She smiled and nodded, a flush tinging her cheeks. “You have to carry me again?”
He grinned, kind of looking forward to it. “I do.”
As he carried her back to her van, he forced himself to think about the basilisk situation rather than her curves.
How good it felt to touch her.
So instead, he focused on the fact that she was pretty adamant about coming out the next day.
The important question was: What were they going to find?
6
Mel leaned back against her headrest, her eyes gravitating toward Dallas as he drove.
They were almost back to her hotel now, and she still couldn’t believe that she had let him drive her beloved news van. Well, technically, it was the station’s van, but same difference.
But he was just the kind of man you trusted with control of important things.
The kind you could relax around.
He had one hand on the steering wheel and was resting his chin on his other hand, staring out at the road. His eyes narrowed against the darkness for a second, and he gripped the steering wheel, the veins on the back of his hand tensing at the same time as his jawline. Then he relaxed again.
Dang, he had a sexy profile, all gorgeous, sharp lines and beautiful raven hair.
He’d been silent for most of the drive, seemingly preferring to just listen to her talk. It was oddly nice having someone so happy to listen to her. Pretty much all of the men she knew ignored her, talked over her, or trivialized what she had to say.
But with Dallas, it seemed like he really listened.
That was rare. As a reporter who interviewed people for a living, she ran into quite a few people who talked a lot but had little to say, and he was the opposite of that. He didn’t speak much, but when he did, it was important.
She’d never felt this way before, so wholly fascinated and comfortable with another person, but then again, she’d never met a man like him.
“You know,” she said. “I’m glad you came along today.”
“Not just today.”
Mel sat up, wide-eyed. “You mean you’ll come with me tomorrow?”
He nodded, still staring out at the road.
That made her feel a lot better. Being around him was so easy and fun in a way, although the thoughts she had when he carried her were far from holy.
Still, could anyone blame her? Had they seen Dallas?
The only thing she still wasn’t sure about was if the attraction was mutual. Over the day, she’d felt like there had been a few times where she had caught him staring at her, but then maybe she’d been imagining it.
She rubbed a kink from one of her shoulders as they pulled into the hotel lot and parked.
“I’m excited for tomorrow,” she said, stretching as they both got out.
Dallas just nodded at that, his gaze narrowing for a second before going back to normal.
“What was that look?” she asked as they entered the small hotel foyer. At the counter, an older woman was chewing gum loudly while reading a paperback novel.
Dallas frowned. “Just not sure what we’ll find.”
Mel smiled as they stepped into the elevator. “That’s the fun of it, isn’t it? Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s something. But you don’t know until you look closer. That’s why I love working in news. It’s all about perspective.”
He nodded, taking that in.
When they reached her floor, she got out of the elevator, excited to finally be back so she could get some rest, but when they got to her hotel room, the door was ajar.
Mel’s blood went cold, and she motioned to Dallas, pointing at the wide-open door.
He was curious. Then his eyebrows turned downward in a scowl when he realized what she was talking about.
Someone had broken in.
He put a finger to his lips, then reached out and took the door handle, opening the door fully and stepping in first. She followed after.
Her jaw dropped as she took in the destruction. The place had been thrashed, thoroughly torn to pieces. Furniture was overturned, and her clothes and belongings were spread all over the place. Mel looked around, taking it in for a second, while Dallas prowled around the room.
After a minute or two, he walked over to her, shaking his head. “It’s not safe here.” His voice was even lower than usual, and it sent a thrill through her.
“Why would anyone do this?” she wondered aloud. Then she sighed. “My cameraman’s next door. Maybe he heard something.”
Dallas followed her from the room and out into the hall, where she stopped and knocked on Trent’s door.
No answer.
“He’s just a heavy sleeper,” Mel said, going to knock again when Dallas frowned and rapped his knuckles against the door even louder.
When there was still no response, he scowled. “You can’t stay here.”
“Right, I get that, but where will I stay?”
There were only two other hotels in town, and this one was the nicest. If this wasn’t safe, there was no way she’d be safe in either of the other two.
It must have just been random ruffians or thieves.
Dallas thought about it for a second, then pursed his lips. “I have an idea.” He reached out and took her hand, leading her back to the elevator.
She could feel her heartbeat accelerating as he held her hand in his. Why did he have to affect her so much?
“What do you have in mind?” she asked as he pulled her across the lobby to the back door of the hotel. When they got outside, she realized there was a large field with trailer hookups. Off to the side was an immense one. It could only have been pulled by the largest of trucks.
There is no way…
But her doubts faded away as he pulled her over to it until they were standing next to the door.
“Wow.” She blinked a few times, looking between him and the trailer and back again. “Is this your home?”
Dallas cocked his head to the side. “Kind of.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t live in town, so I bring this with me whenever I’m here.”
Mel cocked an eyebrow. “And you just happened to have it here, right outside my hotel? That’s kinda fishy.”
He shrugged, holding the door open for her. “Coincidence. Only hotel with trailer spots.”
That was fair enough, she supposed.
The first thing she noticed when she stepped into the trailer was the wood carvings everywhere. On the walls, tables, everywhere. All different colors of wood and different shapes.
Other than that, the trailer was immaculately clean and well-kept.
Dallas got in after her, then stepped to the far side and patted the bed. “This is for you.”
She frowned. “No, I couldn’t. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
Dallas shook his head at her.
Mel tried to convince him that she didn’t need it, but he would not be persuaded, so she decided it would be better if she just conceded.
It was funny to watch him move around this luxurious trailer, trying not to bump his head. It made him look somehow even bigger than before, which she hadn’t thought possible.
Once he’d gotten her settled in, he excused himself and left the trailer. After a few minutes, she began to wonder where he went, so she pulled at the windows and stared out.
To her surprise, he was sitting on the steps, whittling something in the lantern light.
She watched him for a while, enjoying the way he deftly stripped the piece of wood of any bark and began to carve it. Watching him work, Mel began to wonder about other, sinfully wonderful things he could do with his hands. After a few seconds, she breathed out and fanned herself.
Mel had known him one day; this was no time to be getting involved or having such thoughts. Especially when she was working on uncovering an incredibly important story.
A story that could make her career.
She didn’t have time to be fooling around. She neve
r had, but now, watching Dallas, she honestly wondered if it would be worth making time for.
Heck yes, it would.
She shook her head again, then went to change and get ready for bed. When she was done, he still hadn’t come in from his carving session, so she got settled under the covers.
Part of her still couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have found him. If not for him, she would have been stuck in her ravaged room for the night.
Or run over by a car.
Neither were very enticing propositions in her opinion.
As she began to drift off, she heard the trailer door open and close, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dallas come in, so she pretended to be asleep.
He showered quickly, and when he got out, her eyes widened. Dallas was wearing a soft-looking pair of loose pajama pants and pulling a tee over his head.
Mel flushed as she got a glimpse of his jaw-dropping upper body. Ripped pecs and gorgeous, defined abs. She turned away, trying to keep herself from drooling as he lay down on the couch on the other side of the trailer.
Then all was silent. Except for the violent beating of Mel’s extremely hyperactive heart. It was almost too much to have a man of his perfection so close and yet so far.
She sighed as sleep began to take her.
It was probably for the best.
7
The next morning came quicker than Mel anticipated, and she’d slept so much better in Dallas’s trailer than any hotel that she made sure to thank him at least a dozen times.
Unsurprisingly, his response was to shrug and blush slightly while turning away, as if he didn’t know how to react.
But that just made her like him even more. He wasn’t full of bravado or fake niceness, and he didn’t take compliments or gratitude well at all. Such a unique man that way.
Such a sexy man… she thought as she looked over at Dallas in the driver’s seat of his big truck. There were two ATVs hitched up to a trailer that he’d acquired from somewhere this morning, though she wasn’t sure if they were rentals, a friend’s, or his own. All Dallas had said was, “I know someone.”
They were going out to the place that had been in the video yesterday. But even since getting a copy of the short, blurry film from Vern, she’d watched it over and over and still couldn’t really tell what had even been there in the frame.
A little while later, they pulled up to a rough trailhead that looked like it hadn’t been used by more than just horses in a long, long time. Off in the distance, she could see the hills and the mountains even farther beyond, standing like red and brown sentinels over the vast Texas prairie, and excitement bubbled inside her as she hopped out of the truck.
She was wearing tennis shoes and jeans today, with a T-shirt that was comfortable but form-fitting. Though, seeing Dallas with his work shirt and well-worn boots, she wondered if she wasn’t still a little underdressed for an adventure of this type.
Granted, in her line of work, “adventure” usually meant someone getting a little too excited on Black Friday or people harassing her in the background while she worked, not driving ATVs out into the wide, empty expanse before them.
Dallas unloaded the two ATVs and rolled them forward so they were at the head of the trail. But before he did anything else, he went to the back seat of his truck and pulled something out, a big, unmarked brown box, and handed it to her.
“What’s this?” she asked, admittedly even more excited about this surprise gift than the prospect of four-wheeling.
Dallas gestured at the box.
“I guess I’ll see, huh?” she said, pulling it open.
Inside, there was a pair of sturdy-looking boots that were both fashionable and practical, lined with thick soles and with the laces already threaded. Though she didn’t recognize the brand, they had to be expensive just based on the weight of the box in her hands and the sheer craftsmanship.
But that wasn’t all. There was a dark-orange work shirt tucked beneath them, made of a light material, with long sleeves like the kind cowboys wore, and the color instantly made her think of Dallas’s eyes whenever he showed interest in something.
“For me? No, I couldn’t…”
Dallas gave her a stern but playful glance.
“I mean, this must’ve cost a bunch. If anything, I owe you already,” she said.
But Dallas was already taking the boots out and undoing the laces, then putting them on the ground before her feet so she could step out of her sneakers right into them.
Even half kneeling, Dallas was huge. And so close. Dangerously close. She wanted to reach out and run her hands through the thick, dark hair at his nape. Wanted to run a finger along the hard planes of his face, see if he really was that beautiful or if it was somehow some kind of illusion.
Dallas grunted, and she put her foot into the first boot he offered, even the mere act of changing shoes oddly intimate in a way she’d never experienced before.
“Wow, it fits perfectly! How did you even guess my size?” she asked.
Dallas’s gaze slowly trailed up her in that intelligent, knowing way, and her skin seemed to sizzle as her eyes met his. Like he could undress her just by looking at her.
Not that she minded…
So long as she got to feel all those muscles bulging out of his shirt and jeans.
“Thank you so, so much,” she blurted out, trying to distract herself from the tension of the moment.
And when Dallas grinned up at her with satisfaction, she almost passed out right there.
Instead, she hurried to put on the other boot, then threw the shirt around her shoulders and buttoned it up before rolling the sleeves up to cuffs. When she was done, Dallas stood and folded his arms, smiling and nodding to himself.
She did a little twirl, unable to help beaming and feeling a little more Texas now than she was a minute ago, and Dallas just chuckled as he watched her.
Right, you’ve got a story to do, Mel. Remember?
She listened intently as Dallas gave her a pair of goggles to put on, then showed her the controls, which were still foreign to Mel because she’d never done something like this. At one point, when first testing the throttle, she nearly pulled too hard and did a few donuts before Dallas somehow leaped to her side and cut off the engine before she lost control.
After a few more minutes of practice, though, Dallas hopped on the other quad. With utter confidence, his engine roared to life, and he started ahead on the trail, looking over his shoulder to make sure she could follow.
Thankfully, he went slow at first, giving her a chance to get used to the raw, terrifying energy of having the wind fly past her as the ground beneath her feet became a blur of grass and dirt. Then, as Dallas seemed satisfied she had the hang of things, he revved his engine harder, and she pulled back on the throttle to chase after him.
The ATV bucked and dipped as they went over short hills and kicked up small clouds of dirt behind them. And as the mountains drew closer, the thrill of following Dallas teased at the edges of her nerves as she watched his huge muscles and arms control the vehicle beneath him with ease.
And along with it, the sense of something much bigger than herself that was happening around her, though whether it was the story she was working on or the wicked thoughts she was getting every time Dallas looked at her, Mel wasn’t quite sure.
In what felt like far too little time, they were at the base of the huge hill from the video. From their new vantage, she could see even deeper into the range of mountains that stretched far ahead.
Though, except for what appeared to be a huge mound of upturned earth that could have been from a mudslide or something, nothing seemed out of place.
That still didn’t change the remarkable beauty of the land around her, so empty it gave her that magical feeling of solitude so stark it could make her wonder if she was the only person alive.
With Dallas…
She gulped, getting off her ATV and taking off her goggles to pull a camera out of
her pocket so she could start taking photos.
There were deep impressions in the ground as well, big enough you could park three or four cars in them. But because of the rain or the wind, she couldn’t tell if they could possibly be footprints or if they had just been there.
If the monster in the video had magically sprung up from the ground, walked around, then disappeared back into the ground, that could explain all the exposed dirt. But that was a pretty farfetched notion, and unless she saw something like that happen, she was going to have to keep looking.
“It’s so pretty out here. Are things like this normally?” she called out to Dallas.
Off to the side, Dallas was looking at something on the ground, kicking dirt around with the toe of his boot. But the second she spoke, he looked up at her like nothing was going on and appraised the mound of earth.
He nodded.
“Yeah, makes sense, right? With all the rain and such, I imagine mudslides like this just happen…” Though, she’d seen mudslides before. This looked like someone had used a backhoe the size of a house and dug around in the mud until there was this football-field-size disturbance.
She spent the next little while snapping photos of anything and everything that might be useful, as well as setting a GPS geotag on her phone if she ever needed to come out here again.
But as she wandered, she found herself focusing on the wild, untamed beauty surrounding her. Aside from the gentle blowing of a warm breeze, which caught the scent of distant wildflowers and clean air, everything was utterly quiet.
On a whim, she turned her camera and watched Dallas, whose arms were folded, looking westward. In front of him, the mountains sheared off, and huge, puffy white clouds floated above the limitless expanse.
She snapped one picture. Then a few more. And when she looked down to check how they’d come out, her heart fluttered with yearning for the tall, stoic man who seemed to stand alone against the entire world, calm and composed and so sexy it made breathing difficult at times.
“What’s that?” Dallas’s deep voice, harsh like a bonfire and calm like a sunset, startled Mel from over her shoulder.
Outlaw Tiger Page 4