Page 56 of Rescue Me (Tempting SEALs 6.10)

There were only thirty-three miles of maintained trails in the canyon, so any off-trail path was always an added adventure.

“A pair of waxed lips?” she asked, looking over his shoulder at the list of treasures. She stood close enough that he could get a whiff of something fresh and flowery. Her shampoo, maybe. Or maybe it was just her. Whatever it was, it was workin’ for her. Workin’ on him.

“Who thought of these things?” she asked with a shake of her head. “And who came out here and planted them?”

“You ever met Sergeant Wayne?” He refolded the map and tucked it back in his pocket.

“Tater Wayne?” She laughed—a husky, sexy sound he’d never heard from her before. He liked it. Liked how it softened the lines around her mouth and the tension in her shoulders and knocked the stiffness out of her entire bearing.

“Yeah. I know Tater.” She fit the straps of her walking sticks over her wrists. “And enough said.”

Seth heard the affection in her tone. Shared it. The sergeant’s love for french fries had stuck him with the Tater handle. His warped sense of humor was responsible for the odd items on their list.

“Didn’t peg him for a hiker.” She sounded surprised.

“Leads a troop of Eagle Scouts. He and the boys were busy last week planting little treasures for the hunt.”

“Since they worked so hard, what say you and I get busy? Maybe we can make it out of here with our booty in record time.”

Record time? Fat chance. Seth was in no hurry to climb back out of this magnificent hole. Not with the delectable booty of Elena Martinez to occupy his thoughts.

THREE

“WAX LIPS — RED. KITE string—long. A romance novel—hot. Guess you could say we had a pretty good day.”

On her knees, rolling out her sleeping bag, Elena looked over her shoulder at Seth as he s

tretched out on his side of his own sleeping bag, checking the three items off their list.

She turned back to reorganizing her backpack. He was right. It had been a long but good day—in spite of her recurrent, niggling sensation of being watched.

They hadn’t had to search too long for any of the “hunt” items and had been able to knock off early. While, as the crow flies, it was only a mile to the bottom from the South Rim, they’d hiked over six miles to get to within fifty yards or so of the Colorado. She was beat—in a good way—and ready to rest her feet.

Taking advantage of a lone pinion and a hulking rock formation that formed a shelter of sorts, they’d made camp for the night a hundred or so yards off the main trail on a ridge overlooking the river. At noon they’d both eaten premade PBJs for protein and snacked on more fruit and trail mix. Tonight they’d have real food. Seth had promised to cook.

For now, he lounged in the shade of the lean-to he’d erected from a lightweight survival blanket. He’d rolled his sleeping bag out beneath him, stretched out on his side, propped himself on one elbow and now he was lazily thumbing through the romance novel.

“Hoochie mamma.” He grinned, stopped on a page that caught his interest. “Listen to this. ‘Even in the pale glow of the campfire, Lance could see the fire in Victoria’s eyes. He moved closer—’”

Elena held up a hand. “Spare me.”

He affected a look of puzzled amusement. “What? You don’t like this stuff? I thought all women loved a good hot romance novel.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it. One of my best friends is a romance novelist. I love her stuff. I just don’t want to hear it from you.”

“Ah … gets you all hot and bothered, does it?”

The full lips that pulled back into a smile revealed teeth that were straight and white—a stunning contrast to his tan face made even darker by a heavy five o’clock shadow that had started showing up around four.

She grunted, failed to suppress a grin. “In your dreams, cowboy.”

He slanted her a considering look. “So, it’s a cowboy fantasy you like. Well, then, Miz Elena, I reckon this cowpoke’s got a yarn or two and a move or two under this here ten-gallon hat that could turn that sassy little head of yourn.”

She laughed. He was ridiculous. And funny—something she was just learning about him. He’d never given her a glimpse of his sense of humor before and it made her feel a little off-balance. He was also sexy as hell with the long, strong length of him reclined on his side on his sleeping bag, grinning over the novel.

He was also too damn charming for his own good. Hmm. Who’d have believed that? Elena Martinez thinking Seth King was charming. In a cheesy, adolescent, bad-boy-up-to-something kind of way.

“You’re in a mood.” She sat down cross-legged on her own sleeping bag facing him.

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