Page 28 of Mountain Rescue
Damn you, Robert. This is your fault. If not for him, she wouldn’t be in Asheville, wouldn’t have met a SEAL cowboy who was able to kiss her senseless. She wouldn’t know what she was missing when this was over and she returned home. She wouldn’t wonder what he was doing, who else he might be kissing.
Resisting the urge to go find Dallas, she went to her room and called Nichole. “You need to get him someplace else to stay.”
“By him, you mean your hot roommate?”
“You have no business thinking anyone other than Jack is hot.”
Nichole laughed. “I didn’t lose my eyes when I married Jack. What’s crawled up your butt?”
“He kissed me.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“Yes, very bad.” It so was, because every kiss from a man after him would be judged against his and come up lacking. She slid a finger over her lips, still warm from his kiss.
“You don’t like him?”
“I like him too much.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
Everything. “You know I don’t do hookups. I have to like a guy before I’ll sleep with him.”
“You just said you did like him.”
Drat. She hadn’t meant to admit that. “It’s not just that. I’m only here until the police find Robert, then I’ll go back to LA. Dallas lives in Montana. There’s no future there.” She didn’t want to return home with a broken heart. “Plus, with this mess I’m in, I don’t need the distraction.”
“Maybe that’s exactly what you need.”
“I can’t feel him.”
“Really? Has that ever happened before?”
“Never. It’s weird, but truthfully, I like that I can’t.” Especially since she was positive he had horrible memories bottled up inside from his time as a prisoner. You didn’t get tortured and walk away unscathed.
“Maybe it’s a sign.”
Rachel laughed, knowing exactly where Nichole was going with that. “You read too many romance books.”
“Impossible. Just think about it, okay? Let yourself have some cowboy fun.”
It was tempting,hewas tempting. Long after hanging up with Nichole, she was still thinking about cowboy fun. Should she? Shouldn’t she? She’d never had a fling, and for the first time in her life, she found the idea of it appealing.
Could she have a fling and walk away with her heart intact? Since she’d never had sex just for the fun of it, she didn’t know if that was possible for her. She needed to care for the man, needed to know that he cared for her, before she could be intimate with him.
Maybe she could step out of her comfort zone with Dallas. There was no denying that she was attracted to him, and if his kiss was any indication, the feeling was mutual. If she walked away from this thing between them, would she regret it?
If she went for it, would she regret it?
She needed a crystal ball that showed the future. Where was the man, anyway? She glanced at her watch. What if he’d gone to a bar or someplace to find a hookup because she’d put the brakes on? Would he do that?
No, not Dallas, not after kissing her. It helped that she knew that about him.Are you sure?“Gah!” She wasn’t sure of anything. The bathroom attached to his bedroom had a tub. Soaking in a nice warm bath always helped her think, and since Dallas had taken off on her, she’d just help herself to it.
“Ghost,” Carter said on answering. “Is this a private conversation?”
“Yeah. But I won’t keep secrets from Rachel on things that involve her.” Dallas leaned back against the Jeep’s hood. After fleeing the cabin and Rachel, he’d ended up at Operation K-9 Brothers. He’d almost gone to Jack’s, but then there would be questions he didn’t want to answer. Hell, he didn’t know the answers.
“Whatever you tell her is your call. While she was on the phone with the FBI this morning, I did a search for unidentified bodies found in the past week. There’s one that could possibly fit her friend. A female’s body was burned beyond recognition and left in the desert a hundred miles from LA. Henrietta’s fingerprints aren’t in the system since she’s never been arrested, and there’s nothing identifying the woman as Henrietta, but my spidey senses are tingling.”
