Warm silk. He was thinking of warm silk. To take his mind off that, he reached for the Band-Aid, but she pulled away.

“It’s just a scratch.” Her body language said back off because she could take care of herself. Her eyes said he’d gotten too close, and not just proximity-wise.

What had spooked her, he wondered. The list? No, she didn’t understand the significance of the list. Maybe it’d been the way he’d tried to take care of her scratch. Had no one ever fussed over her before? And why did that make him want to do just that? “Does it sting?”

“No,” she said, a bold lie that made him laugh softly. “Here.” Putting his hands on her shoulders, he looked into her eyes as he tilted his head and leaned in. She inhaled sharply as he blew very gently across her neck.

“Jared-”

“Shh.” He waited to see if she would, and when she clamped her lips shut, he took that as approval and did it again, blowing yet another breath over her flesh, which he noticed was now covered in goose bumps.

She shivered, and he knew damn well it wasn’t from pain. “Better?” he murmured.

“Um-”

He lifted his head. “Because I have one more trick up my sleeve,” he said, and kissed her neck, right above the cut.

She slapped a hand on his chest. “What are you doing?”

“Kissing it all better.” He lifted his head and smiled into her shocked face. “Did it work?”

“I…” Looking adorably perplexed, she put her hand to her neck. Her voice came low and throaty. Incredibly sexy. “You kissed me.”

“No.”

“No?”

“Nah. Now this…this a kiss.” Sliding his hand around to the back of her neck, he pulled her in, then stopped with his lips a mere whisper from hers. He absorbed the way her breath caught, the way his own did the same, including his heart.

Then he closed the distance…soft, wet, warm lips connected, her body an arousing heat against his.

She hadn’t budged, not even to breathe since that initial little panting sigh, but he could feel her heart stammering against his, and then…then she took the hand on his chest and fisted it in his shirt, right above his heart.

He liked that, liked that so much he pulled her closer, and-

And from down the steep trail, Michelle called out. “Lily?”

With a sigh, he made himself ease back.

Lily didn’t take her eyes off Jared’s. “Here! We’re up here!”

The others straggled along while Lily continued to stare at Jared.

He smiled.

She touched her neck again, as if not sure any of it had really happened; the scratch, the kiss…“Just about there,” she called out, and with one last look at Jared, she turned and kept walking.

With the taste of her still on his lips, he followed, the walking helping to clear his muddied-up heart. As far as the eye could see lay peaks and valleys and wide alpine meadows like green inland oceans, blanketed by a sky of sheer azure blue. The falls crashed loudly ahead, dropping into one of those green seas.

They were at the top of the world.

“Here,” Lily firmly said, and dropped her pack.

Everyone dropped their packs, too. Rose swiped her brow and smiled as Rock handed her a canteen of water. “What a sweetie, thanks. A big built cutie like you, you must spend a lot of time doing stuff like this, huh?”

“No,” he said, swiping his brow with his arm. “This is my first time.”

“Ah,” Rose said speculatively. “A virgin.”

Rock went beet red. “No, I-”

“An outdoor virgin.” Rose smiled. “Goodie. We can lose our cherries together.”

Rock couldn’t say anything, having probably swallowed his own tongue.

Rose look around. “Bathroom?”

“Bushes,” Lily said.

“Oh my.” She looked at Rock. “Will you stand guard?”

“Sure.”

“Jack? Michelle?” Lily asked as they sank to the ground and leaned back against their packs. “Okay?”

“Great,” Jack said, actually looking like he was enjoying himself.

“Great?” Michelle asked him incredulously. “You’re doing great?”

“Well…yeah. You?”

“My pack’s too heavy and my feet hurt.”

“You knew this was going to be hard. I thought we were going to make the most of it.”

She piled her long, thick blond hair on top of her head. “I’d rather be making the most of a spa treatment.”

“You can make your own spa treatment tonight,” Lily said. “Mud bath at the lake. For now, check out the view. That should help.”

They all looked at the falls, not thundering like the earlier ones, but full enough. “It’s pure snow melt,” Lily said. “Chilly. But the water’s so crystal-clear you can see to the bottom of that pool. The fish are huge.”

“I can’t see them from here,” Jack said.

“We’ll see them up close and personal tonight.” Lily glanced apologetically at Michelle. “Sorry.”

Michelle just shook her head, and closed her eyes. “No problem. Except this ground is hard. I hope the beds are softer.”

“Um…your bed is your sleeping bag,” Lily told her.

“Oh.” Michelle sighed again. “Right.” She looked at Jack. “I’m guessing this vacation was cheaper than last year’s Italy, huh?”

“But that was then.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means, time for us to learn to spend only what we make.”

“We…or me?”

Jack sighed. “Okay, you.”

“That’s fine for you. You like camping.”

“If you try,” Jack said with the patience of a saint, “you might like it, too.”

Michelle nodded. “Maybe. Are you going to keep me warm tonight?”

Jack blinked. “Uh…yeah. If you want me to. You haven’t…”

“It might help me enjoy the experience.”

“Really?”

When Michelle slowly nodded, Jack let out a hopeful smile. “Yeah. I’ll keep you warm.”

Jared tried not to invade their privacy, but he thought it’d be nice to have someone to keep him warm at night. He looked at Lily and found her gaze on him.

Was she thinking the same thing?

Damn hard to tell, but then she nibbled on her lower lip as if suddenly unsettled, and time seemed to stutter to a halt.

Then Rock came skidding back into camp, face pale. “It’s Rose.”

Lily leapt back up to her feet. “What about her?”

Rock lifted his hand, from which dangled Rose’s mini skirt and halter top.

Everyone gasped.

“She went skinny dipping,” Rock said. “She jumped into the falls.”

“Oh my God!” Michelle cried, whipping around to look down at the water.

The river wasn’t wild or rough, but it wasn’t exactly low or smooth either.

“She’s probably dead,” Michelle said, horrified.

Lily turned to face Rock. “Show me where she jumped.”

Everyone ran after them, stopping short at where Rose had dropped her shoes. They stared down at the falls, at the rock below it, and beyond that, the churning river as it flowed with shocking speed along its merry way.

Then, before Jared could grasp Lily’s intentions, she toed off her shoes.

“Everyone stay here,” she demanded. “Do not, and I repeat do not, go into the water.”

And then, in a fascinating show of courage, she dove in.

6

IN DISBELIEF, Jared ran to the very edge of the cliff, his arms flapping to keep him from falling over in his rush.

She was gone.

Gone.

As he watched in horror, a screaming-and naked-Rose appeared, then just as fast, disappeared over the second falls and into the river below.

Lily surfaced in the first pool, tossing her hair and water from her face as she searched around her.

Letting out his pent-up breath, Jared cupped his hands around his mouth. “Lily! She went over the second falls!” he yelled, pointing.

Nodding, she swam toward the second waterfall.

Jesus. No one admired bravery more than him, because bravery had been what had gotten him through the past year. Well, that and a healthy fear of dying, but that was another story.

Lily had guts in spades, and it fascinated him. She fascinated him. “Wait here,” Jared told everyone else, and took off on the trail, heading back down.

Because down was the way a screaming Rose was headed, and Lily would be right after her.

He intended to be there as well.

THE WATER closed over Rose’s head and her first thought was, uh-oh.

Then she was caught in the current, which carried her over the second waterfall, tumbling her head over heels, again and again, until she couldn’t decide which way was up and which was down, and her next thought was Oh shit, now I’ve done it.

Yeah. Jumping had seemed like a fun adventure to have, but maybe she could have thought this out a little better.

Too bad thinking ahead wasn’t her strong suit. Just ask her ex-husband. If it had been, she wouldn’t be here…camping. But she’d been bored at work selling second homes to rich techies in the Bay Area, tired of flirting-and sleeping with-the same techies. She wanted to mix things up a bit, and going on an outdoor adventure had seemed like a good idea.

Given the way Rock looked at her, it had been a great idea.

She wanted him. She wanted to play with him for the duration, then say bye-bye and walk away.

Her specialty.

Walk when the magic fades, and you could never get hurt. She liked that, she thought, kicking to the surface and opening her eyes. Oh my God, the sky was a sharp blue, the rest of the landscape a glorious green-and-brown blur-

Blur.

Oh, shit, the river was moving fast, and because she was in it, so was she.

Definitely not her best move. She grabbed for a branch, and missed. Two tries later she managed to grab onto a loose one. Shoving her hair out of her eyes, she surveyed the situation. She was naked in a rushing river, holding onto a branch that didn’t feel all that stable, and shore seemed pretty damn far away.

So where the hunks were when she needed them? Jack with his quick smile, even if that smile was mostly directed at his sweet, spoiled wife. Jared with that laid-back, easygoing wit that was somehow much sexier than muscles, though he had those, too…Unfortunately for her, he hadn’t taken his gaze off Lily since they’d started this hike. Mostly, she hoped for Rock, because he had a body meant for nibbling, and eyes that made her melt, eyes that spent a gratifying amount of time glued to her ass, but at this point-that being she was getting cold and the branch had just cracked ominously-she’d take any of them.