Page 45 of In Too Deep
Teague’s gaze darted to Eden.
She snatched up the headset.She slid it back on and adjusted the mic.Her voice was cooler than it had been.“Just doing my job.No reward needed.”
Well.At least she wasn’t jumping at a date with Xander either.Small comfort but he’d take it.
Whatever Xander said next, she laughed one more time—that light laugh that did things to Teague’s chest.“Over.”She slid off the headset.Met his gaze across the room.
Did she look guilty?Maybe.Hard to tell.
Guilty about what?
She’d made it clear there was nothing between them.Maybe she just felt sorry for him because his feelings were clearly written on his face.
Awesome.A pity look from the girl he couldn’t stop thinking about.
Teague reached for his pack, slung it over his shoulder just as the first few drops splattered against the window.“Call everyone in.Time to go hiking in a storm.”
“Are you sure that is safe?”This time she sounded worried.Not the professional dispatcher voice, but something real.
She hadn’t been worried about super Xander out there with his wings and amazing rescues.Did she think Teague was less competent?
“We’ll be fine.”He turned toward the office without looking back.
He had to get over his crush.Fast.Like yesterday.
Because as much as she intrigued him, the girl had walls higher than the canyon itself.
She couldn’t believe she’d been given the choice and actually still chose to go back to the cave.
In a rainstorm no less.
Meg’s boots sank into the muddy trail, making sucking sounds with each step.Each step a deliberate effort against the rain-slicked earth.The storm that battered the Grand Canyon was finally letting up.
Slightly.Barely.Not enough to matter.
Rain always brought out the deep reds and golds of the rocks around them—saturated, vivid—but she didn’t dare look up to enjoy it.At this speed, every step had to be placed with precision.One wrong move and she’d be sliding downhill.
The last thing she needed right now was to slip.To be the liability.
The wind shifted.Drove the rain under her hood and down her neck—cold fingers of water tracing her spine.Meg tugged her rain-soaked coat tighter.It was supposed to be waterproof, but after walking for two hours in a downpour, rain had found a way to penetrate it at several spots.She wiped back the hair clinging to the side of her face and repressed a shiver.The farther down in the canyon they went, the warmer it got, but the Tapeats caves were only two thousand feet below the rim, so the added ten degrees kept her hands from freezing, but it wasn’t enough to relieve the chill that the rain brought.
Noah led the group, seemingly unaffected by the weather.His broad shoulders cutting through the storm like he was built for this.
Had she really just blabbed all of that to him earlier in the lounge?About Jude?About her father?She’d never shared about Jude with anyone but her therapist—that locked box she’d kept sealed for years.
And the bit about her father—she’d never admitted as much out loud.
Ever.
But somehow, while opening up, something had released in her.A pressure valve turning.Her chest had felt lighter.As if a knot had loosened after years of being tied so tight it made it hard to breathe at times.
She’d carried that weight for so long.Part of her believed that if she was honest with anyone, they would confirm her worst fear: She wasn’t fit to be a doctor.
But Noah hadn’t done that.His steady gaze—those deep-brown eyes that saw straight through her.His hand on hers—warm, solid.He hadn’t judged or pushed.Hadn’t offered platitudes.
He’d just listened.
For the first time in years, she felt seen.Not as the medic who froze or the woman who panicked, but as Meg.
