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Theresa looked beautiful by the firelight. They’d been on the trail for two days now and with each evening, Joe was increasingly more grateful that the engineer was still part of their team.

Otherwise, he would be sitting out here alone with Theresa and that might not be a good thing. He wasn’t sure that the knowledge that he might be captured on film at an inopportune moment would stop him from ultimately giving in to the desires that were growing inside him like weeds after a spring rain.

Especially when moonlight wove itself through her hair and slid invitingly along her skin.

But with Ed sitting across from them, finishing up the last of the rabbit he’d caught for them after turning a stick into a hunting spear, Joe felt relatively safe.

Until he heard the shriek pierce the air.

Sitting crossed-legged beside him on the ground, Theresa tensed, her eyes wide as she scanned the immediate area. She seemed to instinctively leaninto him.

“What was that?”

Joe listened intently. The shriek came again. Closer this time. A chill went over him as he recognized the sound. “Mountain lion.”

Ed jumped to his feet, petrified. “Here?”

Close, Joe thought. Very close. On his feet, Joe felt adrenaline surge through him. Again. “This is their terrain, we’re the trespassers.”

“I don't find that very comforting.” Theresa was standing so close to him, she edged out his shadow. “You didn’t happen to whittle a gun and bullets while you were making that spear, did you?”

He shook his head, his eyes trying to penetrate the dark. Looking for the mountain lion. “Sorry.”

The spear used to secure their dinner had been turned into a spit. The rabbit had been mounted on it over the small fire and roasted. Grabbing it now, Theresa shoved the spear at him. “But you can still get him with this, right?”

Taking it from her, Joe shook his head doubtfully. “It’d be like using a toothpick on a wild dog.”

“Well, do something,” Ed pleaded. “Where the hell is Security?”

He didn’t know. Joe was acutely aware that they were all alone. “Maybe they’re watching on their monitors.”

“Getting mauled to death is not supposed to be part of the entertainment.” Ed’s words ended in almost a sob.

And then suddenly, the mountain lion was there, standing just on the perimeter of the campsite.

Panicked, Ed bolted. The cat looked as if it was about to give chase. Ed didn’t stand a chance.

Moving quickly, Joe placed himself between the fleeing man and the wild animal, shoving Theresa behind him. Lifting his hands over his head as high as he could and using the spear as an extension, unearthly, guttural noises rose from deep within his gut. It almost sounded inhuman.

After a moment’s hesitation, the mountain lion turned and ran in the opposite direction. Away from Joe and Theresa. Away from the campsite and Ed, who had disappeared.

Theresa realized that she had been holding her breath, afraid to exhale. She exhaled now, then sucked in more air, struggling to keep from throwing up.

And then she turned toward Joe and did some yelling of her own. “Are you out of your mind?” He could have been killed, getting in front of the mountain lion like that.

He knew it had to seem crazy to her. Joe tossed down the spear. “No, actually, I’m not. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you come face-to-face with a mountain lion. If you run, he’ll only come after you and he’s a hell of a lot faster than anything human. He would have made a late-night snack out of Ed.”

“Speaking of Ed, where is he?” There was no sign of the engineer. She cupped her hands around her mouth and called, but got no answer.

“He’s probably still running,” Joe guessed. “Lucky thing they put those tracking bracelets on us.” He looked down at the one a member of the crew had snapped on his wrist at the start of the contest.

She’d forgotten about that. The encounter with the mountain lion had made her forget about everything. Except what a brave man Joe was. “I guess they’ll find him.”

Joe thought of a potential problem. “If they know enough to look for him.”

“They’ll know,” she replied. “With all those cameras trained on us, they’re bound to know our every move.”

Even as her words died away, one of the film crew came out of the darkness and walked into the campsite.

“We’ve got Ed on our radar,” he assured them. “Don’t figure he’s going to want to get back to the game, though.”

The crew member was right. Ed was the next one to drop out.

By the time the last leg of the journey was in play, there were only five of them left.

And then four.

And then three.

Until finally, it was just Joe and Theresa.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, from the moment he’d first seen her, Joe had known it would come down to this. He’d felt it in his bones. The woman was too stubborn to drop out and he was too determined.

A line about the immovable object meeting the irresistible force went through his head.

The night before the end of the journey, after religiously checking every conceivable hiding place for cameras, Joe and Theresa turned in. When she zipped up the tent’s front flaps, he looked at her quizzically. She’d never done that before.

“Privacy,” she explained.

The word hummed between them as she began to unbutton her shirt.

Joe felt his heart come to life. Turning, he shut off the lantern. Eliminating their shadows on the tent.

“Privacy,” he echoed, reaching for her. He undid the rest of the buttons.

They made love. Slowly. With feeling. It was as inevitable as the tide. The life-and-death encounters they’d experienced over these past few days had packed a lifetime into them. It had made Joe aware that life moved forward. And so did he.

Morning came creeping in softly. When he reached for Theresa, he found her space empty. She was gone. So was her gear.

He bolted upright, upbraiding himself for his own stupidity. He’d let his guard down.

“Damn.”

He told himself that it was to be expected. The woman was out to win.

But what Theresa had on him in time, he could make up for with speed. It took him less than five minutes to get dressed and hit the trail. He figured that his best bet was to track her.

Because time was of the essence, he left his backpack behind, needing to travel as light as possible. He took only a knife and a rope, plus his canteen. The ghost town and journey’s end was not that far away.

He heard Theresa before he ever saw her.

“Help me. Please help me.”

The cry seemed to be coming out of the very ground.

And then he saw it. A hole about three feet in diameter, partially hidden in the earth. He would have missed it if it wasn’t for her cries.

Coming closer, Joe realized that the hole was actually what was left of a well. It was obvious that in her hurry to reach the center of the ghost town, Theresa hadn’t seen the hole until it was too late.

Joe knelt down over the opening. Theresa was some ten feet below him. And apparently angrier than a hornet.

He couldn’t help grinning. Any anger he might have felt over betrayal faded. What goes around comes around, his mother always liked to say. Nice to know it was true.

“Hello, Theresa, fancy running into you here.”

“Oh Joe, thank God you found me.” She was leaning against the wall as if her legs couldn’t fully support her. “Get me out of here!”

He made no move to rescue her. In his estimation, she deserved to stew a little. Especially after last night. He’d thought it had meant something to her. The way it had to him. She’d gotten his guard completely down. Had that been her intent from the start?

“If I do that, what’s to stop you from finding a way to trick me out of the prize?”

“I can’t. I twisted my ankle, just like David. Joe, please, get me out! There’re snakes down here!”

He paused a moment longer. There’d never really been any question that he was going to get her out.

“Hang on.” Uncoiling the rope, he dropped the end down to her, then, braced, she took hold and began to climb.

Grabbing her by the arm, he managed to pull her out the rest of the way.

The second Theresa was out of the hole, she scrambled to her feet and began to run. Stunned, he sprang up and gave chase. “You said you sprained your ankle.”

“I lied!” she tossed over her shoulder.

She reached the square a little more than two steps ahead of him.

And won the contest.

The center of the ghost town immediately filled with people. The producers were all there, as was the camera crew.

Choice words ran through Joe’s head as he watched Benjamin Reed hand a symbolic check for the prize money to Theresa. But there was nothing he could do about it. Like the good sport he’d always been, he came up and congratulated her.

“Not the way I would have run it,” he admitted. “But congratulations on winning the race.”

His mouth fell open as she handed the check to him. “Take it,” she prompted. “It’s yours.” She smiled warmly at him. “Good guys don’t always finish last, cowboy. Sometimes they finish first.”

The producer made no effort to take the oversized check from him.

Joe shook his head. He looked from the six zeroes to Theresa. “I don’t understand.”

She grinned, although she hesitated for a moment, not sure how he was going to react to the news. “I’m a ringer. The producers paid me to stir things up and make sure everyone was being tested to the limit.” She took a breath. “You didn’t have any limits. You threw us all a curve.” And then she added something personal. “You’re the first honest man I’ve ever met, cowboy. And the best,” she added more quietly.

Gratitude had him catching her up in his arms and kissing her. And then gratitude slipped away, to be replaced by something deeper and more lasting.

He was going to be able to save his mother’s ranch. And he’d discovered that he still wanted to stay in the game, to live life. Because of Theresa.

“Want to throw them another curve?” he asked when he finally drew his head back and looked at her.

Her heart was hammering hard enough to imitate a drumroll. She was afraid to guess what was on his mind. “Such as?”

He’d learned a great deal about her in the past five days. Things that told him he wanted this woman at his side for the rest of their lives. Last night in her tent had been the clincher.

He knew he was putting himself out on a limb, but just like the contest he’d just won, some things were worth taking risks for. “Will you marry me?”

“Will I?” she cried. She couldn’t say any more. Her mouth was otherwise occupied. For some time to come.

And the cameras just kept rolling, recording it all for the pleasure of their audience.

The End



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