Page 1 of Entwined Hearts

Four months ago

Colby

Istep out of my truck, the Nevada sun cutting through the winter air, and try not to hurl into the weeds. Shoving my nervousness down, I make it to the glass entrance of the building without a detour into one of the planting strips.

Today I find out if I get my life back, but only if the people inside think I deserve it.

I step through the door and a young woman wearing a headset glances up from her desk. I brace myself for her to explain there’s been some mistake, that I don’t belong here after all, but she smiles and informs me Meghan, the woman who holds my future in her hands, will be with me soon.

Natural light from the floor-to-ceiling windows fills the expansive entryway, which is also open to the upper floors. Behind the receptionist, the walls display giant posters of Marvik’s climbing ambassadors, each engaged in some form of cinematic athleticism. There’s a pair summiting a snowy ridge, a wide-angle shot of an ice climber ascending a frozen waterfall, his bright red coat in sharp contrast to the opaque white ice, and a woman rock climbing a pockmarked yellow wall above an azure-blue sea.

I’ve already identified the rock climber—it happened the moment I entered the building. Moving closer, I study the woman who haunts my dreams.

That same calm look of concentration is still there, her blue eyes intense. Seeing Anya up there brings everything back—that summer we spent as neighbors, the way she made me feel and how I tried to run from it, then the phone call that changed my life forever.

If I get offered the job today, I’ll be seeing her again. And when I do, will I be able to repair the damage I’ve done?

“Colby?” a guy calls from across the entryway. I break away from Anya’s picture to follow the intern up a flight of stairs and past several offices and a small break room that smells of coffee. We arrive at a conference room where Meghan, the woman I’ve been talking to for months about reclaiming my position as a professional climber, stands and shakes my hand. I also meet the head of the creative department, a photographer, and two designers.

“Here are the terms,” Meghan says once we’re all seated around an oval table. Her bright-white smile would be unnerving if her eyes weren’t so warm. She slides a thin stack of crisp papers toward me, and my stomach lurches again. Slowly, I leaf through the contract. It’s similar to the one I signed with my last sponsor four years ago, but I get to the bottom line and blink. It’s way more than I deserve. Not enough to quit my roofing job, but still.

“What do you think?” Meghan asks, steepling her fingers.

“I think it’s very generous,” I say.

“Then you accept?” she asks, her back so straight I could use it as a level.

“Yes,” I say as my fingers cramp around the paper. Every nerve ending is tingling. Hot. I want this so bad it hurts.

“We can renegotiate after the first year,” she says as if she thinks I’m not satisfied. “Any questions about your projects?”

I dig back into the paperwork to find the paragraph, wondering what I missed. Looks like they’ll send me to Yosemite Valley, France, and Norway. “Dragen’s Tarn?” I ask, looking up.

Meghan’s face brightens. “Yes. A first-ascent team with two others.”

While not the most dangerous climb in the world, Dragen’s Tarn is up there. But it’s also an opportunity I’d give my left nut for. “Who’s on the team?”

“Jake Brown and Anya Templeton.”

I pause as my thoughts go to war. Anya and Jake. The climbing world’s perfect couple, even though he will never be good enough for her, not in a million years.

He also happens to hate my guts.

Fuck.

“Is that a problem?”

“What?” I shake the turmoil from my mind. “No,” I say with a smile. “No problem at all.”

“Good,” Meghan says. “There’s a special reason you’re being added to the team, but it doesn’t leave this room. Can you manage that?”

I’m momentarily thrown. Keeping a secret—especially from Anya—is definitely moving in the wrong direction. “Yes, ma’am,” I answer.

Meghan smiles brightly, then shares her plan.

One

Anya

---