Colt, being an organized sort, headed back to his house first and packed a change of clothes in an overnight bag. Amber had left the house while he’d been working. She had a marketing project she was working on with Rebecca. Those two were thick as thieves, and tended to work well together.
For the hell of it, he tossed a pair of cuffs, some lube, and a butt plug into his bag. What would Avery make of them? He didn’t know if she would be interested in and willing to try some light bondage or anal play, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to find out.
He tossed his overnight bag on the passenger seat of his black truck, then headed out and off the ranch into Winter Park. If he was spending the night at Avery’s cabin, he needed more sustenance than ramen noodles and instant coffee. With that thought in mind, he made a trip to the local grocery store. Considering the shelves in her cabin were barren and it didn’t look like the woman had two cents to rub together, Colt picked up eggs, bacon, bread, cheese, butter, beer, the wine she seemed to like, and also tossed cans of beans, selected packages of chicken, ground beef, a couple of steaks, a bag of russet potatoes, more apples, bananas, peanut butter and jelly, chips, frozen and fresh vegetables into the cart, and hoped like hell the woman didn’t have any food allergies. By the time he took it through the checkout counter, his cart was packed to the brim.
Colt justified the expense by figuring he would be eating a good portion of the food himself, since he planned on spending as much free time as he could eke out with Avery over the next two weeks. Besides, from the looks of things, whether she had really lost her wallet or was running from someone or something, it didn’t appear like she had anyone taking care of things for her. Colt loved the chance he was getting with Avery to just be a man. She didn’t see dollar signs when she cast her gaze in his direction. He figured that, for this slice of time, he would assume the role of her protector, and take care of her.
She brought the instinct out in him.
With the load of groceries in the cab of his truck, Colt took the back roads to get to her cabin in hopes of avoiding anyone from the ranch. He didn’t want to explain the groceries or where exactly he was headed with them.
He was figuring he would grill the steaks he’d picked up on the outdoor grill, toss some potatoes in the oven to bake, and voila, he’d have a meal that would put some meat on her bones. Not to mention, he cooked an awesome steak, and she would be putty in his hands after sampling his grill master skills.
That brought to mind the way he’d taken her that morning. How her sleepy gaze had turned hazy with need. The breathy moans she’d uttered as she clung to him, moved with him in a race to the finish line. And the dazzling smile that she’d worn when he left her bed.
As he neared the cabin, anticipation hummed in his veins at the thought of seeing her again, of feeling her writhe beneath him once more. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been this eager to see a woman.
Colt pulled his truck into the rustic drive and parked beside her battered SUV. Emerging from his vehicle with every intention of loading his arms up with the groceries and hauling them inside, he wondered where the confounded woman was right now. He had thought she would be outside with her telescopes. Perhaps she was inside and hadn’t heard his truck.
At least he had remembered to grab the keys for the cabin—he’d make sure she had one, and he would keep the other. That way, she could lock up when she left for the day.
A spot of color flashed in his peripheral vision. He turned toward the bright red item. Lying in the grass haphazardly next to the base of a big aspen was a red backpack. It belonged to Avery, it had to. He couldn’t think of anyone else who would own a red backpack. The color suited her vibrancy. But if she’d dropped her backpack there, did that mean she was in trouble?
“Avery,” he shouted, his concern for her well-being rising.
“Oh, thank goodness.”
He heard her voice coming from the vicinity of the tree, and trudged over to the abandoned backpack. Branches swayed above him, and he lifted his gaze. What the holy hell was she doing?
The blasted woman was up in the damn tree. “What in the world are you doing up there?”
“Um. Yeah, I sort of got stuck helping a baby gray jay get back into its nest. But he’s home now back with his siblings so his mom and dad can feed him.”
“How did you get up there in the first place?” The woman had to be twenty feet up and was dangling by her hands, her legs wrapped around the trunk.
“Oh, I climbed up, but then one of the branches I used on the way up broke on my way down. And well, now I’m just hanging here until my arms can’t hold me anymore. I tried the other side, but the branch isn’t stable enough to hold my weight. And my arms are exhausted so I’m having a hard time lifting myself back up.”
“Jesus.” He assessed the tree, and a way to get her down. Twenty feet up, a fall likely wouldn’t kill her. Likely being the optimal word here. The woman was lucky he had his hiking boots on today and not his cowboy boots. Setting his hat down on top of her pack, he commanded, “Stay where you are. I mean it, Avery. I’m coming up.”
He studied the tree a moment, and the likely path she had taken to get up there, and noticed the spot where the branch had broken. Colt pulled himself up, climbing the sodding tree until he was a few feet below her.
“Okay, I want you to unwrap your legs from around the trunk and lower yourself down. I’m going to help you reach the branch I’m on beneath you. Then you should be able to get the rest of the way down.” He prayed that the stupid branch he was perched on was sturdy enough to hold both their weight for a few minutes.
Avery moved with his urging while he balanced on the thick branch. She lowered herself until her waist was in front of his face. With a hand on her hip and one on the trunk, he said, “When I tell you to, I want you to let go of the branch. Got it?”
“Yep. Hurry though.”
Once his arm was tightly wrapped about her waist, he ordered. “Now, Avery.”
He accepted the brunt of her weight when she released the branch. With great care, he lowered her until her feet touched on the branch. He kept one arm around her waist and pressed his palm against the trunk to steady them both.
She sighed against him.
He studied her, his gaze raking her form for any injuries. “You good? Think you can make it the rest of the way?”
“Yeah. Let’s get down. I really need to pee.”
He snorted a laugh. The woman was a menace on her own. They climbed back down in relative silence. Colt went first, in case she slipped—he would do his best to catch her, and try to keep her from injuring herself.
The moment their feet touched the ground, Avery tossed her arms around him and pressed her lips over his briefly. “My hero.”
The brief touch zapped through his entire system. “Seriously, woman, you need a keeper.”
“Why would I need that when I’ve got you coming along at the right moment?” She beamed, her eyes dancing with merriment.
Lifting his hat off her pack, he brushed it off before setting it down over his head. “And if I hadn’t arrived when I did or noticed your backpack while I was carting groceries inside the cabin, you could have fallen and broken your damn fool neck.”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “It all worked out in the end, and the bird is safe from predators.”