Free Naked Edge by Pamela Clare

that, Daniels is full of shit, sir."
    And that had been the end of it.
    Gabe zipped his coat. "Can your leg handle hiking up, or should we drive?"
    "It will be good for my leg to hike, but I probably won't be very fast."
    "I'm in no hurry." He waited for her to reach his side, unable to help noticing how good she looked in jeans, the motion of her hips as she walked undeniably female despite her limp, her long hair drawn back from her face by a silver barrette, her hands tucked in the pockets of her fleece-lined denim jacket.
    They walked for a moment, no sound but the distant drone of cars and the crunching of gravel beneath their boots.
    She spoke first. "I've never understood whether park rangers are like police officers or whether they're something completely different."
    "We're like cops in every way. We have badges, carry firearms, wear Kevlar, have the full authority of the law. We arrest our share of drunk drivers, drug dealers, and fugitives, too, but we do it in the mountains. That brings its own challenges. Try chasing some armed lunatic uphill through dense undergrowth. We also deal with wilderness rescues and wildlife, something city police aren't trained to do."
    "Is that what you always wanted to be--a mountain ranger?"
    "I grew up here and spent all my spare time in the mountains, hiking, climbing, skiing. I got a degree in biology thinking I might become a wildlife vet, but when it came time to get a job, all I wanted to do was be outdoors. So I went through the police academy, trained as a paramedic, and then volunteered for some technically difficult search and rescue. I guess they figured I wasn't going away, so when a position opened up, they gave it to me."
    She laughed. It was the first time he'd heard her laugh, and the sound of it warmed him like sunshine.
    GABE HIKED SLOWLY up the access road, allowing Kat to set the pace. It was clear that every step hurt her, the muscles of her leg probably atrophied from three months of immobility, her tibia almost certainly still sore from whatever hardware the surgeon had used to bolt it back together. But she didn't complain or even ask him to rest, still every bit the woman who'd crawled away from the rockslide, dragging that leg behind her.
    The sky was wide and blue, the sunshine warm, a brisk breeze blowing from the west, carrying the promise of snow. And as they walked along, Kat asking him questions about his job, Gabe felt some part of him letting go, a feeling of release he usually only got when he was alone in the mountains.
    "What do you deal with most--animal problems or people problems?" She looked over at him, her cheeks pink from exertion.
    "People problems--without a doubt. Even most animal problems are caused by people--people who leave garbage where it can attract bears, people who get too close to wildlife, people who let their dogs run off leash."
    "What's the most common crime you see?"
    "I'd say half of what we deal with are alcohol-related crimes or people having sex in public. If I had a dollar for every bare ass I've seen on the job..."
    She looked up at him, surprise on her face. "You're kidding me!"
    A virgin, Rossiter.
    "No, I'm not. People get into the mountains and start feeling their animal instincts or something." Gabe understood that. Being outdoors stirred a person's senses--all of them. Walking beside Kat with his lungs full of fresh air certainly had Gabe's senses going, her femininity teasing him, the honey-sweet scent of her skin filling his head, the gleam of her dark hair making him want to run his fingers through it.
    "I'll be walking along through the trees and see a man and woman jump up and start running with their pants around their ankles."
    She laughed. "Do you arrest them?"
    He shook his head. He'd done his share of fucking al fresco and would have felt like a hypocrite if he'd cited anyone else. "No. I figure they're humiliated enough as it is. If I find people having sex in a parked vehicle, I make sure it's