Page 11 of Pining for the Ranger
He glares at her. “You just couldn’t die, could you? I thought for sure you would drown when you went over the falls. Your death would’ve been considered an accident and I would’ve had clean hands. Imagine my surprise when I got a notification from the trail camera and your face pops up. Now I’ve got two of you to make disappear. That’s going to be much harder to make look like an accident.”
“Why are you doing this? What happened last time?” Laura demands answers, even with a gun pointed at us.
He glares at her. “What do you mean, what happened? You ruined everything, sticking your nose where it didn’t belong. You just couldn’t leave it alone, even though I told you it was nothing.”
Her eyes narrow. “You were fabricating data. I remember now. I knew there was no way the wolf could’ve made it that far that quick.”
“Yeah, well, good for you, Nancy Drew. Too bad it doesn’t matter because there’s no way I’m going to let you mess this up for me. I needed the grant money to pay off my debt. There’s no way I can pay it back if you tell everyone it has all been bogus and then I’ll lose my job and never get hired anywhere else. I’m going to make sure you disappear for good this time. I was hoping to catch you before you got back down here. Since I didn’t, back up you go. You in front Laura, so I can keep an eye on your boyfriend here. Keep your hands up where I can see them, too.”
I nod at her to do as instructed. I’ll wait until I’m in between her and the gun before attempting to disarm this asshole. It’s not a long wait as a few minutes later Laura trips, falling to the ground.
As she falls, I drop too, kicking my leg back, sweeping Cam’s legs from beneath him. I lunge at him as he falls; the gun tumbling from his grip. Jumping on top of him, I punch him square in the face. His nose gushes blood from the direct hit.
He shoves me, but Laura’s there with the gun trained on him, yelling, “Stop!”
He looks at her before falling back with a groan.
Getting up, I take the gun from Laura. “Are you okay?” Relief runs through me at her nod. “Head back to the truck. There’s rope in the back. We’ll be right behind you.”
Cam doesn’t even put up a fight as we make our way back to the vehicles. We tie him up and put him in the pickup bed before taking him straight to the sheriff’s office. He gets booked with attempted murder.
Laura and I head home, thankful to come out of this unharmed and for her to have all her memories back now. My chest thunders at how close I came to losing her after only having just found her.
We shower together, as I can’t stand to have her out of my sight after the close call we just had. Dinner is sandwiches and chips because we are too tired for anything more. As it is, we collapse together on the couch to eat it.
Tangled up in each other, we fall asleep there. I do so with a smile, knowing I’ll get this every night for the rest of my life now.
Epilogue
Laura-fivemonthslater
The water cascades over me as I linger in the shower, basking in the warmth, even though I need to get moving. The mornings are becoming chillier now as fall creeps closer. It happens quicker here in the mountains than it does elsewhere.
My lips turn up at the prospect of not being at the university as school starts for the first time in several years. I loved my time there, but at the end my focus was on finishing my thesis and I didn't get to spend as much time outside as I would like.
The door slides open, and Boone’s large body fills the empty space in the shower. Not that I mind, being it means I get all of that naked flesh pressed up against mine. Though we don’t have time to luxuriate together as we usually do.
“You didn’t wait for me.” He pouts.
I smirk. “You know we don’t have time for shenanigans this morning and waiting for you definitely leads to shenanigans. I don’t want to be late for my first official day.”
A shiver runs down me as he nuzzles into my neck, knowing what it does to me. “No one will care if we’re a little late to work.”
“I care. I don’t want anyone to think I’m not taking this job seriously or only got it because of our relationship.”
He nibbles on my ear lobe before muttering, “No one thinks that even a little bit. All the guys are stoked to have you on the team.”
It takes everything in me to push him back, stepping out of the shower. “Sorry buster, not this morning.”
He heaves a sigh. “Fine, but you’re in for it tonight when we get home for making me wait.”
I laugh, “promises, promises.”
Grabbing a towel, I dry off before wrapping my hair up in another. Then I step into the closet to get dressed.
I’m pouring coffee into two travel mugs and have toasted bagels smeared with cream cheese ready to eat in the truck when Boone appears.
He arches an eyebrow. “So eager. I thought you were only that way with me?”
