Stuck on You (13 page)

He smiled. “As opposed to the ditch we’re in right now? No, I think I quite like this one.”

Miles lowered his mouth to hers, so softly she wondered if she’d dreamed it. She tilted her chin for a better angle and kissed him back. Her breath froze in her lungs as his tongue slipped into her mouth.

He wrapped his hand around the nape of her neck, positioning her head just how he wanted it, trailing a line of kisses along her jaw to her ear where his then nibbled. “This ditch is pretty awesome actually.”

She wished he would shut up and kiss her again. And she wished they were somewhere more comfortable than the ground. Not that the hard ground was much of a concern given the fact that Miles was currently nibbling on her neck and making good progress toward her collarbone. Every kiss sent another wave of heat quivering through her belly.

Then he kissed her again and there was no mistaking that he wished they were somewhere more comfortable too.

The sound of a twig snapping from somewhere near them broke their kiss. Evan stood only a few feet away, camera aimed right at their tryst happening in the woods. How had she forgotten Evan was here and that meant every moment with Miles was now caught on film?

Paige glared up at Evan. “Got that all on film?”

He nodded.

Miles climbed to his feet then pulled her to standing too, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist this time. “You wanna do me a favor and delete that footage?”

Evan shook his head.

“I’m telling Cassidy.” It was a silly threat since Cassidy would probably love to see this all play out on TV like everyone else, but it was the only threat she had.

“Let’s worry about the footage later. We’ve lost a lot of time already,” Miles said, turning Paige to face him. “I’m taking the shoes.”

“No, you’re not,” she said, trying to step away.

“Fine then, have it your way.” Miles picked her up, tossing her over his shoulder, then smacked her on the ass. “Keep the shoes. I’ll do this the hard way.”

• • •

“How was it working with different partners today?” Evan asked as Paige and Zoe settled into their daily wrap-up interview.

“It was great,” Paige said, possibly too enthusiastically judging by the expression of amusement on Zoe’s face. “I mean, it was fun in a different sort of way.”

Evan smirked behind the camera. Of course, he knew exactly what kind of fun she’d had today. The question was whether or not he’d bring it up in the questions. She wasn’t quite ready to share her thoughts about it yet, even if the viewing audience would get to see what actually happened.

“I really enjoyed hanging out with Ben,” Zoe said. “He was funny and easy to talk to all day. A big contrast from my usual partner.”

“Hey,” Paige griped, swatting Zoe on the shoulder for her rude comment. “I’m funny and easy to talk to too.”

“Sure you are, in a Paige sort of way. But let’s face it. It was nice for both of us to get a little break from the other for a day, wasn’t it?”

“True.”

“Does that mean you would be up to racing with Team Everest again if that twist happened a second time?”

“Sure,” both girls said together.

“What about forming an alliance with them since you all seemed to get along so well? Would you consider doing that with Ben and Miles or perhaps a different team?”

Paige and Zoe looked at each other. They’d talked about it, decided on it basically, but did they want to share that in the interview? Would anyone else get to see this footage before the show actually aired? What was the best way to answer this question without lying?

“I … we — ” Paige started, still unsure of what to say.

“What Paige is trying to say is that we’ve decided to keep our strategy to ourselves, for right now. We can’t be too careful when there are so many teams around to compete with. So for now, our strategy is off the table for discussion during these daily wrap-ups.”

Evan glanced down at his questions. “Okay, then. I guess that’s all I have for you since the rest of the questions Chip wanted me to ask are strategy based. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled with your decision.” He laughed, getting up and straightening out his papers. “And he thought Cassidy was the one who would give him trouble.”

“Well, Chip should know better than to underestimate me. If he gives you any lip about it, you send him my way and I’ll deal with him myself,” Zoe said, a twinkle in her eye and a smile playing on her lips as if she’d started daydreaming. She walked out of the room and left Paige to stare after her without another word.

Zoe thinking about Chip in a daydreamy way? Odd. Very odd.

“Do you really think Chip will be upset with us? Because we probably could talk a bit about our strategy if we really had to.” Paige didn’t like the thought of the producer being mad at her.

“He’ll be fine.” Evan put down his camera. “Between you and me, you’re making a good choice to keep things tight-lipped.”

“Thanks for saying that, Evan.” Paige relaxed.

“And by tight-lipped, I don’t mean smooching with your alliance members.” Evan laughed and walked away.

Paige’s cheeks grew hot. Thank God Evan had said that last part off camera since she still hadn’t had a chance to tell Zoe about the kiss with Miles yet. And she didn’t need Zoe cracking comments on camera either.

Miles stretched out on his bed, his hands folded behind his head as his muscles ached at the abuse they’d taken during the day. It had seemed like an easy enough cache to get — wander a few hundred feet into the woods, search around a bit, log it, and get back to the SUV and on to the next one.

Then Paige had taken her spill down the hill on those ridiculous heels and he’d been a goner ever since. He’d had to carry her the rest of the way to the cache, not that he’d minded all that much. Aside from the difficult terrain, having Paige over his shoulder had been rather awesome. And the little smack on the ass he’d given her hadn’t been too shabby either.

But it had slowed them down. As had their kiss. Damn, that kiss …

And of course it all had to happen on a day he’d been hoping to make up for lost time. He’d really thought he’d be able to knock out a solid ten caches with Paige, instead of the five he and Ben usually logged.

Not matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to keep focused on the game. Either he was worrying about how Ben was holding up or he worried about what kind of trouble Zoe was getting herself into. And now he had to add Paige to his list of worries too. He had to worry about whether or not she was going to twist her ankle in those stupid shoes. And he had to worry about whether or not he’d have enough blood flowing to his brain at any given time while in Paige’s presence to function at a normal human level.

None of which was conducive to running a fast race. Exactly the reason they were still pulling up damn close to last place.

At least with today’s combined caches, both his team and the girls’ team had been able to move up in the ranks two places. Finally they weren’t dead last.

“I expected you and Paige to rack of up the points today. What happened?” Ben asked, walking out of the bathroom.

“Those shoes happened.”

Ben laughed. “I think Zoe’s finally corrupted her. And of all days when we really could have used the help.”

“I hear you. You and Zoe did okay getting another seven caches too. How was it with her today? Was she unbearable?”

Ben sat on the edge of his bed and slipped off his prosthetic, massaging the reddened skin for a minute, then sliding under the covers. “Actually, she was great. I’ve never seen her be so nice before.”

“Are you sure you took the right girl with you today? You didn’t accidentally grab some Zoe lookalike?”

Zoe wasn’t nice to anyone. Not even herself.

“I know. I thought it was all a big joke at first too, but if it was, she kept up the act all day.”

What was Zoe playing at? There had to be some reason for her sudden attitude change toward Ben, but what? Was there some kind of twist in the game she’d figured out and they hadn’t? Because no part of Zoe was nice to another human being without a good reason.

Or maybe it was because she could relate to Ben’s injury … the way it had changed him …

Yes, that could definitely explain Zoe’s sudden change of heart and attitude toward Ben.

“Well, regardless of the reason behind it, I’m glad to hear you didn’t have to put up with Zoe being a bitch all day.”

“And despite the shoes, how was it with Paige?”

“Fine.”

“Just fine?”

Miles sighed. How could he describe his day with Paige? Distracting, tempting, sexually frustrating. “Yep. Fine.”

“Huh,” Ben said between yawns, “because I could have sworn I overheard Evan and another cameraman talking about some kind of kiss in the mud. Sounded like there’s a budding showmance in the mix.”

Damn.

“There may have been a kiss.”

A really fan-fucking-tastic kiss.

After an amazing kiss like that, maybe it was finally time to tell Paige about his past with Zoe. It seemed like Paige and Zoe were getting along better now than they had been at the start of the show. Maybe his previous connection to Zoe wouldn’t affect Paige’s opinion of him anymore. Maybe he could have a fair shot with her even if she found out the truth.

Possibly, he could tell Zoe they didn’t need to keep things a secret anymore. After all, the groundwork had been laid already, in more ways than one.

“Never could resist a pretty brunette in heels, could you?” Ben laughed and rolled over. “Just don’t let it screw up our partnership with them. On second thought, maybe we shouldn’t make an alliance with them if you’re starting to fool around with Paige. It could complicate things more than it’s worth.”

“It was one kiss, not a complication.”

“Still. Maybe we’re better off on our own.”

Miles glanced over to Ben. What was the right decision for their team? Working with the girls could lead to complications, especially if he had to watch Paige in those heels and yoga tops everyday. But the girls were also pretty stubborn and that might be just what they needed to get enough caches to win.

Not to mention, the thought of Paige falling down another hill without anyone to rescue her but Zoe made him break out in a cold sweat. What if something worse happened and he wasn’t there to help?

That settled it.

“An alliance with the girls is our best option right now if we really want a chance to win. Even if we only pair up with them long enough to collect most of the caches they’ve already gotten, it will be worth it for the points alone. After that point, we can reevaluate the situation.”

“I’ll give it another day, but if working with the girls holds us back in any way, we’re on our own again.”

“Deal,” he agreed reluctantly.

It really was the only option. That way he could get Ben closer to winning. Miles could already see the spark of excitement coming back to Ben. If they won, it would be all it took to make Ben realize how much he’d missed having a little more adventure in his life.

And if he got to flirt with Paige a little more along the way, that was pretty okay too.

• • •

“How did it go with Miles yesterday? You didn’t really get into specifics in the interview last night, and then you scurried off to bed before I got another chance to ask you. But I could tell you were leaving out some good stuff,” Zoe said while brushing her already perfect looking hair.

Every morning, Zoe managed to beat Paige out of bed and into the shower. And every morning by the time Paige woke up, Zoe was already shampooed, blow-dried and had her makeup fully applied. It made Paige feel very lazy. Not exactly what she wanted to feel when the alarm went off at six each morning.

“Aside from acting like an idiot, not bad.”

“What do you mean?”

Paige sighed and stretched out her still half asleep body. She couldn’t believe yesterday had actually happened. It felt more like a dream than reality. A great dream she didn’t want to wake up from. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“I’m awesome. That’s how.”

Paige rolled her eyes. “I didn’t even finish my thought yet.”

“Well, I’m awesome at basically everything. You’ll have to be more specific.”

Paige rolled out of bed and walked into the bathroom, turning on the shower. “Hiking in heels wasn’t easy,” she called through the open door as she stepped into the hot water. “I’m not sure I can keep wearing them. I may have to go back to my boots.”

“Not if I burn them first.”

“I’m serious. I fell. Down a hill. Miles had to come and rescue me.”

“What’s the problem then?” Zoe asked. “You wanted his attention, so mission accomplished.”

“I kind of hoped for a less embarrassing type of attention.” Paige finished her shower, toweled off and pulled on her clothes before walking back into the bedroom. As she combed her hair, Zoe touched up her makeup for what had to be the third or forth time that morning already.

“What did Miles do when you fell?”

“He rushed down the hill after me to make sure I was okay.” Paige’s lips tingled at the memory. Or possibly because of the minty lip balm she’d applied. The warmth settling deep in her belly, however, was definitely from the memory of Miles lying on top of her.

“And were you okay?”

“I’m here and not the hospital, aren’t I? Of course, I could have been a little more seductive and a little less feminist.”

“Have you learned nothing from me yet?” Zoe asked, sounding exasperated.

“He told me to lose the shoes and I told him not to tell me what to do. Somehow I don’t think that was the flirty response I should have made.”

Zoe sighed. “Amateur.”

“So teach me, oh wise one. Teach me how to be like you,” Paige teased.

“You can’t teach this,” Zoe said, waving a hand down her body. “I guess you can dress a girl up, but you can’t make her sexy.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“It’s what I’m here for.” Zoe slipped into her heels then eyed Paige.

Paige couldn’t help but feel pathetic in comparison to the blonde bombshell of a teammate she’d been stuck with. “Why should I even bother attempting to flirt with anyone when you’re around?”