Just This Once, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge #3) (19 page)

Seconds after the door closed behind them when they stepped into her suite, the shields had fallen and they’d torn each other’s clothes off. Once again, she scaled peaks of pleasure with Aidan. When he was with her, she somehow settled down with ease, soft as a feather once they were twined together and the passion burned down to embers. What she feared was what might happen later. The crash would be hard, brutal pain. How she’d felt after Kyle’s betrayal couldn’t even touch what she might feel. She didn’t know how she’d fallen so far and so fast. She’d been so confident she could keep the walls up around her heart. Aidan had slipped through her defenses and not in the way she’d expected. He was all brawny, special forces, military strength. Instead of sparring with her and trying to ram his way in, he did the opposite. He let her set the tone and the pace. The only time he’d pushed, at all, was to tell her how he felt when he showed up at the lodge. At moments, she wanted him to push harder, but she didn’t know if that would make things better or worse. Even if it was hard to admit, she knew well her tendency to strike out if she felt cornered.

His breathing was even and steady in sleep. He was spooned behind her. She could feel the hard planes of his body against the contrasting softness of hers. Emotion knotted her chest. She didn’t know how to do this, how to handle the intensity of her feelings. It felt so damn good to be held close against him. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, but her mind was running on its well-worn tracks—of worry, of doubt, of not believing in possibilities.

Chapter 24

Aidan came out of the bathroom, wrapping a towel around his waist. Oscar came to his side, nudging his knee quickly before turning back to sit at Becca’s feet. Becca stood by the counter. Her arms were wrapped around her waist. His gut coiled with tension. He rubbed his hair with another towel and quickly got dressed, electing to give her the space she seemed to need.

Becca turned to him when he came back out of the bathroom a few minutes later. Her eyes had a frantic look, and her words tumbled out rapidly. “Look, you have to know I really appreciate you came up here. I heard everything you said the other night. I just need…I need…” She threw her hands up. “I don’t know, I don’t know. I have to go.”

Before Aidan had a chance to say anything, she snatched her purse off the counter and fled the room. Oscar started to follow her, but the door slammed in his face. He immediately came to Aidan’s side, nudging his knee again, as if to persuade Aidan to allow him to follow Becca. Aidan plunked down on the bed and stroked Oscar’s head.

“Let’s hang for a bit. Okay, buddy?” He tried to keep his voice calm to counter the tension running through him, but it was taking all of his discipline not to run after Becca.

A soft rumble came from Oscar and he leaned his head into Aidan’s hand.

***

Becca carefully made her way down the steep trail. After she’d bolted from her suite at the lodge, she’d asked the receptionist for suggestions for nearby hiking trails. The receptionist had helpfully handed over a brochure, which listed many trails, ranked by difficulty. She needed a challenge, so she’d opted for one of the more challenging trails. The brochure promised a hike through a boreal forest, an incline down the mountainside following a rocky stream that spilled out into the ocean.

At the moment, she was following the stream along a boulder-strewn trail. She had to focus on every step, so her mind was only half on Aidan. Not much could blunt the feeling of sheer stupidity she felt every time she thought about how she acted this morning. She’d woken out of sorts and anxious with her mind spinning madly with worry and doubt. Next thing she’d known, she was practically sprinting down the hall, desperate to escape how out of control she felt.

Awhile later, she heard the rhythmic roll of waves coming onto shore. The trail turned and opened up onto the beach. The spruce forest gave way to tall grasses and then rocks and sand. She walked onto the beach and took a gulp of salty ocean air. Kachemak Bay sparkled under the late morning sun. She turned and looked behind her. The lower flank of the mountain rose up, evergreens marching their way up the mountainside. To her side, the crystal clear stream rushed over rocks and spilled into the ocean.

She loosened the straps on her backpack and set it down on a boulder. Though she hadn’t planned this hike, she’d conveniently left her backpack in her car from the trip up here, so she had a few snack bars and water. She was still berating herself for leaving Oscar behind. She’d been so wound up, all she could think of was how fast she could escape. She sat down and nibbled on a snack bar while she watched the waves roll in and out. An eagle flew low across the water. In a flash, it dipped low and came up with a fish wiggling in its talons. She gasped and then laughed at herself. The eagle continued its flight and landed on the shore some distance away.

Becca stashed her water bottle in her backpack again and slung it over her shoulders. She walked along the shore, the rhythm of waves soothing her. A cool breeze gusted into shore. When the sun was high in the sky, she decided she couldn’t keep avoiding Aidan forever and turned back.

She made her way up the trail, the briny scent of the ocean fading as she moved deeper into the spruce forest. She hadn’t come to any conclusions, but she had managed to knock her mind off its loop. The walk uphill was slow, but she held a steady pace. To her side, the ground angled steeply down toward the stream as the trail wound its way up the bluff. She came around a corner, the lush spruce branches shielding her view until she turned, and gasped when she saw two moose standing there. Their heads swung in unison toward her. They were tall, gangly and brown. She froze and conveniently the moose remained where they were, turning away after a few seconds of staring at her to nibble on a cluster of alder trees.

When she managed to breathe again, she considered her options. Gage and Marley had warned her that moose could be unpredictable. They weren’t predatory, but would charge if threatened. Apparently, they were near-sighted to the point they could be startled by the sheer fact they often didn’t see someone approaching until the last minute. At the moment, this pair didn’t seem bothered by her presence. Problem was, she needed to get to the other side of them to make it back to her car, which meant passing close by them. With the hillside plunging steeply down to one side, she didn’t have any way to detour around them.

Though she’d been born in Diamond Creek, she was by no means an Alaskan who knew how to deal with random moose in the forest. She’d been mostly raised in between Seattle and Bellingham. Her parents frequently took them on hikes growing up, but moose weren’t exactly common down there. This was an encounter she didn’t know how to problem solve. She waited for several quiet moments, unsure if moving away would draw their attention or not. Suddenly, there was a scratching sound nearby. She glanced around, her eyes landing on a porcupine making its way up a nearby tree. Despite the anxiety of her predicament, she smiled at the sight. It paused and looked down curiously at her before carrying on its nimble climb up the tree. The two moose suddenly moved, breaking into a run in her direction.

The moose ran right past her, entirely unconcerned with her presence. Startled, she stepped back. Her ankle caught on the edge of a boulder. Her knee wrenched sharply, and she cried out, the pain sharp and acute. She struggled to keep her balance and found herself rolling down the incline. She came to a thudding stop in the edge of the icy stream.

She scrambled out of the water, ignoring the pain in her knee, and glanced up. It wasn’t far, but the hill she’d just rolled down was steep. Getting back up would be easier if she followed the stream back to the ocean and up the trail again. Her breath hissed through her teeth when she tried to take a step. With a sigh, she sat down on a boulder and rolled up her jeans to check her knee. Pain was pounding through her leg and her knee was jutting out to the side.

“Fuck!” She exclaimed to no one. She glanced up wondering if the porcupine could see or hear her. The moose were long gone. She couldn’t see the porcupine from down here, but she figured it was nearby. Her stomach knotted. She’d managed to dislocate her knee. Years ago, she’d experienced this once before when she was playing basketball with her brothers and had fallen. She remembered the pain of putting her knee back into joint more vividly than the fall itself. She also recalled the doctor warning her she had a higher risk of dislocating it again as a result of the first incident. There was no way she could walk back without popping her knee back in. Her left arm was also achy. Her sleeve had torn and there was a nasty scrape on her forearm, but she couldn’t see any other injuries.

She tugged her phone out to call. Much as she hated calling for help, she didn’t know if she could make it back up the trail without it. She quickly tapped the call button. Her screen blinked the ‘no service’ warning repeatedly. “Dammit!” She shoved her phone in her pocket. Without phone reception, she had no choice but to do something about her knee herself. She took several fortifying breaths and glanced down at her knee. She didn’t see any way around this. If she waited, she’d psyche herself out, so she gritted her teeth and set one hand firmly on her calf to hold her leg still. Adrenaline pumped through her as she quickly curled her other hand around her knee and pressed firmly and swiftly against it. Pain sheared through her as the knee popped back into place. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she could barely catch her breath. After the first few moments, the pain started to dull to an aching throb. She scrubbed her cheeks dry with her sleeve and finally managed a full breath.

She fumbled in her pack for her water bottle and forced herself to drink some. After a few more moments of rest, she figured she’d better get going. She had plenty of time to get back with hours of daylight left. She straightened her jeans and stood slowly, testing her weight on her knee. Her knee throbbed like hell, but it held.

Chapter 25

Aidan ran up the ski slope with Oscar bounding alongside him. After an aimless morning once Becca took off, he’d ending up helping Gage with a few projects around the lodge. Gage mercifully didn’t ask him about Becca. He seemed to consider the talk they’d had before Aidan arrived in Diamond Creek enough for now. That was one of the things Aidan appreciated about Gage as a friend. He was direct and to the point—he didn’t spend much time repeating himself. Once Gage holed up in his office to work on activities Aidan couldn’t help with, Aidan headed to the suite and changed into his running clothes. He needed the burn of a good run to take his mind off of Becca. The steep ski slopes offered exactly what he needed.

He crested the top of the peak and paused by a small ski hut. He walked in a loop to slow his breathing before he stopped and looked around. The peak offered a three-hundred and sixty degree of the area. It was a spectacular view. Smaller peaks rose nearby to one side. Several volcanoes could be seen in the far distance in one direction. This part of Alaska was in the Ring of Fire, an area in the Pacific Ocean containing the largest number of active volcanoes in the world. As he spun slowly in a circle, Kachemak Bay came into view. The mountains across were silent sentries, the deep green trees along the flanks a contrast against the blue-gray water. The water’s surface was ruffled by the wind. Boats dotted the bay, a mix of fishing vessels, charter boats and a few sailing boats.

He took a deep breath, savoring the crisp air, scented with a hint of spruce. Oscar scampered around the area, sniffing everything in his path. He eventually made his way back to Aidan’s side. Aidan knelt at his side and stroked his hand down Oscar’s back. Oscar nuzzled his shoulder for a moment and then pinned him with his brown gaze. Aidan would never argue the point that he could read a dog’s mind, but he sensed Oscar was asking him where Becca was.

“You and me both, buddy. I’m not sure where she went, or what time she’ll be back. I’d be willing to bet she’ll be back soon though,” he said to Oscar.

Oscar replied by nuzzling his shoulder again. Aidan stood and took a last look around before starting his return run down the ski slope. He hadn’t considered it because he’d certainly never lived at a ski lodge, but ski slopes without snow were ideal for a grueling uphill run. While he’d achieved his goal of a good workout, he’d failed at getting Becca off his mind. She was running her own laps in his brain.

By the time he returned to the lodge it was late afternoon. Clouds rolled in and obscured the setting sun. He took a quick shower and headed down to the restaurant. He was trying his damnedest not to think about it, but he was starting to worry. Becca taking off to get some space for a few hours made sense, but it was now approaching evening and she hadn’t even called. When he walked into the restaurant, he headed over to the corner booth where Gage sat with Marley. Gage looked up as he approached and gestured for Aidan to sit down. Aidan slid into the booth across from them.

“Where’s Becca?” Marley asked.

Aidan shifted his shoulders, tension coiling inside. He didn’t want to worry them, but he had no idea where she was. “Good question. She, uh, took off this morning and I haven’t heard from her since. I was just starting to get worried and was planning to ask if either of you had seen her yet.”

Gage’s eyes sharpened. He slid his arm off Marley’s shoulder and leaned his elbows on the table. “Where was she going?”

Shit. How am I going to explain this to Gage without pissing him off?
Aidan considered his options and elected to face the music. “I don’t know. She, uh, seemed kind of upset, but I swear we didn’t argue or anything. She seemed upset when we got up. She started to talk and took off so fast she forgot Oscar.”

Marley’s brow wrinkled, worry filling her green eyes. “Did anything happen last night?”

Damn, this was going to get uncomfortable real quick if they kept asking questions. The only thing of note that happened last night was another mind-blowing bout of sex. Aidan wasn’t about to explain that to Gage. He took a breath and considered what to say. “Look, nothing unusual happened. If it’s anything, I think I might have ended up pressuring her when that wasn’t what I meant to do.”