Page 11 of Dangerous Affair (The Phoenix Three #2)

“W hoever you are with Quinn,” Jasper called. “It would be better for your health if you sent her back to me.” As if to back up his threat, the bark exploded from a nearby tree.

“He shot at us!” Quinn shuddered. That was close.

Liam didn’t respond to Jasper, just reached back with his hand, found hers, and squeezed.

Her feet were screaming in pain, and she wanted to yell at herself for not getting her shoes.

At the time, all she’d cared about was her cameras and getting out of the cabin.

If they got lost in this forest, at least she’d be with a man she already liked a lot and who was real easy on the eyes. They could build a cozy cabin, he could hunt for their food, she could grow potatoes, and they could have endless babies with his startling blue eyes.

“Damn it, Quinn, you can’t hide from me forever. Just give me my thumb drive, and I’ll leave you alone.”

Yeah, right. His voice was farther away, now to the left instead of behind them.

They were losing him. It amazed her how quiet Liam was compared to Jasper.

She could hear leaves and sticks crunching under Jasper’s shoes and his grunts as he tried to find them.

Liam was a ghost, not a sound coming from him as he took them deeper into the woods on silent feet.

He’d told her she’d make a good Marine, and she meant to make that true.

She made sure to step exactly where he had, determined to be a ghost, too.

Eventually, any sounds from Jasper were gone.

They’d lost him, and knowing that, she could breathe again.

She wasn’t sure how long they walked before Liam stopped, his head cocked as if he heard something, but what, she didn’t know.

And although the sun was peeking over the mountain, giving them light, she didn’t see anything that might have captured his attention.

“There’s a good place just ahead,” he said.

“Hope it’s a spa.” That got her a chuckle.

It was a nice chuckle. Strike nice, it was sexy, that low, throaty sound.

Even with hurting feet, scared out of her mind, and thirsty, she liked one thing about the mess she found herself in.

Liam. The man fascinated her, but even more than mere fascination, there was attraction.

And, boy, was she ever attracted to him.

Maybe once they were safe and back home—

“No spa here, but I promise you something even better,” he said with a wink.

—maybe they could have a little fling. Flings were all she would allow herself because of her job. She never knew where she’d be or for how long, and she’d learned early on even though men claimed they were okay with how much she traveled, they never were.

She liked men, liked their minds, their bodies, the sex.

She did not like the jealousy, the demands for more time that she didn’t have to give, or even as Aiden—the man she’d been engaged to—had demanded, that she give up the job she loved and her soul needed so she could be there for him every day.

Funny that when she told him he could give up his job and travel with her, he hadn’t understood how she could even ask that of him.

“Back atcha, pal,” she’d said after their worst fight as she handed him back his ring.

How could she marry a man who didn’t think her career mattered?

The love she had for him would have died a miserable death if she’d stayed, giving up her dream.

Better that she leave before they ended up hating each other.

After Aiden, she’d adopted a new policy. Flings only with men who were following their own dreams and didn’t have the time or the inclination to poke their noses into hers. Pretty much a wham, bam, thank you, sir. Now be off with you. Worked for her.

That was one reason she’d left Jasper. Even though he’d agreed theirs was a temporary thing while they were in California, he’d started to make noises that she should be all about him.

The closer she got to finishing up her assignment, the more Jasper pushed her to stay.

She refused to even consider it, because she knew exactly how it would go.

His career would matter. Hers? Not even.

Then there was his jealousy and possessiveness. It never entered her mind that he’d stalk her, kidnap her, shoot at her. Yeah, that was mind-blowing. Maybe she should consider ditching the flings if her judgment was that whacked. The thought of no more intimate moments with a man, though?

“Do you get possessive and make unreasonable demands of a woman you’re dating?” she asked as she followed Liam around a boulder.

He stopped and faced her. “The answer is no. I don’t have the right to tell another person how to live their life, man or woman.” His brows scrunched together as if he was confused. “What brought that question on?”

Okay, the man was perfect. She shrugged. “Just curious.” Obviously, the trick was to be more discerning than she had been. Before allowing any kind of intimacy from here on, maybe she should write up a questionnaire to give to a man she was interested in.

He gave her a quizzical glance before continuing, but she didn’t miss the interest in his eyes. She smiled at his back, liking that she had him wondering. A few steps more and then he stopped, stepped to the side, and swung his arm out. “Your ‘something even better.’”

“Oh,” she murmured at seeing the crystal-clear creek. “Can I put my feet in it?”

“That’s the plan.”

A few minutes later, she sat on a rock and sighed as she lowered her feet into the cold, foot-numbing water. “Ahhhhh. Heaven.”

Liam squatted, zipped open one of his duffels, and rummaged around in it. He brought out a bottle of water, and seeing it, she wanted to kiss him. Next came a box of power bars, then a small first aid kit.

“Good Lord, what all else do you have in there?” She leaned over and peered inside.

“Just a change of clothes and one more bottle of water.” He twisted the cap off and handed her the bottle he held. “We have to ration the water, so only drink a little.”

Although she wanted to chug the entire bottle, she limited herself to three swallows before handing it back to him. “You’re handy to have around when one is lost in the woods.”

“I’m not lost.”

She laughed at his affronted expression. “Silly me. Of course you aren’t.”

“Lift your feet out of the water.”

“But it feels so good.”

“Your superior officer has given you an order, Little Marine. Feet up.”

“Aye, aye, sir.” She lifted her feet, and he put his hands under her ankles and brought them to his lap.

“That’s sailor talk. You would say, ‘Sir, yes, sir.’”

“Would I now?” Their eyes met, and she would swear that the air sizzled between them. Would he be bossy in bed? That gleam in his eyes said yes. She imagined him naked beside her, him giving her orders in that commanding voice, and she, being a brat, would resist obeying until he—

“What’s going on in that mind of yours right now, Quinn?”

Drat. He interrupted her daydream. It was a good one. “Um, so, what do we do now?”

Amusement danced in his eyes. “A bit of deflection there, but the answer is, we take care of your feet.” He lifted the sole of her right foot, frowning as he studied it. “How were you even walking on these?”

“One does what one must.” Especially when worried about getting shot.

She watched, fascinated, as he tenderly doctored her feet.

He used a cotton ball to clean them with antiseptic, then he covered the cuts with a cream that soothed them, and lastly, he wrapped them in gauze.

She thought he was done, but no. He took two pairs of socks from his duffel and put them on her.

“Maybe doubling them up will give you more cushion and help you walk.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, tears burning her eyes at the care he’d given her. Other than her father, no one cared about her. Not really. She didn’t do boyfriends, and she wasn’t in one place long enough to make girlfriends, so it had always been up to her to take care of herself.

Sometimes, she missed having people in her life, but it was her choice.

She couldn’t imagine not doing what she loved, even if it meant sacrificing having relationships of any kind.

Her work was her passion, but she sometimes got lonely.

Thus, the occasional fling. It was a way to touch and be touched by another person, if only for a short time.

He took out his phone, eyed the screen, and frowned. “No signal.”

“That’s not good.”

“Ah, but have faith, my friend.” He rummaged around in the other duffel.

“What’s in that one?”

He held it open so she could see inside.

She blinked. “Whoa. Are you planning to go to war?”

“I hoped not, but I didn’t know what I’d be walking into, so it’s always best to be prepared.”

“Says the Marine. With all these weapons you have on you, why didn’t you shoot back at Jasper? Do you not have a gun on you?” She would’ve expected him to be armed.

His eyes locked on hers as he lifted his shirt to show her the gun at his waist. “Because you might have been caught in the cross fire, and that was unacceptable. The mission is to keep you safe, not put you at risk. The best way to do that was to lose him. I also have no desire to kill a man if I don’t have to. ”

“Oh.” Who was this man who kept surprising her with the things he said? “What’s that?” she asked when he removed what looked like a strange phone.

“It’s a satellite phone.” He punched in some numbers. “It’s me. I need an exfil.”

Who was he talking to, and what was an exfil?

“I’m in the middle of the woods and can’t see where a good LZ is.

Get my coordinates and call me back. My rescue’s feet are shredded, so find a place not too far.

Also, I crashed my car in a ditch and need you to arrange for it to be towed to a repair shop.

” He gave whoever he was talking to some coordinates, which she assumed was for the car.

“Who was that, what’s an exfil, and LZ is a landing zone, right?” she asked when he set the phone next to his side. “How would they know where we are?”

“That was Grayson, one of my teammates, an exfil is an extraction of personnel, and yes, an LZ is a landing zone, and we can all track each other.”

“He’s sending a helicopter?” When he nodded, she said, “Wow. Who are you guys?”

“The Phoenix Three is me, Grayson Montana, and Cooper Devlin. Our mission is rescuing children from dangerous situations.”

Oh, man, he had no idea what hearing that did to her heart. But wait. “I’m not a child, so why did you come to rescue me?”

He chuckled. “To quote your father, ‘She is a child, my damn child,’ so here I am.”

“Sounds like him. Your friend…teammate didn’t want to know what happened and why you need extracting?”

“No, if I say I need a ride, a ride I’ll get, no questions asked. He’ll want to be debriefed when we’re back.”

“I need to turn my rental car in.”

“When we get back, I’ll call the rental company and arrange to get it picked up.”

She poked his arm.

“What was that for?”

“Just wanted to know if you’re real.”

He poked her back. “Maybe you’re the one who isn’t real.”

Gah, she liked this man. More than she could remember liking any man, and maybe that was a problem. She could fall for him so easily, but she didn’t fall for any man. She had things to do and places to go.