Page 128 of The Bodyguard

He threw the blanket on the ground. “This probably smells like a campfire. Sorry.”

Seriously. Who were these people? She couldn’t get enough.

Thelma ran on and off the blanket before deciding to bite a corner. They sat down and watched the little pup growl and tug.

“I keep trying to get her to play fetch, but I think tug-of-war will be her thing.” Sawyer jiggled the corner of the blanket and sent Thelma into a fit of growls. “It’s still too early to see all of the stars.”

Angela rolled onto her back. The sky had become a moody purple black. “Where’s the moon hiding?”

He scanned the night sky. “Maybe we’ll luck out. It’ll be even darker.”

Thelma ran across the blanket and attacked another corner. Sawyer lay next to Angela, folding his hands behind his head. “There’s a bat.”

In the air, a dark blur skittered this way and that before Angela lost track of it. She bet Sawyer had lain in the yard and stared at the stars, watching the moon and bats so many nights before. “Do you know what we did in high school for fun?” she asked.

“What?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing like this.”

“I bet you did something.”

“Not a chance. I racked up extracurricular activities for my college application and practiced for SATs.”

He laughed. “That can’t be all you did.”

That was what she mainly remembered. “I certainly didn’t experience life the way you did.”

“That doesn’t make it bad.”

“But maybe not as memorable.” She pursed her lips and searched for bats. “Ever since I moved to Abu Dhabi, I have been figuring out how to live my own life.”

“How’s that going?”

She smiled at the sky. “Pretty good lately.”

Thelma wriggled between them and curled into a ball. Angela petted the puppy. “Kind of crazy that Jared has a dog.”

Sawyer chuckled. “Right?”

“Even crazier, he gave me his puppy and told you to take me here.”

“Boss Man has an unconventional sixth sense. He knows what works.”

“That he does.”

Sawyer chuckled. “Like his secret notes.”

Angela glanced over, trying her best for a dubious expression. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you do. You’re the woman behind his plan, aren’t you?”

She didn’t want to play games tonight. “What would you say if I said yes?”

His chest rumbled with laughter. “I’d want to know why he does it.”

“Oh, you can figure that out. He was forming a new team in a foreign country and needed you guys to get behind a common problem. Bro it out and all that good stuff.”

Sawyer laughed. “Unconventional.”

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