The Groom's Stand-In

His words made her blink. Surely he didn’t mean…

“We’d better get going,” he added, as if he wasn’t quite sure she’d heard him.

She must have looked like an idiot, scrambling to her feet with her cheeks on fire, but she needed a little distance from him just then. She barely gave him time to struggle to his feet before she pressed on, making her way very carefully across the treacherous ground—and feeling as though she had just missed stepping onto a path that could prove every bit as dangerous as this one.

They sat in another dark cave, this one a mere indentation in a limestone wall. Donovan’s outstretched legs barely fit inside; had they been an inch longer they’d have been sticking out. There wasn’t room for either of them to stand up, but it provided a cozy shelter in which to rest for the night.

The sun had been setting when Donovan spotted the cave, and it had been he who’d suggested they stop here for the night. It hadn’t been too soon to call it a day as far as Chloe was concerned.

As the hours had worn on, the terrain had become even more perilous. Their progress had been painfully slow and tedious as they had made their way around heavy brush, large boulders, fallen trees, gaping holes and slippery patches of mud left from yesterday’s heavy rains. There had been times when it had seemed they were making no headway, when it would have been easier to simply sit down and cry.

She’d kept going because she had no choice—but she had stopped counting her steps. They’d moved at such a snail’s pace that it had been too depressing to count that slowly.

“How long was that little girl lost in the forest?” she asked after she and Donovan had been resting in the cave for a while in silence.

He must have sensed that she was growing discouraged. “A few days. I can’t remember, exactly. It happens often, actually. Hikers are always getting lost, falling off bluffs and whatever, and it sometimes takes days to find them, even with whole teams of searchers.”

“It just seems like we would have seen some sign of civilization by now. Something besides that poor, strange man’s cabin.”

“If we’re where I think we are, this is a million-acre forest. Federally protected wilderness, no development encouraged. We’re bound to come across someone before too much longer, but it’s not so strange that we’ve been able to wander around for two days without finding our way out.”

“What if we’re wandering in circles? Maybe heading away from people instead of toward them.”

“We’re not traveling in circles. Zigzagging a bit, but not circles.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

Either he really was certain—or he lied as well as he did everything else.

“I’m not giving up,” she said wearily.

“I know you’re not. But I can’t blame you for being discouraged. You’re exhausted.”

“You must be, too.”

“I’m tired, but I slept well last night.”

So had she, actually. She’d roused only a couple of times to strange sounds, and both times she’d drifted straight back into sleep, safe and warm in Donovan’s arms.

Her growing attachment to him—dependence upon him?—was beginning to worry her. She’d been fascinated by him since the moment she’d met him, but it seemed to be developing into something more than that. Was it only proximity? Only the fact that her safety—perhaps her very life—depended on him now?

Or was it more than that?

She’d long since given up on finding a real hero—a true soul mate. The kind of man she’d fantasized about meeting when she’d been younger and more idealistic. She’d convinced herself that she was willing to settle for a compatible partner—someone she liked very much, with whom she had a great deal in common. Someone like Bryan.

She was beginning to understand how close she was coming to making a huge mistake.

“You’re being very quiet all of a sudden,” Donovan murmured. “Blaming me for getting you into this mess?”

“I’m trusting you to get me out of it,” she replied more lightly than she felt.

“I hope I can justify your faith in me.”

“Something tells me you will.”

Though it was too dark to see his face clearly, she sensed his frown. “I’ll do my best. But, Chloe—I’ve made mistakes in the past. And people have been hurt because of them.”