’s little sister?

Every time I glanced at her, my eyes locked on her lips and wouldn’t let go. Even when I forced myself to keep my eyes forward, I could smell that peaches and Christmas scent of her, hear her soft breathing….

There was no one else for miles. If something happened out here, no one would know.

I pushed that thought away. They call it being crazy about someone and it was true, she was making me crazy. If something happened, I’d know. And inevitably, JD would find out and that would be the end of our friendship.