by Elle James
Hank stepped back through the door and handed a small case, and what appeared to be a shoulder holster, to Rafe. Then he dug in his front shirt pocket and his back jeans pockets for boxes of ammunition. “I’ll bring more tomorrow. You’ll burn through a lot, practicing. The good news is that there aren’t any neighbors to disturb way out here.”
“Sweetie, we need to get going,” Sadie said, as Emma tugged on her hand. “Your daughter is restless.”
Rafe set the gun, holster and bullets on the hand-hewn table and reached down to take Emma’s hands. “Wanna come up with Uncle Rafe?”
Emma raised her arms without hesitation.
Rafe swung her up into the crook of his arm and walked with her out into the yard. “You need to come visit Uncle Rafe often.”
“After the threat is past,” Briana reminded him.
“After the mean ol’ bad guys are gone,” he said, blowing a raspberry on the toddler’s belly.
Emma giggled and grabbed Rafe’s ears.
“Hey, those are mine, and they don’t come off easily.” Rafe nuzzled the child’s neck and blew a loud sound against her throat.
The toddler laughed and squirmed.
Briana watched, mesmerized by how easily the big Delta Force soldier interacted with the toddler.
“You’re a natural, Rafe,” Sadie said, echoing Briana’s thoughts. “You don’t have children, do you?”
“No. Never considered it. But I love playing with other people’s kids. And they seem to like me.” He grinned at the little girl in his arms. “You’re a cutie,” he said, “aren’t you?”
“Come here, Emma.” Hank reached for his daughter. “We need to get going before those giggles turn into angry squalling. She’s a good baby, but she needs her recharge naps to keep those pretty lips smiling.”
Hank settled Emma into the car seat in the middle of the back seat of his truck.
“If you come up with a list of items you’d like to have,” Sadie said, “call us on the satellite phone. We’ll pick them up in town and run them out to you.”
“Thank you,” Briana said. “I hate to ask for anything else. You’ve done so much already.”
“Nonsense. We don’t get that many visitors this far north. It’s our pleasure to welcome the newcomers.” Sadie gave Briana a hug. “I’m sorry about what happened to your friend. Just know, we’re here if you need anything.” Hank helped her up into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt around her, kissing her gently as he did.
Briana nodded, afraid to say anything lest it come out on a sob. The reminder of Sheila’s death hit her, again.
Hank drove out of the yard and down the gravel path, leading away from the cabin, Rafe and Briana.
As the engine noise faded, silence wrapped around the little cabin in the mountains.
Lucy nudged Briana’s hand, sliding under it. She leaned her fluffy black and white body against Briana’s leg and whined softly.
“I know. It’s really quiet out here.”
Rafe snorted. “Wait until dark. Then every little sound will be like rockets going off. And you won’t know what any of them are.”
“You’re not painting a calming picture for this city girl,” Briana muttered.
He chuckled.
Briana wrapped the lead around her wrist and squared her shoulders. “Come on, Lucy. Let’s explore our little patch of heaven.”
Rafe joined her. “While we’re at it, we can look for a place to set up our firing range.”
“Good,” she said. “The sooner I learn to fire a gun, the sooner I’ll feel better about being out in the woods, far away from everything and everyone I ever knew.”
Rafe slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Not everyone you ever knew. You know me, now.”
She leaned into his warmth and strength. “That’s right. You’re my friend.” Her friend she was having more than friendly thoughts about. There could be a lot worse things than being alone on a mountain with a sexy former Delta Force soldier.
Chapter 6
Rafe walked around the perimeter of the hilltop, checking out all the potential blind spots an enemy could leverage. While he explored, he found a sparsely treed hill not far from the cabin that would make a perfect backdrop for target practice.
He hurried back to the cabin, collected the weapons and left Lucy with bowls of water and dog food. With Briana, he returned to the hillside. They took advantage of the late afternoon sunshine to familiarize her with the .40 caliber HK pistol Hank had left for Briana.
Rafe set up several soft drink cans on a fallen log. Then he marched five long strides away from the target and motioned for Briana to join him. He handed her a pair of sponge ear plugs and showed her how to roll them between her thumb and fingers and stick them in her ears, where they expanded to fill the space.
She stood beside him, her hands clutched together in front of her. “I really don’t know much of anything about shooting a gun,” Briana said, staring at the .40 caliber pistol Rafe removed from the case.
“You’ll learn,” he said and went into describing each part of the weapon, how it worked and what could make it jam. He showed her how to hold it in her hands, balancing it on her opposite palm while it remained unloaded.
She listened carefully, asking questions and doing everything he said.
“You have to treat the weapon as if it were loaded at all times. Never point it at something, unless you intend to shoot it. If you’re not shooting, point the barrel at the ground.
Then he had her face the cans and hold the gun out in front of her, her finger along the side of the trigger guard. “Now, switch the safety off, and place your finger on the trigger.”
She thumbed the safety. “Like this?”
He nodded. “Yes. Finger on the trigger?”
“It is,” she responded.
“Line up the sights like I showed you and pull the trigger by squeezing it gently until it clicks.”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked down the top of the barrel and slowly squeezed the trigger. When it clicked, she flinched then relaxed.
Rafe grinned. “It’s not so bad, is it? This weapon doesn’t have much of a kick. You’ll barely feel it jerk in your hand.” He held out a full magazine. “Once we add the bullets, this weapon becomes lethal.”
She nodded, drew in a deep breath and took the magazine from his hand.
“Slide it into the handle, while pointing the barrel at the ground. Not at your feet, but the ground in front of you. I don’t know how many slap-happy recruits have blown off their toes because they weren’t careful.”
Her head shot up, her eyes rounding. “Really?”
He grinned. “No, but it pays to be super careful.”
She nodded and slipped the magazine into the handle of the pistol.
Rafe stood at her left. “Now, do the same thing you just did with the empty gun. Aim down the sights at the target, and squeeze the trigger gently.”
He stepped back and nodded. “You can do this.”
Briana held the gun just as he’d shown her, switched off the safety and squeezed the trigger. The loud bang made her jump slightly.
The bullet hit the log below the can, sending splinters of rotted wood in all directions.
“That’s good,” he said.
“But I missed the can,” she argued.
“You did, but only by hitting low. Aim a little high of the target this time.”
She did and nicked the can, making it spin and fall from the log. Briana laughed and glanced his way, her smile bright in the afternoon shadows.
They fired over a hundred rounds, adjusting her stance and the gun’s sights, until Briana was comfortable with how the gun felt in her hands and she could consistently hit the target.
By the time they finished, the shadows had lengthened, and the sun had ducked behind the highest peak of the Crazy Mountains. Without the sun to warm the air, it got cold quickly.
Rafe helped Briana fit the shoulder
holster over her arms and buckled it around her torso, his knuckles brushing against her breasts.
His groin tightened. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” she said with a smile.
When she looked up at him, her gaze melted into his, making him even more aware of how close they were standing and how much he wanted to kiss her. But it was getting late.
“We need to get back to the cabin.” Rafe took a step backward, shifting his gaze upward to the darkening sky.
Briana’s chin dropped, and she fiddled with the straps around her arms before sliding the now empty pistol into the holster. “Lucy will be beside herself, thinking we left her.”
“I was thinking more along the lines that this is bear country. Now that we’re not shooting and making a lot of noise, they might come out of the woods to check things out.”
“Bears?” Briana glanced around.
He nodded. “Let’s get back so we can walk Lucy before it gets too dark to see.”
Briana carried her gun case in her right hand.
Rafe carried his gun case in his left hand. He reached for her empty hand and curled his fingers around hers. “You did good today.”
“I had the best instructor.” She looked down at his hand holding hers. “Do you always hold hands with your students?”
He started to let go, but she tightened her grip. “No,” he said. “But then I’ve never had as pretty a student as I did today.”
She leaned against his arm. “Thank you for being patient with me. This is all new, but I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it.”
“You will. It just takes practice.”
As they approached the cabin, Lucy started barking.
Rafe entered first, grabbing her by the collar and holding on long enough to snap the lead onto the metal loop. The border collie darted through the door and out into the yard, coming to an abrupt halt at the end of the long lead. Then she raced back to Briana and wagged her entire body at her feet.
Briana laughed and ruffled the collie’s coat. “You have to wait for us, girl.”
The three of them wandered around the perimeter of the yard until Lucy had done all of her business for the rest of the day.
When they returned to the cabin, Briana closed the door and let Lucy off her lead.
Rafe ducked back outside to start the generator and was back a couple minutes later.
Together, they went through the pantry staples Sadie had stocked the cabin with and settled on making chili.
“You can hit the shower while I cook.” Rafe suggested.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Chili is about the only meal I can cook, besides steak on the grill. All the ingredients are here. I think I can handle the meal for tonight.”
She smiled. “Deal. I’ll come up with something for tomorrow night.”
“Hopefully, we won’t be here too many nights.”
“I’m okay with it. I don’t have any place else to go.” Briana lifted her chin. “Besides, this is my chance to see some of Montana. Albeit a small corner of the Crazy Mountains. But what I’ve seen so far is stunningly beautiful.”
Rafe nodded. “Agreed. One of these days, I want to try my hand at fly fishing in some of the mountain streams in the area.”
“It could be one big vacation.” Briana shook her head. “If we didn’t have a drug lord breathing down our necks.”
“There is that little kink in our Montana getaway.” He tipped his head toward the only other door besides the exit. “Go. The water should be hot by now.”
He pulled cans from the shelves, plunked a pot on the gas stove and made chili, trying really hard not to think of Briana only a few feet away, naked in the shower. He could easily step into the bathroom and join her…if she wanted him to.
Rafe sighed. She was a client. They’d only known each other a little over twenty-four hours. He needed to keep his pants zipped and his hands to himself.
Protecting the beautiful Briana could be the toughest mission he’d ever been assigned.
Briana stripped out of the clothes she’d worn for over forty-eight hours that now smelled like gunpowder and dog. The water pressure was questionable, but at least there was a shower in the cabin and she didn’t have to find a creek in which to bathe. After shampooing her hair with the sweet-smelling shampoo Sadie had provided, she applied conditioner, and then scrubbed her body with the scented bodywash. Five minutes after entering the shower, she was clean, rinsed and feeling better than she had when she’d stepped in.
Several towels were folded neatly on a wooden shelf. Briana grabbed one and dried off. The chilly night air made her shiver in the small bathroom.
On another shelf, Briana was glad to find a stack of gently used clothes. They included a soft T-shirt and a pair of stretchy leggings she could wear the following day. She dug deeper, hoping to find a sexy nightgown. Had she really thought sexy? All she needed was a night gown or pajamas she could sleep in to save the clothes for the next day.
Sadly, there weren’t any night clothes among the items, but there was a midnight-blue silk robe… She pulled on the robe that covered her down to the middle of her thighs. The silk was cool against her skin and made her shiver. Whether from cold or excitement, she didn’t want to contemplate. After running a brush she found on the counter through her tangles, she left her hair hanging down around her shoulders to dry naturally. Other than the dark circles beneath her eyes, she didn’t look too awful after having fled across the country. She looked at the stack of clothes and almost grabbed the T-shirt and leggings to cover her nakedness beneath the robe. Sadie had provided a brand-new package of sexy white lace panties, so at least Briana had those to wear beneath the robe. Firmly tying the sash around her waist, Briana left the bathroom and stood on the threshold, inhaling the rich, tantalizing scent of chili cooking on the stove.
Rafe sat on the couch, rubbing Lucy’s neck. He looked up when Briana stepped through the door. He had opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
Briana’s cheeks heated at the hunger in Rafe’s eyes. “Is dinner ready?” she asked, knowing the hunger had nothing to do with the fact they’d skipped several meals in their twenty-plus hours on the road from Illinois to Eagle Rock. Apparently, the robe was sexier than any leggings she could have worn.
Rafe nodded, cleared his throat and leaped to his feet. “Yes. Yes, it is. You can get started while I jump in the shower.” He scooped chili into a bowl, added a spoon and set it on the table. “I’ll only be a few minutes.”
“That will give the chili time to cool a little. I’ll wait for you,” she said.
Rafe grabbed his duffle bag and ducked into the tiny bathroom.
Briana refilled Lucy’s bowl of dog food and scratched her ears. “He’s pretty cute, isn’t he?”
Lucy looked up at her and whined softly.
“Yeah, he has that effect on me, too.”
Briana spread out the blanket they’d purchased for Lucy across the wood floor.
Lucy circled several times, pawed at the fabric to arrange it just the way she liked it, and then dropped down and was asleep in seconds.
Less than five minutes later, Rafe stepped out of the bathroom, wearing jeans, a T-shirt draped around the back of his neck and nothing else.
Briana swallowed hard, her tongue suddenly dry. The man was built like a brick house. Muscles stretched across his broad chest then tapered down his torso to a narrow waist and hips. And then all that muscle flared out again over massive thighs. He padded barefooted across the floor to the pot on the stove and stirred it several times before he laid the spoon on the stove and shrugged into the T-shirt.
If she’d thought donning the shirt would make him any less sexy, she’d have been wrong.
The T-shirt stretched across his muscles, emphasizing rather than hiding them.
Swallowing hard again, Briana slipped onto the bench at the table and lifted her spoon, having a really hard time tearing her gaze away from Rafe.<
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“How’s the chili?” Rafe asked, turning around with a bowl full for himself.
“What?” Briana glanced down at the bowl in front of her, heat rising up her neck to fill her cheeks. “Uh…I don’t know. I was…waiting for you,” she lied. She’d been admiring the way his shirt fit his shoulders and wishing she could lay her head on his chest and listen to the beat of his strong heart. Maybe then, she’d forget the reason why they were in Montana to begin with.
“Don’t wait on me. Dig in.” Rafe sat on the bench across from her and dipped his spoon into the steaming chili.
Briana focused on the food in front of her, though her mind didn’t lose sight of the man in her peripheral vision. She’d slept with him the night before, and he hadn’t done anything more than hold her. What made her think he might want to do more than that?
Well, he had kissed her. Had it only been his way of comforting her?
Her gaze went to the only bed in the cabin and the couch. “I can sleep on the couch,” she offered, taking a bite of the lukewarm chili.
His head came up. “That’s not necessary. You can have the bed. I’ll take the couch.”
“It makes more sense for me to sleep on the couch. It’s not long enough for you.”
“I’ve slept in worse places,” he said and scooped another spoonful of chili into his mouth.
“Or we could share the bed.” Once again, her cheeks heated, and she looked down at the chili on her spoon. “I mean it’s not like we haven’t already slept together.”
“True. But that was because you were scared and in shock.”
“What if I’m the same tonight?” she asked. “But if it makes you uncomfortable…”
His lips twisted. “As a matter of fact, it did. After all, I’m a man. You’re a beautiful woman.”
“Never mind. I don’t want you to do anything that doesn’t feel right to you.” She ate another bite of chili though she had to swallow hard to make it go down.
He lowered his spoon and captured her gaze with his. “Sweetheart, it felt too right to me. I’m just not sure it’s the right thing for you.”