Free Breakaway by Nancy Warren Page B

revealing herself to Max, she tossed her clothes in front of him. “Here.”
    “Thanks.”
    While he busied himself putting her things out on the rock, she wrapped herself in the thermal blanket and then crawled into the sleeping bag, ridiculously glad he’d retrieved the emergency kit and survived.
    She watched him laying out her utilitarian shirt and pants and tried not to feel embarrassed as he placed her bra and panties alongside them. She supposed that defying death together was pretty intimate. What was a pair of panties in comparison?
    Then her copilot began to strip.
    She knew he was doing the sensible thing, getting his wet clothes off so they could dry on rock that held the heat of the day, giving his body a chance to dry while there was still some warmth in the sun. A good woman would turn her gaze elsewhere and give the man some privacy.
    She wondered if perhaps she wasn’t as good a woman as she’d imagined. Because she couldn’t look away.
    He was facing away from her so he couldn’t know that her gaze was fixed on him. As he peeled off his shirt she noticed his back was chiseled with muscle. His shoulders made it look as though he spent half his life in the swimming pool and the other half in the gym, which she knew wasn’t true. But wow, the guy was cut.
    He laid his shirt on the warm rock and then reached for his belt buckle. She felt as though her eyes were stuck in place. She couldn’t seem to force herself to look away. He peeled the wet pants down his hips and revealed wet boxer shorts that didn’t hide much. His hips were lean, his butt tight and round. His legs were slightly bowed but all muscle.
    The sleeping bag was warming her nicely. Watching Max remove his clothes was doing the rest of the job.
    * * *
    M AX KEPT A careful eye on Claire but she warmed up quickly once she was inside the sleeping bag. The heat of the day was already passing, but at least they still had hours of sunshine and the forecast called for dry weather for the next few days.
    That was working in their favor. He suspected not a lot of other factors were.
    “When will the mine be letting Polar Air know that we didn’t make it?”
    “Couple of hours from now, I imagine.” Claire wasn’t shivering anymore, he was relieved to see. He’d stripped down to his boxers, figuring modesty had to give way to safety and if the fact that he was nearly naked bothered her, she hadn’t mentioned it.
    He nodded. Gazed up at the sky, so clear and blue. “Any chance another plane will happen by?”
    “Probably not.”
    “And the ELT is at the bottom of the lake.” He stared at the calm surface. No sign of the plane. “How deep is it?”
    “I don’t know for sure, but the lakes tend to be very deep around here. I doubt the signal will get picked up.”
    “So, basically, we’re on our own.”
    “Basically.” She blew out a breath. “I went off course. Didn’t radio Lynette to let her know. That was stupid.”
    “Yeah, but the detour probably saved our lives.”
    “I know.” She hadn’t wanted to dwell on their narrow escape. It was still too fresh. And too narrow. But he was right, of course. The direct route to the mine was nothing but trees and mountain. The chances of them surviving that crash had they stuck to the planned route would have been pretty much zero.
    “The detour and you being a damned fine pilot,” he said.
    She smiled briefly.
    “And I watched you fight that throttle. Not for a second did you lose your cool. I owe you my life.”
    “Does this mean you won’t sue Polar Air for almost killing you?” She was only half joking.
    He stared across at her, a troubled expression on his face. “It wasn’t Polar Air who tried to kill us.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Come on. We both checked that plane this morning. There is no way that elevator should have gone.”
    “You can’t be suggesting—” She couldn’t finish the sentence. The possibility he seemed to be floating was