CHAPTER NINE

      TACO NIGHT AT the Hood Hamlet Brewpub always put a smile on Cullen’s face. Nothing beat good food, great beer and hanging with friends, but it was the last place he wanted to be tonight. He gripped the steering wheel and turned onto Main Street, trying to ignore the floral scent of Sarah’s shampoo drifting his way.

      She peered out the window. “It’s crowded for a Thursday.”

      Her kisses had sent him to the brink. He’d been on the verge of losing all control until she’d taken him out with her cast. He’d never been so relieved to be punched in the gut. It hurt, but he could have been hurt a lot more if he’d continued kissing her. “Fresh snowfall brings skiers and riders to the mountain.”

      Sarah turned toward him. “What about climbers?”

      His gaze lingered on her lips. He jerked his attention back to the road. She was the one with the concussion, but he needed to have his head examined. Imagining her with Paulson during the drive home had done crazy things to Cullen.

      His self-control had been nonexistent. Whenever Sarah was involved, his feelings overrode common sense. But he hadn’t withdrawn or run away from her. This time he’d done something worse. He’d kissed her.

      Talk about reckless behavior.

      Finding out she was jealous about who he was with had been a real turn-on. Kissing her had seemed the most natural thing in the world. But he couldn’t allow himself to be taken in by her again. “If they’re smart, they’ll wait for a better weather window and an avalanche report.”

      “If not?”

      “You hope they get lucky. Otherwise OMSAR pings us with a mission call out.”

      “Some people think they can conquer the mountain.”

      He parked across the street from the brewpub. “Yeah, but the mountain always wins.”

      “Mother Nature gets a shot in once in a while.”

      “Leanne’s fiancé, Christian, can tell you all about that.”

      “She mentioned how OMSAR rescued his cousin and him.”

      Cullen turned off the ignition. “They got caught in a wicked storm, but it ended well.”

      Sarah unfastened her seat belt. “It’s too bad there aren’t more happy endings like that.”

      Her wistful tone surprised him. Sarah could be impulsive, but she didn’t give in to flights of fancy or fairy tales. She must be talking about her rescue. “Yours has a happy ending.”

      Her gaze narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

      “Mount Baker. Your accident,” he explained. “Your data could have been destroyed. Your injuries could have been worse. You could have died. But none of those things happened. Happy ending.”

      “It will be happy once I’m back at the institute.”

      Away from him.

      The words were unspoken, but implied. They stung, given how passionately she’d kissed him back this afternoon.

      She reached across her chest and fumbled with the door handle.

      He leaned over to help. His arm brushed her breast, sending a burst of heat rushing through him. He pulled back. “Sorry.”

      “I’ve got it.” On the third try she opened the door.

      She exited as if a bomb were about to blow. He hurried around the truck, then held her hand. “Be careful.”

      Annoyance burned in the depths of Sarah’s eyes. She tugged her hand out of his. “I know to be careful.”

      “Just watching out for you.”

      “It’s not as if I did something stupid to make myself fall. If the steam blast hadn’t happened…”

      She wouldn’t be here. The thought brought a strange mix of relief and regret.

      “I can cross the street by myself,” she continued.

      “There could be ice,” he cautioned. She must be hungry. Hunger would explain her short fuse. “I’d say the same thing to anyone else who was with me, so don’t get your panties in a twist.”

      She pursed her lips. “That would be hard to do, since I’m not wearing panties.”

      Cullen’s mouth went dry. His gaze dropped to her hips. All he saw were jeans, but the thoughts running through his head raised his temperature twenty degrees.

      “Trust me, I’d know if my thong was twisted,” she added.

      A thong. He remembered her thongs. His temperature spiraled. He needed to take off his jacket.

      He realized a moment too late she was crossing the street without him. “Wait up, Lavagirl.”

      Sarah stood on the sidewalk, tapping her toe.

      “You’re hungry,” he said.

      Her foot stopped moving. She nodded with a contrite expression.

      “The taco bar is all-you-can-eat,” he said.

      She bit her lip.

      He motioned her toward the entrance, but she didn’t move.

      Her gaze filled with uncertainty. “Is there anything I should know before we go inside?”

      “About the taco bar?”

      “About the people I’m going to meet.”

      Not only hungry. Nervous. “You’ve met Carly, Zoe, Hannah and Leanne.”

      “And Bill.”

      Unfortunately. Cullen wasn’t too happy with Paulsen right now. “Jake Porter, Sean Hughes and Christian Welton, if he’s not on duty, will be here. I’m not sure about Hannah and Garrett Willingham or Rita and Tim Moreno, since they need babysitters. You never know who will show up. But no worries. Everybody will make you feel right at home.”

      An older couple holding hands exited the brewpub. Sarah stepped aside to let them pass. Cullen did the same.

      Sarah glanced at the door to the brewpub as if it were a black hole. “I’ll make sure I don’t embarrass you in front of your friends.”

      “You’ve never embarrassed me.”

      “That time I danced on the bar at the hole-in-the-wall dive near Joshua Tree.”

      The taste of tequila shots with lemon and salt rushed back. He remembered the way she’d moved to the pulse-pounding music. “I was turned on, not embarrassed. I would have preferred a private performance without the other men leering at you. Then you could have taken it all off and not just undone only a couple of buttons.”

      “Well,