He’d gone off in another direction long before her mishap, and until his most recent assignment had crossed his desk, he’d put all thoughts of her out of his mind. She’d been underage the first time they’d hung around each other, him always careful to stay on the outskirts of her crowd.

Nathan stared across the room, his fascination rising. She wasn’t too young anymore.

He clicked a couple of candid shots from the upstairs seating area before packing away his camera equipment and descending the stairs to greet her.

He hung back along the wall and waited for her to spot him. She spoke animatedly with another climber, the woman laughing at something Mel said. Nathan admired how her eyes lit up, a smile brightening her face just like he remembered. Except the slope of her cheek was all woman now, no baby fat or maturing left to do, simply a dark beauty that shone through her healthy glow.

Taking this assignment was looking more positive all the time.

Melanie lifted her head and glanced in his direction. A crease appeared between her brows, a cloud of confusion in her eyes. The moment she figured out who he was, everything changed.

“Nathan? Oh my God, it’s you!”

She raced across the floor and threw herself into his arms. The warmth of her torso hit like a thunderbolt, streaking through him and electrifying his entire system. He grabbed on to stop her from falling, bracing his legs to keep them both vertical. Her arms squeezed him tight and he was suddenly aware of the intimate contact between their bodies. Her breasts were compressed against him, his cock against her belly. She squirmed and he let her go, her cheeks flushed as she stared.

“Hey, monkey.”

He easily blocked her instant punch to his torso, grinning as he realized that even after all these years her response to his tease hadn’t changed.

“What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you in forever.” She motioned him to the side of the room to a safer place to talk out of the way of climbers and curious onlookers.

“I came to see you.”

Her eyes widened, panic-stricken. “Katy. She’s okay, isn’t she? You didn’t come to tell me—”

“Whoa, hang on. There’s nothing wrong with my sister. She sent her love when I told her I was heading west to meet with you.” Nathan looked her up and down slowly, letting his admiration show. This might be partly a job, but that didn’t mean that was all it had to be. He was single, and she was all grown up. This could be a lot of fun for the short while he would be in town.

He was rather looking forward to it.

Her tension dissipated only to be replaced by a frown. “I’m glad she’s all right, but I don’t understand. Why are you looking for me?”

“Does that surprise you so much? That I’m interested in seeing you?” He couldn’t resist. With the back of one finger he stroked her cheek, enjoying how her body jerked in response to his touch, her face heating even more.

“Nate, I’m…” She backed up, flustered just like when she’d been a kid and he’d paid attention to her. Although he’d done his best back then to keep his attraction hidden.

“Can I buy you a coffee? So we can talk?” He knew he was staring, but he couldn’t seem to stop. Under her tight T-shirt, her nipples had hardened and now poked against the fabric. The facility had the air-conditioning on high enough it wasn’t sweltering hot in the place, but it wasn’t cold enough to make her body react.

She fumbled for words. “I’m not done with my workout.”

“I can wait.” Somehow his hand was on her arm, a gentle caress.

She crossed her arms, casually slipping away from him, and it was his turn to feel embarrassed. He hadn’t meant to make a move in public. Not after so many years apart. No matter that the chemistry between them seemed to be heating up in a hurry.

“Melanie. Is there a problem?”

The dark-haired man he’d seen behind the check-in counter stood beside her, glaring at Nathan with suspicion.

Mel blinked hard right before she leaned on the other man’s chest, slipping her arm behind his back and settling intimately against him. “Derrick, this is Nathan. He’s my best friend’s big brother.”

Ah, shit. Flirting without asking questions could be detrimental to his health.

Nathan held his hand out to Derrick, fully expecting the guy to crush his fingers in a display of macho strength.

Instead, Derrick gave a friendly grin. “Glad to meet you.”

Nathan noticed he didn’t do anything to move Melanie any farther from his side. Point made. She was taken.

Shit again.

“I was just asking Mel if she’d join me for a coffee. You’re welcome to come along.”

Derrick glanced at the clock. “I’m good to go anytime. Melanie? You done or did you want to climb for a little longer?”

She leaned up and kissed his cheek quickly before stepping away. “If I finish my workout now I don’t have to come back later.” She turned to Nathan. “Are you okay waiting for a bit? Tell me your timeline. If you’ve only got a few hours in town I can totally change my plans.”

“You can finish. I’m staying around for a while. Got a room at the hotel on the lake, so no rush.”

Melanie nodded, glancing between them before retreating to the wall she’d been traversing. Nathan watched in fascination as she shook out her hands then stepped onto a tiny foothold, her body close to the wall, arms extended overhead.

“Family friend? You know Melanie well?” Derrick moved closer and Nathan hid his smile. The third degree started now. That was fine. He had a few questions of his own, and this was as good a way as any to get information.

“I moved away for college and have only seen Mel a couple of times since then. I’m on the road a lot. What about you? You work here at the climbing center?”

“Own it. What do you do for a living that keeps you traveling so much?”

Nathan pulled his camera bag forward. “Photographer. I don’t do war zones, but just about anything else—still life or action—I’ve shot it.”

“You taking pictures around the area for a travel magazine or something? I can make a few suggestions of easy places to access.”

“Thanks. I do need some nature shots, but this assignment is human interest.”

Nathan’s gaze was drawn again to Melanie. She was leaning at a nearly ninety-degree angle, long legs stretched to the side and spread wide, the edge of her shirt separating a bare inch from her pants as she lowered herself down the wall doing a modified chin-up. The amount of strength in her upper body was incredible, and he could just picture the kind of shot he could take, getting in close to angle from—

There was a nudge to his arm and Nathan snapped back to attention.

“Human interest? You want to take pictures of Melanie?” Derrick’s disapproval rang through loud and clear.

“I think I should talk to her about it first, if you don’t mind.”

The pleasant expression on Derrick’s face had vanished. Nathan didn’t even bother to try and hide his smirk. The boyfriend was going to be protective, was he? Well, Nathan didn’t remember Mel ever needing much protection.

“Of course.” They stepped aside to allow a couple to access the wall behind them. Someone called Derrick’s name. He waved at the couple before motioning to Nathan. “Wait in the viewing gallery until Melanie’s done, then we can grab that coffee.”

He didn’t offer it as a suggestion. Nathan nodded briskly before taking the stairs two at a time. Well shit, the fact that Melanie was attached sucked. He’d been looking forward to getting to know her better over the next weeks. He leaned on the railing, peering down into the climbing area. She fluttered glances upward a few times, her cheeks bright, gaze darting away whenever they happened to make eye contact.

Then again, maybe the boyfriend thing wasn’t going to be an issue. Nathan grinned. In fact, there was nothing he liked better than a challenge.


Melanie squirmed in her chair, her body far too hot and needy to deal with this situation. Nathan King. Of all the people to show up now, why him? She leaned against Derrick’s side. Yeah, she was hiding. The kind of physical thrill that had hit her when she’d caught sight of Nathan was completely inappropriate considering she’d been sleeping with Derrick for the past three months. Except sleeping was such a weak, pathetic word to describe what they’d been doing. Romping, sweating and screaming out in pleasure. The man didn’t do anything by half measures. Not her climbing lessons, not their dating, and certainly not the sex. After she’d gone on birth control and they’d both gotten clean bills of health, their lovemaking had become even more spontaneous. There were a few days she’d truly understood the concept of not being able to walk afterward.

So why did Nathan make something in her core quiver like a needy bird?

“You guys grew up together?” There was a low timbre of stress audible in Derrick’s voice. He might be attempting to keep the situation laid-back, but there was no getting around it. Somehow she must have let her unwelcome attraction to Nathan show. Guilt hit. Her growing relationship with Derrick was about more than simply sex—she didn’t want to hurt him.

Nathan popped open his wallet and passed a picture to Derrick. “My little sister Katy and Mel were best friends growing up. I think since day one. Our gap in ages meant I wasn’t around that much, though.”

Enough for her to have had a mad teenage crush on him. Melanie scrambled for safe topics. “Katy said you were working for Rave magazine. How’s that going?”

Nathan flashed his bright smile and she fought against the spark it lit inside her core. “It’s been the best move of my career. With bimonthly releases, I get a ton of work from them. I’m on assignment, and while they occasionally call with last-minute shots they want for the files, most of the time I’m out for a couple weeks at a time doing human-interest stories. Like right now.”

Human interest? In this neck of the woods? “Who’s so interesting around here? One of the environmentalist programs? Bear handling?” Melanie teased, sipping her coffee.

“You.”

She choked on her mouthful, spitting back into her cup. “Me? What are you talking about? I just moved here. I have nothing to do with the area.”

He laughed. “It’s not the location, monkey, it’s you. We’ve got a series of ‘where are they now’ articles in the works, and you’re—”

“No way.” She leaned back in her chair, the ache in her hip a clear reminder of what he was talking about. “You want to talk about the accident? Jesus, Nate, I thought the blood-suckers got all the mileage out of that disaster back when it happened.”

“It’s not like that, Mel, just hear me out.”

“I don’t want to show the old pictures—”

“We won’t.”

Derrick slipped an arm around her. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

“It’s not about the past, it’s about where you are now. What you’ve been doing and how you’ve headed into the future.” Nathan’s piercing blue eyes locked with hers and refused to let her go. “When they mentioned your name I thought it was a brilliant suggestion. Do you know how many people you could encourage? How many victims of car accidents or burns could see you living life to the fullest and become motivated to do the same?”

Her stomach fell, all the simmering sexual interest vaporizing and drifting away on the breeze. How could she be an inspiration to others when she had barely peeked her head out of her own personal hellhole? She’d made some headway since moving, and getting involved with Derrick had done wonders for a bunch of her psychoses, but as a role model for others?

Bullshit.

“Nathan, I…I can’t do it.” Her mouth was completely dry, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. “I mean, I’m employed at the post office. It’s not as if I’m a brain surgeon or a schoolteacher or anyone who makes a difference in other people’s lives.”

“But you could make a difference. Mel, I saw you in the gym. You were working that wall, pumping it out when I know damn well you didn’t walk for months after the accident. It took a lot of determination for you to get back to being physically strong, and I think you’ve underestimated how remarkable that is.”

It was too much. She turned to Derrick and buried her face in his shirt. He held her close, rubbing her back. He remained silent, not taking over and she was so grateful. It took a minute to regain enough control that she could twist her head to stare at Nathan while remaining in the safe shelter of Derrick’s arms.