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By the time I’d pushed the unit far enough to open the door and slip outside, I hardly dared to peek back in Eli’s direction. I hadn’t heard any obvious movement from the bed, though, and he hadn’t barked any questions at me.

I’ve got away with it!

Hope bloomed as I edged quietly to my bag and lifted it from the ground. I didn’t mean Eli any offense. He’d done more for me than I could have hoped, but things would be better all-around if we just put last night down to experience. We’d been tired and he was trying to comfort me. There was nothing more to talk about.

Steeling myself, my attention turned to what was to come. More snow, more bone-biting cold, and an uncertain future, but at least I wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences from the unexpected chemistry I’d found with the rugged tour guide.

Inching forward, I was resolved. I wasn’t choosing the easy option to stay and be looked after, but it was the right choice for me, and there was an odd satisfaction to that outcome. One day, I’d look back at that moment—hopefully with Chelle in tow when my dark prediction about her fate had been proven false—and we’d laugh about the encounter. Of course, she’d still be sad about James and Miles, but we’d be able to chuckle about my one night with the enigmatic Eli and how I nearly didn’t get away.

I’d got as far as the door handle before that same knowing tone that seemed to be burned into my memory for all time rang out from behind me.

“Erin.”

I froze, my heart hammering at the same moment my feet grew roots to the spot.

“Where are you going?”

Shit.

Every expectation I’d harbored about slipping away into the snow crashed down around me in a thousand shards of glass. Eli was awake, and he’d want answers.

“Eli.” I turned, aware of my face reddening as I struggled to think of a decent comeback.

Why hadn’t I thought about that before I’d got ready to leave? I should have prepared a dozen smart one-liners to armor me, but instead, I’d been hellbent on my so-called plan, and I was clueless.

“Well?” He was out of bed and on his feet in a heartbeat, his lithe movement and lean, strapping body taking me by surprise. A man as large as him shouldn’t have been able to demonstrate such agility, yet somehow, he moved like a feline, closing the space between us in a few casual strides. “I’m waiting for your answer.”

“Are you?” Something about his conceited tone riled me more than it should have. I didn’t intend to snap at him, yet the words falling from my lips were catty and curt. “I don’t owe you anything, including an answer.”

“Andthatis the wrong answer.” He stalked closer, his expression hard.

In all the potential outcomes I’d played out in my head, I hadn’t imagined one where he was so damn foreboding. I’d anticipated his anger and a few stinging words, but not his sheer physicality.

Stupid.

It all seemed so fucking obvious in the cold light of day. Eli had been physical from the outset. He was a tour guide, for God’s sake—paid to be outdoors in the wild all day. I’d rarely met a man asphysicalas him. His reaction should have been as inevitable as the dawn.

“I’m leaving!” Apprehensive at his sudden proximity, I blurted out my explanation.

“I see that.” Folding his strapping arms across his broad chest, he looked almost amused. “And where, might I ask, are you going?”

“Chelle.” I didn’t sound half as confident that time, my bag skimming the door as I retreated from him. Backed against the wood, I stared into his magnificent eyes, wondering where the conversation would end. I already sensed I’d be on whatever pertained to be the losing side.

“What about Chelle?”

He cocked one dark eyebrow at me, as though he was daring me to offer another paltry response. Not that anything about Chelle was insignificant to me.

“She’s out there!” An abrupt surge of emotion rushed from me, stealing the final remnants of my defiance. With it came a rush of heated emotion, the latent guilt that had pressed heavily on me since I’d stirred. “I think she’s dead.”

“Erin.” His brows knitted at my outburst. “We’ve been through this. She’ll have been found by the emergency responders hours ago.”

“She wasn’t!” Why couldn’t I pull myself together around the guy? I was either falling to pieces or practically begging him to fuck me. “She came to me, Eli. She told me she was dead.”

His chin rose, concern flickering in his otherwise annoyingly captivating gray gaze. “Erin, are you okay?”

Well, was I?

My reply was a jumbled mess of neurotic ramblings. No wonder he clearly thought I was mad.

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