Maia looked down at the vast blanket of snow below her surrounded by snow capped mountains and lush pine trees. She gulped. "What the fuck was I thinking?" she whispered, knuckle gripping the thick lead of parachute rope securing her to a wall of ice. "Mateo! This is not what I meant when I said Donny needs a hobby!"

"You're alright." Mateo chuckled beside her. "We're almost to the top. I won't let you fall and neither will our guides."

"Fuckin' better not," she said, looking up at their guides at the top of the wall anchoring their lines. "Why the hell did you choose ice climbing?"

"Because it's fun and definitely something a spy would be into," he said as they slowly climbed up to the peak. "And the view is amazing up there."

The joy radiating on Mateo's face nearly–almost–made her forget that they were too many feet above the ground on a slab of fucking ice. She was fine with him teaching her how to shoot a rifle and hunt deer, but this! This was completely out of her comfort zone and she wasn't sure how the hell that asshole talked her into this.

"Come on, Maia," Mateo said, looking back at her and holding out his hand. "There's spiked hot chocolate and special brownies at the top."

Right. He lured her into this because the ad boasted of a cannabis fueled feast at the top of the icy mountain and she figured it couldn't be that bad if they were offering weed.

She slipped her gloved hand in his and let him help her up and over the last bit of the climb. She laid in the snow, glaring up at his smiling face. "Imma need more than brownies, sir. I need a big fat –"

"Blunt?" he said, slipping a case of pre rolled joints from the inside of his coat pocket.

"Yes," she murmured. "And a burger."

"That was a good climb, Miss Jefferies!" the guide said, helping her up. "First time is always the scariest." He smiled, unclipping her from the lines. "You and Mr. Casparij will be staying in the big cabin on the edge. It's got everything you need. Plenty of munchies, weed and firewood for you."

"Thank you," she said, pulling off her helmet with shaking hands. "But I'm not sure I'll be trying that again."

"We hear that all the time, but they always come back," the guide beside Mateo said. "This guy was one of them. This is your fifth time, right?"

"It is." Mateo grinned. "I learned to enjoy that climb for this amazing view and the generous hospitality up here."

"We aim to please, Mr. Casparij," the guide said, patting Mateo on the back. "Have a good time."

"Thanks," Mateo said, sliding his hand to the small of Maia's back and holding out the case of blunts to her. "I'm sure you need one of these now."

"Yes," she said, tucking her gloves in her coat before she snatched the case from him. "I don't care what y'all say. I am never doing that shit again." She stopped walking and held out her shaking hands. "Look at me! Damn climb got me shook."

Mateo laughed. "I'm sorry, but I promise you'll appreciate that climb when we get to the cabin."

Maia narrowed her eyes at Mateo as she unzipped the slim black case, plucked out a blunt, the red zippo lighter and lit it up. She took a long drag, soaking up the calming citrus and lemon herb before she blew out a hefty cloud. "That sounds like some shit Donny would say to Tati. I like it," she said, taking another drag. "But I ain't buying it, sir. We have a perfectly good view at home and plenty of food and weed. I don't need to climb a fucking ice mountain for that."

A rumble of laughter burst from Mateo's lips and the rich baritone sound of it rippled down Maia's spine at the unfiltered joy on his face. "God, you make me laugh too much," he said, wiping the tears rolling down his cheeks. "Seriously, you'll like this and didn't that climbing experience give you some good content?"

Maia pursed her lips before a laugh burst from her lips. "Yes," she said, shaking her head. "You've earned your wages for today."

"Not quite, I still owe you dinner," he said, nodding to the trail away from the other climbers making their way up the ice. "And there's a great spot for you to write down all those good ideas."

"Good because I've got a good scene building up in my head right now," she said, looking around the camp of small cabins tucked away between the lush pine forest as they walked through the snow crunching under their feet. She imagined Donny making his way through the winding trails expertly taking down the guards patrolling the grounds to rescue Tati from her captors.

A smile tugged at her lips as she looked up at Mateo. "Thanks for bringing me out here. I hate to admit it, but I think I needed this."

"No problem. I usually do this by myself so it's nice to be out here with you," he said, looking away from her. "Especially since it's helping with your writing."

"Well then I'm glad I'm here," she said, passing him the blunt. "And for the record, there's no such thing as laughing too much."

"Mm." He nodded, taking a drag. "Definitely not when I'm around you."   

Maia's eyes were as wide as saucers as they stepped into the cozy cabin. The kitchen was packed with a hefty basket of baked goods, bottles of beer, wine and samples of neatly wrapped boxes of sativa.

She gasped and a laugh choked out of her mouth as she walked through the living room to the breathtaking view from the french doors leading out to the balcony that frames the snow capped mountains and the wide open sky. "Mateo," she said, looking back at him with a bright grin on her face. "This is amazing!"

"I know," he said, pulling off his helmet and dragging a hand through his tousled hair. "Worth the climb, right?"

"Definitely. Alright," she said, clapping her hands. "Where's my stuff? I'm ready to change and write some things! I'm so excited."

"Your things are in that bedroom over there," he said, nodding to a closed door off the kitchen. "And while you're writing, I'll cook us up a nice little feast."

"That sounds like a plan and after that let's get a fire going on that balcony," she said, bending down to take off her boots and winced at her sore legs. "We don't have to climb back down that ice tomorrow, right?"

"No, we get a ride back to the base where we started."

"Oh thank God," she said, plopping her boots by the door. "Because my legs are screaming at me right now."

"Yeah, I bet." Mateo chuckled. "A nice hot shower and some good bud will help with that."

"Mm, you're not lying," she said, shuffling around the island and plucking a brownie from the basket. "I'll start with this then."

"That's what they're there for." He chuckled as she shuffled into the bedroom.

"Oh damn," Maia breathed as she took a bite of the fudgy brownie and gazed at the picturesque bedroom. The windows framed the lush pine forest on one side while the others captured the view of the sweeping mountains.

"I really need to upgrade myself with a place like this," she said, sitting the brownie on the wooden table beside the hand carved bed with her floral patterned bag sitting atop the plush dark green quilt.

Maia unzipped her bag and tugged out a pair of black leggings and a long chunky gray sweater before she unclipped the straps of the harness around her waist. "Shit," she said, tugging at the unforgiving buckles wrapped around her legs. "Oh come on! Just release! I want to take a shower!" She whined, pulling at the buckle. "Fuck this is so embarrassing," she said, barging out of her room in search of Mateo.

She padded across the floor to the other bedroom opposite hers muttering under her breath about getting stuck in the fucking harness. "Mateo," she called, knocking on the door. "I need some..."

Her words dried up on her tongue as Mateo opened the door and his bare chiseled chest was on full display. Dear God, she knew he was fit but sweet Jesus. He was cut. And her mind shouldn't be imagining what his bottom half looked like beyond those sexy hip dips nor should that little minx between her thighs be tingling in anticipation.

"You alright?" Mateo said, shattering the ridiculous stupor she was in.

"I...um." She swallowed, dragging her eyes up the faint line of brown hair feathered over his chest to his face. "I'm...I'm stuck in this harness. I need some help."

"Oh right. I can help you with that," he said, stepping out of his room. "Those buckles can get a bit jammed sometimes."

"It'd probably help if I didn't have these thick ass thighs."

"I dunno," Mateo said, kneeling down in front of her. "Isn't the saying 'thick thighs save lives'?"

Maia raised an eyebrow. "Not everyone thinks that." She smirked. "And right now they're not saving any lives."

"Fair enough, but," he said, chuckling softly as he looked up at her. "Can you, um, spread your legs a bit?"

She choked out a laugh and a blush burned up to her ears. "The optics of this are so fucking terrible," she said, shuffling her legs apart. "But I might use that line and this situation."

"Donny asking Tati or the other way around?" he said, sliding his big hands around her leg and gently tugging at the tight strap.

"Maybe the other way around," she said, ignoring the way her stomach was fluttering from how close his fingers were to her greedy snatch. "How, um, how would you feel if a woman asked you to spread your legs?"

"Depends on the woman, but if I felt the way Donny feels for Tati," he said, slipping the harness from her legs as he stood. "I'd be doing the splits for her."

"Yeah, I need to write that down," Maia said, taking the harness from him. "I'll keep her shirt on though."

Mateo shrugged as twin flags of red stained his cheeks. "Might make for a spicy scene. You're good at writing those."

"Yes I am," she said, poking his perfectly defined abs. "But I can't have your beefy chest in my head when I'm doing it. So, put a damn shirt on."

"Gotta shower first," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I didn't realize I was that distracting to you."

"You're not," she huffed. "But as my muse," she said, waving a hand over him. "It's inappropriate and unprofessional for you to be like this in front of me."

"I'll keep that in mind." He chuckled. "And make sure I'm fully clothed the next time you come knocking on my door in a panic."

"Good and I wasn't in a panic, but thank you for getting this harness off me," she said, turning away from him and padding back to her room before he could say another word.

Closing the door behind her, Maia leaned against it and heaved a deep breath. What the fuck was that? Dear God, her skin was still tingling where he touched her and his bare chest was going to be seared into her mind.

Shaking her head as she threw the harness on the floor and snatched up her clothes on the bed before she padded into the bathroom.

She was not about to start finding that man attractive or catch feelings for him either. This was the same damn trap she found herself in with Sven. Falling for his charms because she was getting caught up in the idea of him. Mateo wasn't the dashing rogue she was using his mannerisms for.

He was...

Maia frowned as she stepped in the shower. She actually didn't know that much about Mateo besides him running his ranch and his fear of having a social media presence. He didn't talk very much about his family, where he was from or what he'd done before moving to Colorado.

Not that she needed to know any of that and it was probably best if she didn't. She just needed him for her book. That was it. Their friendship was very much transactional and to save herself from making the same mistake, it was best to keep it that way.

A/N: 😏 Maia gotta a lil glimpse of Mateo and lost her damn train of thought 🤣 And we all know she's lying to herself about finding him attractive....but we'll see how the rest of their lil excursion goes.