Adjusting the goggles to fit her properly, Easton passed them over. And okay. Would he rather have her in one of his shirts? Probably. But he’d take having her in his best—and ridiculously expensive—pair of goggles. As long as she stayed healthy and not in pain.

River giggled as she peered around the tent. “These are dark. I could almost get an actual night’s sleep wearing these.”

“What’s the fun in that?” He watched as she pushed the goggles on the top of her head, like a pair of sunglasses.

“Hey, Easton?”

“Yeah?”

Resting her hand on his arm, River leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. For all of this.”

For a moment, it was all Easton could do not to wrap his hands around her waist. Instead, he closed his eyes, the thin air doing nothing to cover the lingering scent of her skin. Her hand stayed on his arm, her hair copper silk as he threaded his fingers through it. And maybe he didn’t draw her in close. He didn’t have to. River was already leaning into him, soft and warm and more tempting than anything he’d ever known.

“We should probably keep this professional,” Easton murmured. Not kissing her behind her earlobe, down her neck, and across her shoulder was brutally difficult. Especially when her hands were sliding over his chest, fingers digging into his shoulders.

“Define professional,” she challenged him.

“Not this.” Slipping his arm around her waist, Easton picked her up, pulling her across his lap. When a tiny noise of appreciation escaped her throat, his willpower plummeted.

“Probably not this either.” Her hands traced a path along his stomach, making each muscle contract involuntarily at her touch.

A smack of a hand against the outside of the tent was the only warning they had that Ben’s face was about to poke inside the flap.

“Umm, guys, I hate to interrupt…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Easton growled under his breath, letting River slide off his lap.

“Tell me about it,” River muttered. “Your timing sucks, Ben.”

Ben had the decency to clear his throat, sounding far more apologetic than he looked. “I’ve got Ash on the line. She’s watching the weather, and we might need to stay put instead of heading up. Talk to her. She’ll tell you what’s going on.”

The last thing Easton wanted to do right then was leave this tent and whatever was on the verge of happening between them, but only a fool didn’t listen when his people called with weather warnings. Offering River an apologetic look, Easton pulled his boots back on and went to the dining tent. Settling down next to a makeshift supply table they’d formed out of snow, Easton picked up the sat phone. “Hey.”

He’d never know what it was that gave him away, but his sister always knew when she’d interrupted him at the worst of times. With that one word, Ash started laughing.

“You can’t be serious. Oh man, Graham is going to love this. We’ve had a bet going since you left. The actress, right?”

He glanced at the corner of the tent where River had joined her people. At his look in her direction, River’s eyebrow raised questioningly. Turning back to the radio, he cleared his throat.

“What’s got you worried, Ash?”

“There’s a cold front coming through from the northwest. They’re saying it dumped an extra two feet of powder at Camp Three on Denali. Came on fast, and everyone there is having a mess of a time digging out. You’re not directly in the path, but you’ll get some of it. Might want to sit until it passes. Winds are strong. Forty mile an hour gusts.”

“Thanks, Ash. We’ll hold tight.”

“Good. Oh, and, East.”

“Yeah?”

“Try not to let the actress eat you alive.”

Since she’d kept them from possibly freezing to death in a snowstorm, Easton almost wasn’t offended by that.

Almost.

“What’s going on?” Bree asked when he hung up with his sister.

“There’s a storm on its way,” Easton informed his clients, moving to stand in front of them. “Ben will make sure everyone has a radio. Keep it on channel four. There are high winds in this storm, so there’s always a slim possibility that the tents will give.”

Jessie’s eyes went wide, his voice squeaking. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Oh,” Ben spoke up, cheerful as ever. “I’ve seen them rip apart like a blood bag in a shark tank. You’re screwed when that happens.”

“A what?” Bree stared at him. “What’s a blood bag?”

“How do you not know what a blood bag is?” Ben asked her.

“How do you know what a blood bag is?”

Easton cleared his throat. Loudly. “Yes. Sometimes a well-made tent won’t be a match for these kinds of winds. The snow walls we built are solid, but in the time we have before the weather comes through, let’s build them up as much as we can. River, don’t push yourself.”

She opened her mouth, eyes flashing in indignation.

“I know you can pull your own weight. Just don’t try to pull anyone else’s.” Holding up the radio, Easton held each of his team’s gazes with a stern look of his own. “Make sure you know how to use this, where the buttons are, everything. We don’t know what’s coming our way, and you need to be able to make a call in zero visibility. If your tent goes, do not try to get to one of the other tents. Stay put, and not a foot off center. Radio me, and I will come get you.”

“I can’t decide if that’s sexy or scary,” Bree murmured to River, who shared a quick smile with the other woman. They weren’t taking this seriously enough.

“We’re not that high up yet, which might be giving you three a false sense of security. Mount Veil is dangerous, and storms like this are only part of the reason why. You can die as quickly at eleven thousand feet as you can at fifteen or twenty like Denali.”

“Aye-aye, captain. We’ll fall in line.” Jessie had gone back to fiddling with his camera, and Easton wondered if Jessie was doing so because he wasn’t worried…or if he was hiding the fact that he was.

Bree started munching on a protein bar, paying attention but completely relaxed. River seemed to be listening, but a tiny smirk played on her face.

“What?”

“It’s cute when you’re being a worrywart,” she told him.

Did anything frighten this woman? Easton respected her nerves of steel, but damn, she made him nervous sometimes.