Stuck on You (27 page)

“I can buy a new shirt.” She smiled and swiped away her tears.

He smiled back reassuringly. “Let’s get you down.”

Miles talked Zoe into moving from where she’d been dangling for far too long. She slowly started making her way down the rock face. When they got to where Paige waited, he paused while Zoe carried on.

“Where are you going?” Paige asked Zoe. “The cache is right around here.”

“I give up,” Zoe said, shaking her head. “I’m done with this one. I just want down.”

“You can’t give up. We’re right here. This could win us the show — and what about the prize that could be inside waiting for us?”

Zoe shrugged. “It doesn’t seem so important anymore,” she said, her eyes tearing up again. “I want to be done, okay? Please? I’m asking as nicely as I know how.”

Miles watched as Paige clearly debated about whether or not she was going to put up another fight. He sighed with relief when she nodded and started down the rocks again.

“Thank you,” Zoe whispered.

• • •

Paige’s feet tingled as they landed on the boat’s small deck. After hanging in the rappelling harness for so long, all the blood had pooled in them and putting her body weight on them again didn’t feel so great.

She couldn’t say the same about Miles’s hands as he massaged them for her.

Zoe had insisted her feet were fine in her sneakers and she just looked relieved to be sitting in the boat and headed for shore. She sat next to Ben, discussing something so quietly Paige couldn’t overhear them. When Paige had tried to insist her feet were fine too, Miles completely ignored her, then took her feet into his lap and slipped off her shoes.

Then he’d thrown her brand new, sexy-as-hell stilettos into the lake.

She sighed as they sank below the surface, gone forever. Just like her hope of winning the game. Just like her hope of ever proving she was strong enough to conquer anything the show could throw at her.

Now she’d have no choice but to go back to her hiking boots or sneakers for the finale. And no choice but to go back to being plain, pathetic Paige.

If she was really being honest with herself, she wasn’t that heart-broken over losing the shoes. Those things were torture devices. Her feet had never been so sore for so long in all her life. But she was sad about everything else.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said to Miles, referring to the shoes. “They didn’t do anything to you.”

He met her gaze, his eyes holding a spark of familiar heat. The same heat she’d seen when staring up at him as he hovered over her in bed. Heat she wasn’t sure she’d ever see in his eyes again.

“That’s not true,” he said, his voice huskier than it should have been. “Those shoes did more to me than you’ll ever know.”

If she weren’t so mad at him, she’d jump into his lap and kiss him until that twinkle in his eyes became all out, unstoppable desire.

But she was mad and she wasn’t going to let him get away with things because he was cute. And sexy. And —
oh my God!
— expertly massaged the spot on her arch that had been hurting for weeks.

The boat docked. Zoe and Ben were off of it and onto the shore before Paige had even tried to retrieve her foot back from Miles. He didn’t give her a chance. Once the boat was secured, he scooped her into his arms and stepped out of the boat, starting on the climb back up the path to the vehicles. Zoe and Ben were already so far ahead of them Paige couldn’t see them.

“Put me down and I’ll walk,” she said, wiggling in his arms.

“On bare feet? On a rough, rocky trail?”

Sure. Why not? It was her best chance at maintaining a clear head with Miles around. Doing that while he carried her was a lost cause. Especially when her hand was pressed against his flexed pectoral muscle. “I’ll be fine. It’ll be too hard for you to climb and carry me at the same time.”

“You really want to walk barefoot on a trail in the wilderness where there might be bugs, spiders, and snakes?” He raised his eyebrow at her.

She tightened her arm around his shoulders. “Maybe this is okay.”

He laughed. “That’s what I thought you might say. So, since we’re finally talking, tell me why you really insisted on wearing those ridiculous heels all the time because after the massage, I know it wasn’t for comfort.”

“They looked cute.” She didn’t offer any more explanation and she knew he wasn’t going to accept her lame excuse. But she didn’t want to tell him the truth. Certainly she didn’t want to tell him while she was in such a compromising position.

He nodded. “That they do. They’re damned sexy too. I spent many nights in the last week dreaming of you wearing those heels … and nothing else.”

She swallowed.

“And now the real reason?” he asked.

“I wanted you to notice me,” she said quietly, hating that it was the truth. Hating that she was so weak and unsure of herself. Or at least she used to be. Lately she’d been feeling pretty strong and determined. Confident even. But now she wasn’t so sure it had anything to do with the shoes.

“You didn’t need fancy shoes for that,” he whispered.

“No?” she questioned, holding her breath.

“Nope. I haven’t stopped noticing you since day one.”

“Really? I’m not sure I believe that. I think you’re just saying that so I’ll stop being mad.”

He shook his head. “I’ve noticed a lot of things. Seems no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get you out of my head when I wasn’t around you. And when I was around you … well, I couldn’t pull my eyes away.”

Really? What had he noticed exactly? Did he notice her staring at him all the time when she thought he hadn’t been watching? Oh God, had he noticed that time she’d dropped her water bottle by accident and had checked out his ass on the way back up after retrieving it from the floor? Had he noticed all the times she’d undressed him with her eyes even after they’d been together?

Her cheeks burned at the thought of being caught by him. “Notice any other interesting things during your studies?”

“Only that you look great with a messy ponytail, prefer yoga tops over T-shirts, and drink hot chocolate every night. With three marshmallows. I know you prefer minty lip balm because you like the way it tingles, unless you think I’m going to kiss you and then you put on cherry instead because you think I like it better.”

Those were some pretty detailed observations he’d been keeping track of.

“And that you like to check out my ass when you think I’m not looking,” he added with a smug grin. “I noticed every time.”

She licked her lips while she thought of something witty to reply, suddenly wishing she had some readily available cherry lip balm to apply. Sadly, she’d left it in the truck. Probably for the better since she didn’t want to encourage him. She wanted to stay mad at him, not kiss him.

Which would totally be easier if she could walk. His strong arms wrapped around her made her feel protected and safe. The muscles of his chest flexing as he carried her made her all hot and bothered. His labored breathing made her wish he was breathing heavy because of another activity that involved a lot less wilderness and a lot fewer clothes.

Until she thought about the things she’d noticed about him. Like how he seemed all too happy to talk with Eve whenever he thought Paige wasn’t around. Or like how he’d chosen Ben instead of her at the cache.

The familiar anger overrode the desire in her body. “And what about Eve? Do you know how she likes her coffee? How about what she eats for breakfast? Or maybe even the type of underwear she wears?”

He stopped walking and set her down so she stood on a rock. “What are you talking about?”

As if he didn’t know. “You and Eve. Don’t think I didn’t notice things too. Like you talking to her every chance you got. Cuddling on the couch late at night when you thought no one else was around. Don’t think I didn’t notice how quickly you moved on once you couldn’t get in my pants anymore.”

He shook his head, frowning at her. “I can’t believe you think I’d be with Eve. Especially after I’d been with you.”

“I can’t believe you think I’m stupid enough not to see what was so clearly going on between the two of you.”

“What went on was her trying to help me figure out a way to win you back.” He rubbed his hands across his face, then leveled his gaze on hers again. “Sure, at the beginning of the show, she’d hinted pretty strongly about having feelings for me. But once you and I were together, I told her it was never going to happen. And then she became just a friend, and nothing more.”

Oh.

“I didn’t … I thought … ”

He cupped his hands along her jaw, tilting her head up toward him. “You thought wrong. But that’s okay because I happen to think you’re pretty damn cute when you’re wrong. And when you’re right. And when you’re tucked into my bed.”

“What about Ben?” she asked. She had to know before she could give in to her desire to kiss him. To forgive him.

“I’m not interested in Ben either,” he said, inching closer, a smile playing on his lips. “I didn’t realize you were jealous of him too.”

“That’s not what I meant.” She fought to control her thoughts, which were quickly becoming more and more clouded every moment, pushing her hands against his chest to force a little more space between them. “You chose him over me at the cache. That doesn’t make me feel very good about where we stand.”

“I didn’t choose him over you. I came on this show to help Ben get his life back. When he wanted to prove to me that he could climb that rock wall, I couldn’t say no. And I would have happily gone climbing with you too if I’d managed to get rid of your silly shoes sooner. I wanted you there with us, but I couldn’t keep you safe while climbing in those shoes, not when I also had to keep Zoe and Ben out of trouble too.”

“You don’t have to keep everyone safe. We’re not all your responsibility.”

“I know that now. Trust me. Ben ripped me a new one after you guys left. I’d been short-changing him and treating him with kid gloves for too long. He’s so much stronger than I gave him credit for.” He ran his thumb along her cheek. “You’re a lot stronger than I thought too.”

“I am?”

“You are. The way you tackled every cache and tried things like rappelling today, without fear, is inspiring. I didn’t realize how confident and amazing you really are until I thought I’d lost you for good.”

“Honestly, I didn’t realize how confident I could be either.” She glanced down to her bare feet, embarrassed about her action. “I thought I had to wear those unbearable and uncomfortable shoes and this silly push-up bra to feel confident and for you to see me that way. I couldn’t be more embarrassed. Well, until I have to watch it all play on TV again and then I’ll surely feel worse.”

“You are one of the most amazing women I’ve ever met. I don’t think you need anything extra to make you more incredible than you already are.”

“Not even the push-up bra?” She smiled. “You gonna throw it in the lake next?”

He smirked and cocked an eyebrow at her. “The bra can stay.” His gaze flickered down to her chest, her nipples beading in response. “At least until I get you back to the lodge.”

His lips were on hers in a heartbeat at which point her brain leaked out her ears, leaving behind a mess of swirly lights and a cloud of fog. She shivered as his mouth pressed against the pulse point in her neck. He kissed her on the mouth again, harder this time, filled with need that matched what she felt coursing through her own body, pooling low in her belly. She clung to his chest, pulling him closer.

“Maybe until I get you to the truck,” he said against her lips then pulled back to look at her.

“What about the rest of the day? There’s still a chance one of our teams could win if we find a few more caches today before the show ends.”

He tangled his hand in her hair. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve already won. I love you, Paige. I think maybe I have since that very first day of taping when I saw you standing alone waiting for your partner to show up. I’ve never been so drawn to anyone before.”

She wrapped her arms around him, her body melting into his. “I love you too, Miles.” She kissed him again, softly, sweetly. This was the only man she could ever imagine being with. The only man who’d ever seen her for who she really was, even when she didn’t see it herself.

Zoe stood beside Paige while they waited for the finale to wrap up. They’d already filmed all the lead up stuff, and all the filler, and all the flashbacks from the season. If they didn’t get on with announcing the winner soon, she might actually start hurting people.

She already knew her team hadn’t won. She and Paige had compared notes with the other teams and even if their caches had a ton of points each, they still wouldn’t have enough points to win. Their cache number had simply fallen too short.

The same went for Ben and Miles.

As much as she’d hoped to see them win, she just couldn’t see how that would happen with the amount of caches they had, which ended up being only a handful more than her team. Nope. Some other team would win. Most likely Team Frat Boy since Team Firefighter was out. Too bad. She’d rather have seen the firefighters win it instead of two spoiled rich boys who really needed to grow up and graduate from college.

Paige giggled while cuddling into Miles’s side. The giggling could stop anytime. Their lovey-dovey bullshit was enough to make cupid feel like hurling.

“So does this mean you two are together now?” Zoe asked.

Paige nodded. “Looks that way.”

“Yep, better get used to the idea, sis. I don’t plan on letting her go anytime soon.”

“Oh, goody. It wasn’t bad enough that I was stuck with Paige on the show, now I’m going to be stuck with her in real life too. Thank God we only see each other for major holidays, weddings, and funerals.”

“I’m looking forward to spending time with you too, Zoe.” Paige smiled.

Spencer walked back to his spot in front of them before Zoe could say anything else. There would be plenty of chances to say something later if Paige really was going to be a part of her brother’s life.

“Now for the part we’ve all been waiting for,” Spencer began, speaking directly to the camera. Since there wasn’t a live audience for this finale, Spencer spent most of his time talking to the camera instead of the contestants.