Page 6 of Mountain Rescue
“What? No.” She needed to get rid of him, not spend more time with him.
“No one trains to stay in shape harder than a SEAL, making me the perfect choice for a stand-in,” he said, ignoring her. “I’ll work up a regimen when we get back. How many hours do you usually train?”
“Did you miss me saying no?” Gah. The man and his adorable grins. She wondered if she could run fast enough to get to the cabin in time to lock him out.
Dallas chuckled when Rachel shot him a dirty look before taking off back down the mountain. He was going to have to thank Jack for inviting him to visit. He followed, enjoying the view...of her amazing ass. It seemed a wildcat was the perfect distraction from his demons. Not that he could tell Jack there was a wildcat in residence at the cabin. Eventually he would, or better yet, talk Rachel into revealing herself to her friends.
He still had to find out who Robert was and why the man was after her, and he would. Until then, he was in the dark about what kind of trouble she was in, and lack of intel didn’t make for successful missions. Because Rachel was his mission now. It had been a stroke of brilliance to offer to train her. That would keep her close, and whether she knew it or not, whether she wanted it or not, he had her six.
“So, about that breakfast,” he said simply to rile her up once they were inside the cabin.
“Have at it. I need a shower, then I’m making a run to the grocery store.”
“Speaking of, how’d you get here? You have a car somewhere?”
“In the garage, out of sight.”
“Okay, good.” They had some serious talking to do about what kind of trail she’d left to get here. Since he intended to go to the store with her—again, like it or not—he grabbed an apple on his way to the shower. Afraid she might try to skip out on him, he made quick work of getting clean and dressing.
“Who are you, and what did you do with Rachel?” he said when she appeared.
“Good disguise, huh?”
“That would be an affirmative.” If he hadn’t been sure there was only one woman in residence, he wouldn’t have known it was her. She had on a spiky black wig, red-framed glasses, a half dozen earrings in each ear, and cherry red lipstick. Her jeans were ripped, and that red sweater was about a size too small. “I’m especially impressed with how much your breasts grew since the last time I saw you.”
She peered down at her chest. “Being a man, of course that’s the first thing you’d notice.”
“Not gonna deny it.”
The last person that Robert guy would notice if—or when—he narrowed down her location and managed to get a hold of security camera footage would be a brassy woman intentionally calling attention to herself. If he or any of his men were in the area, showing a photo of her, no one would be able to say they saw her.
“Clever to hide in plain sight.”
She smiled as if his compliment pleased her. “I stunt doubled in a movie where the star did it to hide from the bad guys. She walked right past two of them without being recognized. Seemed like a good idea.”
“What about when you traveled here from... LA, was it? Did you wear a disguise?” He hoped so.
“Yes, from LA I made myself up to look like a college student. Strawberry hair down to my waist, a nose ring, eyebrow ring, and an Ole Miss sweatshirt. Even pretended to work on my thesis while waiting to board and on the plane. Did some whining in a Southern accent to those around me about running out of time to get it done before it was due.”
Damn. He already thought she was something else. He didn’t need more reasons to be captivated, but how could he not be by a beautiful, clever, and yes, a snarly wildcat? He liked her brain, her face, her body, and even those claws that came out when she was fired up, and he really did like firing her up.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Didn’t know I was.” But, yeah, she made him smile, and she had no idea how astounding that was. Another reason to like her. “You use any credit cards once you left LA?”
She looked at him as if he was stupid. “No, I did not. I’m not dumb, you know. I went to the bank and withdrew money before leaving. I paid cash for my airline ticket, flew as far as Atlanta, then searched the classifieds for a clunker I could buy from a private individual. I haven’t put the title in my name. The only thing that worried me was not having insurance, so I changed my appearance to that of an old woman and drove here like an old woman would...slowly and carefully.”
Too bad she hadn’t been with him when he’d been captured. She would’ve had them free before they had to spend one night in Hotel Hell. “Okay, one more test. Phone?”
She didn’t even ask what he meant. “Not sure where it is. I deleted all my contacts, quit all my apps, then found a pickup truck full of junk in the bed. Hid my phone under a pile of garbage. If Robert’s trying to track it, it’s still roaming around LA or for all I know, on its way to Nebraska. I bought a burner.”
Oh, she was pleased with herself all right, as well she should be. He could see it in her eyes and the sly smile on her face. “Marry me.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
He was teasing her. Well, he was pretty sure he was. “I don’t know. When a man meets a beautiful woman as smart as him, he’d be a fool not to claim her.” He was kidding. Probably.
“As smart? How about smarter? And that’s something most men can’t handle.”
