This was not, unfortunately, an uncommon experience. The trail was known for being rough on ankles, knees, and other, softer parts, and Kelsey was known for finding ways to injure herself while exercising. Thanks to the weighted backpack that she wore to increase the aerobic impact of the climb, she had a soft cushion for her back and shoulders, but landed with most of her weight on her bottom. A fine layer of dirt, pebbles, and bits of gravel ground itself in her left butt cheek as she slid several feet down the trail.
“Damn it.” When her descent stopped, she paused to catch her breath. Her butt throbbed with pain. She tried to laugh at herself, as she usually did when she took a tumble, but this time it was different, because this time she could hear Ross’s voice in her head as he looked at her, the eyes she remembered as laughing and warm now cold and distant.
Are you sure you know what you’re doing?
She understood his hesitation. Sleeping with the boss wasn’t the way she usually tried to get ahead. But couldn’t he have smiled, just once? Given some indication that she hadn’t dreamed up the whole insane, wonderful affair? Was it crazy for her to have harbored a secret hope that he’d take one look at her and declare his undying love? That he’d admit he’d been looking for her ever since that night, and now all of his dreams had come true?
At home, she showered and scrubbed the sore patch on her behind, making sure to extract every bit of dirt and gravel so the scrape didn’t get infected. That was the last thing she needed, when she was headed to Nepal in a month.
Back to the mountain that had almost killed her once before.
Ross was waiting on the curb when she pulled up in front of the house. Before she could speak, he had steered her down the sidewalk in the other direction. “The kids are occupied for a few minutes. I wanted to have a chance to talk to you in private.”
Kelsey’s heart skipped. Even the touch of his hand on her elbow felt like a brand, burning into her skin. She’d deliberately worn a shapeless, high-necked T-shirt from the last Bolder Boulder race she’d run and long khaki shorts so she didn’t feel like she was dressing inappropriately around the kids—and so he couldn’t see the large white bandage on her butt. Yet the thick cotton material of her clothing did little to protect her from the fear that Ross could somehow see right through to her naked skin below.
He was looking even more heart-meltingly gorgeous than usual this morning, with his dark hair slightly tousled and a shadow on his chin, as if he hadn’t had a chance yet to shave. His thick biceps were outlined by the short sleeves of his T-shirt, and Kelsey’s fingers itched to trace the flat line of his stomach, where the shirt had been tucked haphazardly into a pair of low, faded jeans.
“Okay.” She forced an even tone to her voice. “Go ahead.”
“I realize none of this is your fault,” he said, as they walked down the sidewalk away from the house. “And I’m sure it was just as surprising for you as it was for me.”
“You can say that again,” she muttered.
He nodded, his voice careful when he spoke, his face an unreadable mask. “I just wanted to say that I think we should try to forget that night ever happened. It was a long time ago, and we were both in a slightly emotional state. I hope you’ll agree that it’s best for everyone—especially the kids—if we put it behind us.”
Even though she expected it—he’d basically said as much yesterday—his casual dismissal caught her breath in her throat. They’d said a lot of things to each other three years ago. She’d confessed fears that she’d never confessed to anyone before—even Marie. He’d told her how devastating it had been when his wife came to him with her wedding ring in her hand and told him she wanted a divorce. Not because he wasn’t a good husband or a good father, but because he didn’t love her the way she needed to be loved.
“How could I have fixed that?” he’d asked helplessly, so sad it had broken Kelsey’s heart. “How could I have made that better?”
“You couldn’t have,” she’d replied. And then she’d kissed him, and the world had narrowed to the feeling of his lips covering hers. His tongue ravaged her mouth, leaving her prisoner to the sensual onslaught. He’d tickled his way from her lips to her throat, even as his hands brought her nipples to hard, aching peaks.
He’d been gentle and unrelenting. He’d brought her to a climax she’d never experienced.
And now she was supposed to pretend it had never happened?
She kept her thoughts behind a blank face. “Of course. I barely recognized you. It was a long time ago, as you say.”