Whitewater Rendezvous

“Not unless you get one in before breakfast,” she said. “Tomorrow’s destination is a pretty good distance downstream, and I want to get an early start. It’s the stop where we’ll have the best chance of getting a good view of the caribou herd.”

“I can’t wait for that,” Linda enthused. She and Pat got out and dried themselves off.

“Can’t wait for what?” Elise appeared out of the trees.

“We’ll see the caribou tomorrow,” Pat said.

“We hope.” Chaz stepped gingerly into the hot water. “You can’t really predict where they’ll be, but I was watching them before we left.

They’ve radio-collared a bunch of them, and you can track where they are on the Internet.”

“Okay, guys, shoo! Our turn,” Elise said, dropping her towel to reveal a skimpy black bikini that left very little to the imagination.

“We can take a hint,” Pat said, chuckling, as she and Linda headed back to the others.

As she watched Elise slip into the water beside her, Chaz had to admit that the woman was way above average in the looks department.

Her body would certainly make anyone look twice, but it wasn’t the body Chaz wanted.

“So, fi nally, I have you alone,” Elise purred, leering at Chaz like she wanted to eat her alive.

“Down, girl,” Chaz rebuked gently with a smile. She leaned her head back against the smooth rock side of the hot spring and closed her eyes. The water was roughly chest deep, so she relaxed with her knees slightly bent to keep only her head above water.

“Aw, don’t be a wet blanket. You don’t mean that, now, do you?”

Elise pouted slightly.

Chaz cracked open an eye. “Believe me, I’m fl attered, but it’s not going to happen.” She closed her eyes again in an effort to end the pursuit.

“Can I ask why not?”

“A lot of reasons. First and foremost, you’re a client, and I don’t go there,” Chaz drawled lazily. The hot water really did feel amazing on such a cold and dreary day. She’d stayed at this stop a couple of days the year before, primarily because of this special feature.

“Why don’t you go there?” Elise persisted. “What’s wrong with two consenting adults having some fun?”

• 127 •

KIM BALDWIN

“I don’t think it’s ethical for a guide to sleep with a client. This is a dangerous place, and I have a responsibility to all of you,” Chaz said seriously. “I can’t have my judgment compromised by personal feelings. And I can’t favor one client over another. There are a lot of other reasons why not.”

Chaz thought she’d fi nally gotten through to Elise, for a long quiet fell between them. In fact, she nearly dozed, lulled by the heat and the steady cascade of water from the river beside them. Her mind wandered back to that morning and the thrill of waking up holding Megan.

The next thing she knew, she felt a touch—so light it was almost a whisper—run slowly up her leg from calf to thigh. She reached down and gently intercepted Elise’s hand before it got any higher.

“Somehow I think I’m not getting through to you,” she said, opening her eyes to fi nd Elise poised to pounce, her lips inches away from her own. “Elise, I—”

But Elise was not going to let her make any further objections.

She closed in for the kill. Her right hand shot out and wrapped around Chaz’s neck, and she pulled their faces together for a searing kiss.

For a brief moment, Chaz was too startled to respond at all. Then her mind registered that Oh, man, her lips are so soft, and it had been a long while since she’d been kissed like that, and she really liked kissing, and Elise sure did know how to kiss, oh, yes, indeed she did, and she couldn’t kiss the woman she really wanted to kiss, so…

“No!” she said, breathless, as she pushed away from Elise and held her at arm’s length. It was only then that she realized that Elise had taken off her bikini.

Elise frowned. In a sexy half whisper, she said, “Now, I know you were enjoying that as much as I was.” She inched closer as though she was going to take another shot as soon as she saw an opening.

It was a very small pool, and there wasn’t anywhere for Chaz to go. “Look, Elise, I’m not going to deny you’re a great kisser. But it’s still not going to happen.”

“I bet I can change your mind,” Elise predicted.

“No, Elise.” Chaz injected a note of fi nality into her voice that was unmistakable. “I’m sorry, but no means no. If you’re going to persist, I’m going to get out right now.”

Elise’s expression changed and she backed away. “There’s no need to do that,” she said dejectedly.

• 128 •

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14