Page 3 of Joel (Guardians of the North #6)

KYLIE

“How far is the lodge from here?” I ask the coastguardsmen in the office they call a bullpen.

I’m relieved that the incident report was quick and to the point.

No one seems to suspect anything as far as the treasure hunt is concerned, and for that, I’m grateful.

One less thing for Todd to chew me a new asshole over.

Plus, I’d much rather sleep in my nice cushy hotel room bed than a jail cell tonight.

“From base?” Petty Officer Pierson’s gaze drops to my neoprene boots. “Further than you’ll want to walk in those.”

I fix my easy, confident smile in place, and ask again, “How far?”

“A good four miles.”

“Can you show me on the map?” I ask, nodding to the wall behind him. I’m both hot and cold, thanks to this damn dry suit, and I’m ready to change out of it. I’m also ready for a nice cold beer and a really long nap. My phone is dead, so I won’t have to deal with Todd until much later.

“You mean the chart?”

“Petty Officer Pierson, is it?” I ask.

“Joel,” he says, his tone lowered. As though he doesn’t want his fellow coastguardsmen to hear him tell me something so…

private. The moment feels oddly intimate.

I shake the thought away. He might be ridiculously hot, but that does not mean I found the love of my life while I was stranded on the Bering Sea.

Even for one of those sappy romantic movies, that’s a stretch.

This is lust, pure and simple.

“ Joel —it’s a map,” I debate.

“Actually, it’s a chart, ma’am,” Petty Officer Black pipes up from his desk in the corner.

“Says who?”

“Says the United States Coast Guard,” Captain Steele, one of the pilots, says, entering the bullpen.

“Don’t mind them,” Joel says. “Neither one of them is getting enough sleep.”

“You don’t have to be jealous,” Petty Officer Black ribs, a smirk plastered on his face that makes the meaning very clear.

So do the gold bands they both wear on their left hand.

It also suggests that Joel is single, and a tingling in my core seems to approve of this new nugget of knowledge, against my better judgment.

“I’m not fucking jeal—” He cuts himself off before finishing his sentence.

I study his facial expressions, or I try to. Because my gaze keeps dropping to his lips. Lips I very much want to feel pressed against my own—and other various places on my body.

Fuck, I need to get laid. Maybe just this once, I could make an exception to my rule not to date anyone who has the ability—and duty—to turn me into the authorities for the illegal activities I’ve been forced into participating in.

“Let me give you a ride,” he offers, seemingly eager to get the hell out of here.

“I don’t want to trouble anyone,” I say, meaning it a little. But one glance at those ocean blue eyes, and suddenly all I want to do is trouble him. Trouble him in the best fucking way possible.

“It’s no trouble,” Captain Steel says, clapping Joel on the shoulder so hard he rocks forward. “But first, there’s a local news reporter who’d really like to interview you two.”

My stomach sinks instantly. I feel as though I swallowed a chunk of lead.

Todd has made it clear for years that the only one who does interviews in his company is him. I’ve never been allowed on camera to do anything more than smile.

“No,” Joel says firmly. “I’m not?—”

“Petty Officer Pierson, that’s an order.” Captain Steel looks to me and adds, “Would you mind humoring Nancy? We don’t get much excitement in North Haven. It’s just a small local news channel. Viewership is less than a thousand people.”

“I don’t know?—”

“We did come to your rescue,” Joel says, locking his gaze on me.

My nipples pebble beneath my layers, and suddenly I have the urge to rip off all my clothes.

To let this sexy-as-sin coastguardsman have his very dirty way with me.

What the actual fuck has come over me? I’ve lusted after a man before, but never like this.

It’s so…primal.

“So I owe you?” I ask, my words thick with suggestion.

One corner of his mouth lifts, and he takes the bait. “There’s no telling how long you might’ve been on the water if we hadn’t been doing a routine training mission. If I hadn’t jumped in to save you.”

“Please?” Captain Steel says to me.

His plea is certainly nicer, but I prefer the way Joel’s playing dirty. It’s the real reason I stupidly agree to this local interview. I sure as hell hope he’s being truthful about the viewership. With any luck, Todd will never have to know this interview happened.

“Just a quick interview,” I relent.

“See Petty Officer Pierson?” Captain Steel says. “Was that so hard?”

We follow Captain Steel into the hangar.

I walk beside Joel, desperately aware of the heat swirling between us.

Oh there’s attraction all right. But agreeing to this interview is already skating a thin line.

Fucking my Coast Guard rescuer might create suspicion I don’t need.

Not if I want to finally be freed from the shackles my stepfather tricked me into wearing all those years ago.

Too bad.

I bet the sex would be absolutely electric.

“Who’s that?” I ask Joel as we approach a woman dressed in a flannel shirt and Carhart pants holding a microphone. She’s certainly not the reporter I expect, and her casual Alaskan outfit helps me relax. It’s a very small town in the middle of nowhere. This will be okay .

“Nancy Jennings.” Joel leans closer, as though we’re conspiring. His hot breath tickles my ear, causing shivers in some wickedly delightful places. “She’s North Haven’s only news anchor and reporter.”

“They’ll do it?” Nancy asks Captain Steel.

He nods.

Nancy’s expression lights up as though she just won the lottery, and she sets her sight on us.

There’s a knot in the pit of my stomach that warns me this is a bad idea. But I’m in this now, and somehow, having Petty Officer Pierson beside me makes me feel…safe. Safe in a way I haven’t felt safe before.

It’s an odd, unfamiliar feeling, and I quickly shake it away to focus on the brief interview.

“Kylie Robinson, how grateful are you that the Coast Guard was on a routine training mission when your boat sank?”

“Very grateful, Nancy,” I say, glancing at Joel. He looks a little pale. I resist the urge to reach for his hand. We are on camera, after all. “I really didn’t feel like swimming three miles back to shore.”

This earns me a laugh from Nancy and her cameraman. And a slight shake of the shoulders from Joel.

“What were you doing out on the water all by yourself, dear?” Nancy asks.

I feel Joel’s gaze locked on me, and I force a smile through the nerves that my answer could very well be my downfall. I did not come this far to have everything fall apart now. “I was sightseeing. Alaska’s been on my bucket list since I was a little girl, you see.”

“Out on a boat, by yourself?”

“It’s not my first time,” I say with a carefree shrug.

“Is it the first time you’ve had to abandon ship?”

“Yeah, that was a new one,” I say, forcing a laugh I hope she buys.

“You could have drowned,” she pushes.

“Thankfully, the Coast Guard was nearby.” I mentally pat myself on the back. I’m better at this than I thought. Fucking Todd .

“Petty Officer Pierson, this is your twentieth save as a rescue swimmer. How does that feel?”

“Just doing my job, ma’am.”

Joel’s modesty makes him all the sexier, and dampness forms between my legs. If I thought I could walk four miles back to the lodge in these damn neoprene boots without getting some epic blisters, I’d do it just to get space from this man I so badly want to climb like a fucking tree.

A man who could take one look at my hotel room, with maps, articles, and information I could not have obtained by any legal means spread across my bed, and send me right to jail.

“The world is a better, safer place thanks to brave men in uniform like Petty Officer Pierson,” I add, choosing to focus on the positive. On the safe topic.

“Indeed it is,” says Nancy. She turns toward the camera to finish her segment solo.

Joel lets out a heavy sigh, as though relieved to be done. He looks desperate to get out of here. I tell myself I’m doing him a favor when I reach my hand to his bicep and say, “I’ll take you up on that ride.”