"Kathleen?" His voice echoed through the empty chapel. Rustling sounded from overhead, birds flapping past the opening in the ceiling.
She must have gone outside, likely downing a coyote for their breakfast through just the power of her iron will. He shoved to his feet and dusted off his shirt and jeans.
The creosote bush now perched in clearer sight beside the altar, Kathleen's fence post resting at its base.
Definitely a hefty dose of Christmas cheer charging through the chapel.
Whistling "Jingle Bells," Tanner left the church in search of Kathleen. The mission porch was empty, along with the yard stretching to the fence. Tanner bounded down the steps, scanning the barren horizon beyond. A full-blown tequila sunrise of reds and oranges blazed across the desert, but no sign of Kathleen.
She wouldn't have ventured into the mine, would she? Nothing there but a bunch of rusty tin cans and rope.
Footsteps sounded behind him. From above. On the roof. Instinct told him he wouldn't like what he found when he turned.
A thud sounded behind him. Silence. Then another. He looked anyway, pivoting just in time to see Kathleen.
In midair.
A rope clutched in her hands, she rappeled from the mission roof. Her tennis shoes thudded against the stucco walls before she pushed off again, silhouetted by the burst of sunrise fire licking the sky.
Tanner's heart stopped for the second time in twenty-four hours. Except this time, her life wasn't in danger because of some accident or threat.
She'd risked her own fool neck out of recklessness.
One misstep, one lingering dizzy spell from her concussion and she would catapult to the ground. He didn't dare shout for fear of startling her, but when she landed, she wouldn't be so damned lucky.
Kathleen pushed off the side of the building, launching herself into the clear morning sky. Pilots had it all wrong. Who needed a plane? Flying solo offered the greatest rush, rappeling, parachuting, just the air and nothing else.
And she desperately needed that escape today.
Tanner was getting too close. He had her number, and that scared her. The tree, the name, those strong arms holding her through the night. She could too easily lose herself in him.
Her feet thudded against the stucco wall before she shoved herself back into the air. Rope glided through her grip. She needed to do something to work off the frustrated energy. Sex would have been a more satisfying way, but he'd been right to stop them.
She would work off her nervous energy out here. Alone. Rappelling was a lot less dangerous than relationships anyway. The risks were calculated and all her own, affecting no one but herself.
Watching him sleep had been far too enticing. Studying that square jaw softened by sleep, shadowed with stubble a shade darker than his hair. Tracing the outline of his full bottom lip, his brows, his nose.
Slipping free from his arms hadn't been easy. His hold was firm and her resolve was weak.
She was going to cave. Soon. And that whirled a mix of excitement and all-out fear inside her.
If a night spent sleeping in his arms scared her this much, what would a night spent awake in his arms do to her? Worse yet, what would happen to her afterward when one of them walked? Given their histories, she knew without question eventually there would be a foot race for the door.
Her feet pounded the side of the church with more force and less grace than before. She flexed and shoved for the last leap before she had to face Tanner—and herself.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Tanner's shout sent her sprawling on her butt. Stunned, she stared up at the harsh lines of his face tight with unadulterated anger.
She forced a smile and extended her hand for him to help her up. "And who the hell are you to talk to me that way?"
He pulled her to her feet, his gentleness definitely at odds with the ice flecking his blue eyes. "I'm supposed to be your partner. So? What made you do something so crazy?"
"Crazy?"
"Reckless."
She yanked her hand free. "I was scouting for the best way out of here. Good thing I did, too. There's a house not more than an hour's walk due east on another side road."