Page 35 of Close Quarters

She paused and looked over her shoulder at him, resting for a moment. “I wish I could. Until my dissertation is done, this is the most I can hope for. But you have fun.”

He frowned. “I didn’t mean I wanted to go alone.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sure you could find someone to go with you. Maybe Seb or Jace. Or Amanda, if she ever shows up and isn’t actually a psycho.” She looked up and pushed herself higher with one leg to reach for her next handhold.

“That’s not what I meant, either.”

She sighed and glanced down again. “What did you mean, then?”

He stared up at her for several seconds. “You. I want to go with you. How did that not occur to you?”

She shrugged and started climbing again. “Why would it? This thing between us is fun, but do you really see it going anywhere?”

Did he—what the fuck was she talking about? He ran his eyes over the rock above him and made a series of quick moves until he was at her level.

“Hold up a second. Why do you think we couldn’t have anything serious? I don’t know about you, but last night was like no other.”

“Well, yeah, but come on, Alex. We aren’t exactly suited.”

“How so? We’re both smart, have similar interests, and we work in related fields. I’d say that’s a pretty good basis for a relationship.”

“Do we have to talk about this while we’re hanging off the side of a mountain?”

“Yes. You’re a captive audience. Answer the question.”

She shifted her weight to her other foot. “Look at me, then look at yourself. There’s a picture of you in the dictionary next to the word ‘clean-cut.’ I’m not even close to that. I like tattoos and punk rock music. My hair is vibrant more often than not, and I’m not exactly known for my demure nature.”

“I don’t care about any of that stuff. It’s all just packaging. You’re beautiful no matter what color your hair is or what’s on your skin. And I admit, you drive me insane some days, but I enjoy sparring with you. Your mind fascinates me. Life is never dull with you in it. I love that.”

She stared back at him with wide eyes. “What? No. You’re ready to throttle me on a daily basis.”

“At first, yes. Then it was just fun to get a rise out of you. Your eyes turn this silver color and you puff up like an angry peacock. It’s cute.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “That’s what a girl wants to hear. Being compared to a peacock.”

He chuckled. “Why not? They’re stunning creatures. My point is, I like you. More every day. I don’t want this to be a fling, Katie. I thought that before we had sex. Last night just solidified my feelings.”

She turned and stared at the rock in front of her. Alex could see her contemplating his words. Her expression ran the gamut from thoughtful to disbelief before settling on cautious hope. She looked at him again.

“I want to believe you, but I don’t have the best instincts about men. My ex seemed like a great guy until he wasn’t. I don’t want to fall for you and have you stomp all over my heart. I think you could do a million times more damage to it than Jonas ever did.”

Alex cursed his decision to have this conversation on the side of the mountain. He wanted to touch her. So badly. But they were stuck where they were until they reached the top.

“Katie, I know things have been rocky since you moved into the lab, but I respect you. Both as a colleague and as a woman. I want to see where we can go with this.”

She bit her lip, glancing away a moment. “But what happens the first time we go to some fancy doctor function and your colleagues look at me like I’m the help? And look at you like you’re slumming it?”

“They can go fuck themselves. The people who matter won’t care about how you look. They will appreciate you for you, just like I do. And the people who do care about how you look, don’t matter. Besides. Pretty soon, you’re going to have the same moniker. I can’t wait to see their stuffy faces when you’re introduced as Dr. Mitchum.”

That drew a smile, and she tipped her head. “I guess that will be a bit amusing.”

“Very.” He motioned to the top of the cliff with his head. They only had fifty feet to go. “Come on. Let’s finish this climb. My toes are starting to feel it.” So were his fingers. It had been far too long since he’d done this sort of thing.

They finished their climb, both lost in thought and concentrating on their movements. Alex’s muscles burned as he pulled himself onto the top of the ridge. Katie’s head rose above the edge, and he held out a hand to her, hauling her over. They flopped together on the ground, breathing hard.

“Oh my God,” she breathed. “My muscles hate me right now.”

He chuckled. “I was just thinking the same thing. We need to do this more often.”

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