Page 31 of Love You
“We were expecting to be out in the wild so we all packed accordingly,” he said, making room for Sue and Russell, who’d torn themselves away from Win long enough to get inside.
“You guys hungry?” Win hopped in the front. “Or should we wait until after the hike to grab a bite?”
Goddamn him, she’d made a reservation at the Morning Glory.
“I had a cup of coffee at the hotel, so I’m good to go,” Sue said, and the other two agreed.
Darcy gritted her teeth. Not only had she forgone her first cup of coffee of the day to pick Win up on time but she was starved.
“Felix is going to kill us,” she muttered. There were lines to get a table at the restaurant on a Saturday morning this time of year. Actually, any time of year.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said. And the infuriating part was Felix would forgive him. A halfhearted apology from Mr. Charm and all sins would be absolved.
At the trailhead, one look at the uphill course and Darcy wanted to throw up. In the best of times, she wasn’t the most athletic. After a year of sitting on her ass, eating Nana’s baked goods, she would be lucky to make it a quarter of a mile without dropping dead. What kind of impression would that leave on the FlashTag VIPs? She could guarantee not a good one. But no way was she leaving Win to his own devices. She wanted that promotion, which meant keeping him in line. And more important, she wasn’t going to let TJ down. He’d given her this job and by God she was going to make him proud, even if it killed her.
“I’ll take the back,” she volunteered. At least if she collapsed, no one would notice.
Win cocked his head to one side. “Okay,” he said, and led the way, climbing the mountain as if he were a goat.
While Remy, Sue, and Russell held their own, it was abundantly clear that they didn’t have Win’s stamina, stopping every so often along the trail to sip from the bottled waters Win had doled out from the back of the van.
“Would you look at that view?” Darcy turned her back to the group, pretending to scan the horizon so she could catch her breath and not die. As a stall tactic, she fished her cell phone from her pocket and took her time snapping pictures.
Unfortunately, they hadn’t even passed the one-mile marker yet. And the rest of the climb was even steeper than the beginning. The only thing that kept her hanging on was the knowledge that what went up must come down.
“You okay back there?” Win called down.
“Great,” she croaked, and silently cursed him. Besides the fact that she was practically doubled over, she felt a blister raging on the bottom of her right foot.
He came down the mountain to join her. “You done looking at the view, Darce? I’m getting hungry.”
If she could’ve shoved him into a ravine she would’ve. But for all the obvious reasons she didn’t, though the temptation was so strong that when no one was looking she pinched his arm. He had the nerve to pat her bottom.
“If you want, I’ll carry you the rest of the way,” he whispered.
She responded by muttering an obscenity under her breath and followed it with “you.” He responded by laughing.
By the time she trudged to the next plateau, the sole of her foot was on fire. She hid her grimace under the bucket hat Win had shoved on the top of her head before the hike. Even with it, she felt the morning sun scorch her arms and neck. Thank goodness, she’d worn jeans.
One look at her, and Win came down the trail again. He fetched a tube of sunblock from his pack and rubbed it all over her bare skin, including the top of her chest, which made her tingle. Or maybe that was sun poisoning.
“Anyone else?” He held up the tube.
“I could use some,” Sue said, and Darcy got the distinct impression that she hoped Win rubbed the lotion on her the same way he had Darcy.
To his credit, he tossed her the bottle. “We ready to go?”
“Let’s do it,” Russell said enthusiastically, making Darcy feel like a wuss.
When they finally got to the top, Darcy thought she was going to stroke out. Taking large gulps of air, she started to cough. Win rushed over.
“I swallowed my water wrong.” As proof, she showed him her empty bottle, the one she’d drained half a mile ago.
“It’s all downhill from here,” he consoled.
If it wasn’t for the fact that her feet were bloody from blisters she would’ve kicked him. At least Sue and Remy were also hunched over, trying to catch their breath as if they might pass out. Russell, on the other hand, stared out over the vista, a big gooey smile on his face. He was crazy like Win, who hadn’t even broken a sweat and could carry on a conversation as easily as if he was riding in a car.
It had taken them ninety minutes to go up—more than a twenty-minute mile, that was for sure—and only thirty to make it back to where they started. It would’ve been faster if Darcy hadn’t come down part of the way on her butt. Win had offered to carry her again. She in turn had quietly told him to do something anatomically impossible. Win’s comeback was to plant a big sloppy kiss on her cheek.
