Page 19 of Inevitable
“We’ll have to hike to get to a clearing where Nick can pick us up in his helicopter. The woods surrounding us are pretty dense. He’ll fly us to the airport to board the private jets that will get us home.”
“Private jets?” she asked in a surprised voice. “Exactly how big and technical is Last Hope?”
“Later,” I said. “Right now we need to focus on getting you out of here.”
There would be plenty of time on the flight home to answer those questions.
Once I knew that Emma was safe.
“What are Brock and Nate going to do about the kidnappers?”
“It’s a stealth rescue,” I explained. “They’ll come in after the kidnappers are asleep and get us out of here without them ever knowing. The kidnappers aren’t camping that close to thisbuilding, and your friends are masters at getting in and out without anyone knowing. They’ll both be armed, but they won’t use those weapons unless absolutely necessary. Nick will deal with those assholes after you’re safely out of here.”
“He’ll still be in danger,” she told me. “I think these guys are just hired thugs. His enemies will still be out there.”
“Nick is aware of that,” I said grimly. “He’s hoping he can get the information he needs from the kidnappers.”
Sadly, we really needed to leave that group of idiots alive so Nick could get to his actual enemies.
“You’re injured. How are you going to hike out of here?” she queried softly.
“I might be old, and I have a limp,” I said defensively. “But I’ll hike out of here the same way I hiked in. I’m fit, even if I do have a limp.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, sounding contrite. “I was just worried. And I know you’re not old. Do we want to share our ages now?”
“I’m fifty-three. I already know that you’re forty-five,” I explained. “Brock told me. You’ve always looked a lot younger than you are. I knew you were at least of drinking age when we met because you showed your ID at the bar where we had a drink, but you looked pretty young. You still do. I’ve seen some recent pictures. I felt old after seeing your picture. You haven’t changed much.”
“I’ve changed,” she argued. “I’m not the same woman you knew years ago, either. I gained weight, and I feel old every time I look in the mirror. My life is very different than it was fourteen years ago. I lived in Chicago when we met. I was born and raised in Cherry Cove, so that’s where I eventually decided to settle.”
“You never found the man of your dreams?” I asked, already knowing it was something I didn’t really need to know.
“No,” she answered solemnly. “I was newly divorced when we met in Virginia Beach. My ex decided he wanted a youngerwoman after seven years of being married to me. Marriage hasn’t exactly been high on my list of priorities. The first one wasn’t a good experience for me.”
“He was an idiot,” I told her roughly.
Christ!What kind of simpleton would dump Emma for someone else? If I’d been a normal guy who wanted to get married, she would have been my dream woman.
“He was,” she said with humor in her voice. “I was pretty young and naïve when we got married. I was an emotional mess by the time I divorced. Meeting you was the best thing that could have happened to me. You made me feel like a desirable woman again. I needed to feel that way at that point in my life, Colin.”
“You were always a desirable woman,” I said hoarsely. “You were everything any guy could ask for, Emma. Beautiful. Intelligent. Kind. Compassionate. That asshole must have done a number on you if you didn’t know that.”
“He did,” she agreed. Emma was silent for a moment before she added, “You should have woken me up before you left. We never really got to say goodbye, and I never had a chance to thank you for the necklace.”
Hell, I wasn’t about to explain that I was afraid I’d change my mind about not exchanging information if I had woken her up that morning. “It was easier that way,” I replied. “I’m not exactly good with emotional goodbyes, and we made a deal.”
I saw her hand move to her neck before I asked, “You still have that necklace?”
“I’ve worn it almost every day since you gave it to me,” she admitted. “I loved it. I still do. It was a pretty expensive gift for a fling. Gifts weren’t exactly part of our deal, either.”
Fuck!I suddenly hated the way she referred to herself as just a fling. “You were never just a woman I fucked for five days, Emma,” I said as I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. “Our time together in Virginia Beach meant more to me thanjust that. Maybe I didn’t know a lot about you or even your last name, but you meant something to me. I was married to the Navy at the time, but for just a short time, I forgot about my job and just spent as much time as I could with you. That had never happened to me before.”
“It wasn’t just a fling for me, either,” she confessed. “That time meant something to me, too. I wasn’t a woman who had ever even thought about having a fling or a one-night stand before we met. You probably already know my last name now. What’s yours?”
“I know your last name,” I confirmed. “My last name is Marshall. Everyone knows me as Marshall. I very rarely use my first name.”
“Colin Marshall,” she said like she was testing my full name out loud. “Wyatt mentioned knowing a guy named Marshall. That was you?”
“Yeah. I’m known by everyone as just Marshall at Last Hope.”
