Page 31 of Tormented Hearts

Next he withdrew a pouch fashioned out of his rain jacket and held it against his chest like he was cradling a baby bird.

“Found a few things to supplement the food supply.” He held it out to her, and she blinked down at the plump, dark berries.

Her chest went unexpectedly, uncomfortably tight. “You went looking for vegetarian food. For me.”

“Well.” He didn’t glance up from the mushrooms he was sorting. “Can’t let my ward starve, can I? I should have asked about your diet before I packed the food in the first place.”

“That’s sweet of you.” She crouched beside him, examining the berries and picked one out. It was dark purple, almost black, the size of a blueberry but rounder. “What kind of berry is this?”

“Saskatoon berry. They grow all over these parts.”

She popped it into her mouth. It burst, sweet and slightly nutty against her tongue, and she smiled despite the tightness still sitting behind her ribs.

He was watching her face too closely. Watching her mouth.

She savored the flavor on her tongue. “I could kiss you right now.”

The words were out before her mind caught up. Hawk froze, and when she looked up, his face was closer than she realized.

Close enough that she had to tilt her head to hold his stare. His voice, when it came, dropped low and rougher than she’d heard it before.

“I don’t know what’s stopping you.”

She held his gaze. The connection between them throbbed for several beats longer than it should between a woman and her bodyguard. And his stare lanced through her with an intensity she’d never experienced from the polished and totally forgettable men she’d dated in Boston.

Not with anyone.

There didn’t seem to be enough air on the mountain to fully fill her lungs. She’d heard the stories, of course. Women who fell for the men hired to protect them, mistaking adrenaline and proximity for something real. She was too smart for that particular trap.

Apparently smart had nothing to do with it.

She broke the connection first, focusing hard on the berries in her lap. Even though the moment passed, an awareness hovered between them.

He busied himself with a foil pouch of food. She watched his strong hands as he tore the top and poured water in from the canteen. He kneaded it between his hands.

“Beef stroganoff.” He held it out like it was a point of pride.

She peered in at the contents. “Looks like wet cardboard.”

He gave her an affronted look and clutched it closer to his chest as if she were about to wrangle it from him. “It’s a delicacy.”

To cover her giggle, she popped a few berries into her mouth. He ate his gruel. And above them, the sky came alive in a burst of color. The whole mountain range slowly caught fire with gold bleeding into orange, and the peaks lit like spotlights on a painting that she’d never be able to describe.

She pulled her knees up, watching the display, and for a moment forgot about her father’s passing and his last wishes that landed her here. She forgot about buried secrets and the tightness that had had been living in her chest since her father’s funeral.

“Tell me about the Von Trapp moment,” Hawk said, not looking away from the sunrise either.

She issued a surprised laugh, her mind already unlocking the memory. The edges of it were still sharp even after all these years.

“I was at boarding school in Switzerland. Easter holiday came around, and everyone else went home to their families. I didn’t—my father was in the middle of some acquisition and my mother was visiting her sister, who was sick. I was stuck at school with a skeleton staff and too many empty hallways.”

She picked up another berry. “So I decided to make my own adventure. I figured if the mountains were good enough for the Von Trapps, they were good enough for me.”

He looked up. “The mountains. You mean the Alps?”

“Yeah. Those mountains.”

He lowered his pouch, the stroganoff forgotten as he focused solely on her in a way that made her feel more seen than a thousand sunrises.