Page 23

He rolled onto his back with her on top of him. There was no denying her closeness affected his body, but he was more concerned about the way she was wiggling into his heart.

Her bubblegum pink hair tickled his neck, and she smelled of the spruce and fir trees they’d hiked through and something spicy and feminine he couldn’t place.

He liked the way his mouth was pressed so close to her. He’d like nothing better than to run his tongue along the delicate shell of her ear. Instead, he said, “Are you ready to watch the star show?”

“Mm-hmm,” she said, her voice already drowsy. His girl had been through a lot today.

“All right. You’re going to have to pay attention to my words because I can’t use my hands since they’re inside the sleeping bag. But if you look straight up, you can see the Big Dipper.”

“Wait, where?”

“Tilt your head back more. There you go. See it now?”

“Oh. Oh! I see it!”

“Good girl! Now, do you see that basically open space? That’s where the star show will happen. We just have to be patient.”

It took about five minutes before it happened. A falling star streaked across the sky. One thing about being at a high altitude on a remote island was the clear sky made the heavens easy to see. And this area of the world was known for its beautiful night sky.

She sucked in a breath, releasing it with an “oohh!”

“Just wait,” he said. “It gets better. Now, the magic of a shooting star is that you get to make a wish, but you have to do it before the star disappears.”

They watched as the sky put on a spectacular star show for his Little girl.

There he went again. It had only been about twenty-four hours since he’d first laid eyes on Tildi, and he already couldn’t stop thinking of her as his Little girl. She wasn’t, and chances were she never would be.

He wouldn’t be good for her anyway. She’d seen enough of the harsher things in life. She deserved a Daddy who would be patient, kind, and gentle. None of those words described him.

His job was to get her back to the States safely and help her start over, wherever that might be. It could be anywhere. Just not with him.

CHAPTER 7

They got an early start then next morning. It was just as well. Tildi had slept well once the shooting star show slowed. She was able to make several wishes, most of which she wouldn’t tell him.

“Everyone knows wishes don’t come true if you share them, Daddy,” she’d told him with a tone so prim it would have made a schoolmarm proud.

They’d made it to the jeep Sev had arranged for him. He’d driven them the final thirty miles to the spot he’d picked for his escape. Once again, the plans he’d made didn’t allow for an extra passenger.

No novice should make a base jump like the one he’d planned. Hell, no novice should base jump at all. He tried to tell himself he’d be with her, but the entire thing was reckless at best. The jump was tricky with all the icy winter winds blowing in off the northern Pacific Ocean. Keeping the parachute on target would require skill.

Add to that the narrowness of the strip of beach they had to land on. It didn’t leave much room for error. Normally, landing in the water wouldn’t be a problem, but coral covered the bottom of the ocean in the Kuril Islands. He hadn’t counted it as a factor,either. It was only an issue if you didn’t know what you were doing, which he did. But Tildi didn’t know the first thing about base jumping.

None of this would be an issue if he were alone, but he wasn’t. He’d calculated the jump limit counting only himself. Even with how small Tildi was, they were over the weight limit. That meant they would fall faster and hit the ground harder.

The blue-black waters of the Pacific churned in the wind, and the cold front that had moved inland sooner than expected blanketed the island with fog. At least that worked in their favor.

That was about the only thing that did. If he had any other option, he’d have gone with it. But this was all he had.

Returning his attention to the beauty beside him in the jeep, he got down to it. “All right, Bluebell, I need you to listen to me. When I tell you this, I want you to keep in mind that I have kept you safe so far. I’ve been doing missions like this for a long time, so you can trust I know what I’m talking about. Yeah?”

She nodded but didn’t say anything. Best to just go ahead and get it out there. “If you didn’t like going out the window, you’re going to hate what happens next. But this time, we’ll be together. You’ll be in my arms almost every second. I promise you’ll be safe.”

“I’d feel safer if you didn’t spend so much time trying to convince me how safe I’m going to be.”

His girl was a bit of a straight shooter herself, wasn’t she? “Fair enough. I have a boat hidden in the cove just north of that point,” he said, indicating where the beach jutted out into the water not far away.

“I’m not afraid of the water or boats, so there’s no need to worry about me.” Scanning the grassy area in front of them, she asked, “Where are the steps down to the beach?”