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As if he could understand the words, Milo leaned up and licked Ada far deeper and harder to breathe past "So how did you end up with hiht or no deal at all" He slung an arht He was a co-whispered hi whisperer That implies some sort of extraordinary ability I have a method with a curriculum That’s all"

"So you saved his life and kept him as your own"

"Well, I couldn’t very well pawn hily into Ada out of his mouth, which appeared to be tipped up into a suy didn’t fool Holly for one hot minute He’d always been farthat you weren’t wanted or particularly valued, she supposed That he’d , but that he was also athat, she also had to adreat qualities Sure, he had more than his fair share of faults as well; he was intensely private and didn’t like to share hiressive and bullheaded…But on the other side of all that, he put others’ needs and safety ahead of his own, always He was smart as hell, fiercely loyal, driven to succeed, and he had a deceptive playful side that she hadn’t seen in a long tiliel in her mouth "Want to knohat I think?"

"No"

She added obnoxious to his list of faults "I think beneath that badass layer of testosterone and Neanderthal tendencies, you’re just a big old softie"

He slid her a patented steely look "Testosterone and Neanderthal tendencies?"

She shrugged and reached for her water "If the shoe fits…"

He shook his head, but his eyes htest bit of aic"

"Yeah? What’s that?"

"I’ot worse when he leaned in to pat her on the back While she gasped for air and sputtered, he took the water and capped it for her Then he held it back out to her, steady

Definitely anoring the zap of attraction as she touched hi it was static electricity Unsure, and just a little shaken, she stood "We need to get going"

They headed to Mount Eagle, and thanks to the weather, it took nearly all of their reht hours, and the trek didn’t have a happy ending The abandoned old ranger station that her father used as a hunting base when he was up here was just that--abandoned

No one had been here in weeks, er

Adam let out a breath and turned to Holly

The hipping, the snow falling lightly now He had his hood up, reflective glasses on, hands shoved in his pocket With the daylight fading fast, leaving in its wake the hovering glow of dusk, he could have graced the cover of any h to let hi as he dropped his pack and et it--she was always okay Although she did feel a little dizzy…

Ada his hands on her ar his warm, wet nose into the pal a little to look into her eyes "Really fast, at altitude Sit a minute--"

"No" She shook her head and patted Milo on the head "I’ down" Adaer station and hunkered before her, hands on her thighs now, holding her in place, studying her face

"It’s nothing," she said, tipping her head up A feflakes landed on her heated face "I just got dizzy for a reat idea Being this close to Adam, not so much In fact, it was a really, really bad idea The worst idea she’d had since…since thatanother way to get here

She looked off into the fading light rather than directly into his eyes Looking directly into Adam’s eyes was always a problem It caused a condition known as lust, which in turn caused its own condition

Stupidity

She really hated this helpless attraction she had for hiain She was never again going to love a man who didn’t love her From inside her pocket, her phone vibrated Surprised that she even had reception up here, she pulled it out to find two texts, the first from Derek that was short and to the point

Need to see you

Ha So he’d finally deigned to notice she was gone He could "need to see her" all he wanted She was over him and his needs

Delete

The second text was from Kate

You okay?

This was debatable, but Holly typed back that she was fine, though there’d been no sign of her father yet

Kate responded i, bad, stoic hottie?

Holly choked out a laugh Adam leaned in and read the text before she could delete it He went brows up and looked at her

She shook her head "Kate thinks she’s funny"

"‘Hottie’?"

"Yes, it’s what people who look like you are called"

"Thought I was cute," Ada that"

Still hunkered before her, balanced on the balls of his feet, he rubbed a hand over his jaw Once again, the stubble there h noise that scraped at her insides low in her belly

And lower

"We’re not sleeping together," she blurted out

"I know"

She felt…let down How dumb was that? But dahtest bit of disappointment Instead, he was back to his silent, badass self He eyed the skyline, the line of his rim He was dusted in snowflakes, not that he seemed to notice or care