Page 59 of Iron Willed Warrior

“I like flirting with you. It’s not something I do often. Goes against my grumpy reputation, which is well deserved.”

“Then why am I different?” I’d been kidding, but his face turned serious. He came toward me and cupped the back of my neck, drawing me closer.

“I dunno, B. You make me want to try for things.”

“You make me want that too,” I said softly. Even though I felt like I was letting him see too much of me again. With Cole, I couldn’t help it.

“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked.

“Like I want to make progress on the mission.” I took a reluctant step back. “We need to know how much of a problem last night’s confrontation with Ryker caused.” In fact, I was surprised I’d slept so well given that uncertainty.

“It just so happens I’ve been working on that. I think we’re okay.”

“Yeah?”

“I have intel to share. Among other things.” His hand slid down along my back to my waist, giving me a gentle pat on my hip. “Get dressed. I’ve got something to show you.”

We walked hand-in-hand down the hallway. I was glad when we didn’t run into Ryker or Westwick. I wanted more time to assess things before I saw the head of Stillwater again. WithWestwick, it was all about strategy. A chess game. I had to consider the next move that would bring me closer to him, and how to do that without crossing Ryker.

Besides that, I was feeling a bit too warm toward Cole, and I was afraid Westwick would pick up on it. I was supposed to be having doubts about my boyfriend.

Yet the more this morning wore on, the fewer doubts I had about the man beside me. Even if I had no clue what we were doing.

We pushed through an exit door into the Arizona sunshine. The springtime weather was gorgeous. Blue skies, red rock hills, and dusky greens and browns in the desert beyond. Near the pool, we spotted Molly and her husband and stopped to chat with them because Brianna would have. Cole, playing Cameron, did an excellent job of acting annoyed.

Then we were moving again, skirting the walking path that wound through the resort. “What is it you wanted to show me?”

“We’re almost there.”

I realized we had made almost a full circle, coming back toward the main resort building but on the rear side with employee access. I figured Cole had a reason for taking the scenic way around.

Checking that we were alone, I asked, “What did you find out about Ryker?”

“This morning, I just happened to bump into Manning, Westwick’s bodyguard. Figured I might find him out and about, and I was right. Unlike Ryker, Manning seems to like me.”

“Since you bonded over motorcycles?” Cole had told me all about that conversation.

“Yep. I offered to buy him a coffee, and we got to talking. Manning had heard about the dust-up with Ryker.Apparently, Westwick was pissed about it. Told Ryker to back off. Manning even apologized to me. He didn’t come out and say it, but he clearly thinks Ryker is a paranoid dick.”

“That could be useful.”

“Exactly what I was thinking. Dissension in the ranks.”

“You don’t think he was stringing you along?”

“It’s possible. But I doubt it. Manning doesn’t have that kind of an edge to him. Ryker is suspicious of us, we can’t fix that, but Westwick doesn’t suspect us. Our cover is safe for now.”

We turned down a small maintenance path between the buildings. This was not the pretty, public side of the resort. There were a couple of dumpsters that already smelled unpleasant, despite the mild morning temperatures. Otherwise, the area was deserted.

Cole stopped at a door readingRoof Accesswith a length of chain wrapped around the handle. But the lock wasn’t secured. He opened it, gesturing for me to go ahead.

After climbing a steep set of stairs, we came out onto a flat roof.

“I found this spot yesterday,” Cole explained. “The restaurant employees sometimes come up for smoke breaks. One saw me having a cig myself, and he scurried off. But obviously didn’t report me, since the chain is still unlocked. The employees don’t want to lose their spot up here.”

I walked around, glancing over the short wall that bordered the roof. The parking lot was below. “Nice,” I said. “A fallback position?”

“That’s what I was thinking. In case things go south and we can’t make it to the car. We’ve got the high ground up here.”

---