Page 103 of The Lost Guardian

Be brave. He heard Brooke’s voice in his head. Take a risk for once!

All right, Hot Spring. He decided to take her advice for once. Here I go.

Santiago turned around. Ali had left her tank on and was sitting, submerged up to her shoulders, in the spring, the tops of her bare knees slightly distorted where she held them to her chest just under the surface. He could barely make out the smooth expanse of skin on her legs. Her hair was piled on top of her head in an elaborate cascade of ringlets, her face pure bliss.

He quickly glanced away, noticing the clothes she had neatly folded and piled on top of her backpack. Slowly, he placed his pack next to hers on the ground. Before he could overthink it, he forced himself to move, stripping off his own pants and T-shirt. In just his boxer briefs, Santiago stepped into the hot spring across from Ali. His thighs protested briefly as he lowered himself to sitting, but then…

It. Was. Heaven.

Santiago hadn’t realized just how sore and achy his muscles were until the stress melted away under the water. His calves and quads gave a simultaneous sigh of relief. His back relaxed vertebra by vertebra. It felt so good that he stretched, raising his arms above his head and arching his upper back to flex outward. He almost forgot Ali entirely, until he heard her suck in a breath.

When he allowed himself to look, her mouth was wide open. She stared at him. Not at his eyes but his biceps. For a moment, a primal, masculine side of Santiago couldn’t help but feel satisfied by her attention.

He knew his physique was one of his best-kept secrets. It wasn’t that he tried to hide his body, he was proud of the work he did to get it, but he didn’t have much occasion to run around with his shirt off. Brooke called it a “sleeper build.”

“I’m impressed,” Ali said, looking at him with both eyebrows raised.

Santiago gulped.

“What do you…” He wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence, but Ali saved him from having to figure it out.

“I mean, I’ve seen your contact picture, but even that doesn’t do you justice.” She smirked.

Santiago pulled his eyebrows up, puzzled.

“My contact picture?” he asked.

Ali grinned. “Yeah. When Brooke got my phone number, she shared your contact info with me. The picture was…unexpected.”

Oh gods. What had Brooke done now?

“What was the picture?” he demanded, not sure that he wanted to know.

“You, of course,” she answered in a teasing lilt. “In swim trunks, at a beach. It was very…informative.” She grinned like the Cheshire cat. “But you look younger, and you didn’t have as much of this.” She made a general sweeping motion toward his chest and shoulders.

“Pond Scum,” Santiago moaned, thinking of his best friend. “I’m going to kill her.” She had probably changed his contact photo just so he could send that one to Ali, the meddling brat.

When Ali only laughed, he relaxed. It was mortifying, of course, but since she didn’t seem to mind, maybe he’d let Brooke live after all.

Ali’s gaze traveled down his arms and across his chest. Everywhere her eyes touched him felt like a caress. He shifted underwater. As pleased as he was with her attention, he hoped the effect it had on him wasn’t noticeable.

“As I said, you are full of surprises.” Ali’s voice was breathy, which didn’t help his body’s response to being so close to her.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked, knowing his change in topic was as inelegant as it was abrupt.

But if Ali kept looking at him like that, he wasn’t sure he could convince himself that she was only teasing. He almost lost her down a mountain for goodness’ sake. He didn’t want to find her again only to scare her off by acting like a fool.

“I really am okay,” she assured him, seemingly oblivious to his inner turmoil. “I mean, I’ll be bruised and sore tomorrow. But I’m alive.” She rolled her neck a little as she spoke.

Santiago watched in fascination as a droplet of water traced a lazy caress down her neck to settle somewhere between her breasts. He wanted to chase the path it traveled with his tongue.

Santiago shook those thoughts away.

“I know you said we don’t have a lot of time, and you’re right, of course,” he said, hoping his words sounded coherent. “But it’s getting late, and I don’t want to travel in the dark.”

“You think we should make camp?” Ali met his eyes again. Santiago wondered if the flush in her cheeks was just from the heat of the springs. He knew his wasn’t.

“I just mean, if we’re going to stop for the night, then there’s no rush to get out,” he ventured.