Chapter 2 (Cole)
Ranger was begging to get socked in the mouth. He had always made it a point to push my buttons but he was reaching the limits of my patience.
I was glad to lower him out of sight.
“What’s up with you?” asked Kai, eyeing me. “I’ve never seen you get so worked up before and we’ve gone on pretty dicey search and rescue missions. What’s so different about this group of girls?”
Kai had a point. I wasn’t acting like myself. “Gut feeling,” I said. “And as far as I’m concerned, my gut is worth listening to.”
“And if they’re just a couple of girls out for a hike?”
“They’re not,” I insisted, watching the ground below. “My gut has never stirred me wrong before.”
“If you say so.” Kai kept the chopper steady as I hoisted the bucket. Ranger had the first girl in his arms. She looked terrified. I helped her into the chopper and made sure she was buckled in and safe before returning to the wince. The process was repeated twice more and on the third time, I came face to face with the curvy goddess who had snagged my attention from the start.
The second my hand reached out to touch hers, sparks flew. It left me paralyzed for a moment, and that paralysis only intensified the second our gazes locked. It was like I could see a whole new world through those eyes. They spoke to me in a way other eyes had never done before.
“I don’t mean to interrupt whatever’s going on here, but we’ve got to buckle up if we’re going to make it back to the headquarters. I’m already pushing it with this tank of fuel. We don’t need any more delays.” Kai was looking directly at me. The tone of his voice helped break me from whatever trace she had put me in.
“Right this way.”
I led her toward the empty seat beside her friends by placing a hand on the small of her back. Again, I felt sparks. It made me want to my hands over her entire body just to see what would happen. And if touching her was enough to make me feel this way then I could only imagine what would happen if I did more than just touch.
“Here, let me,” I said as she struggled to buckle herself in. Like the others, there was a certain amount of fear written onto her face which was to be expected, given that she had been hoisted hundreds of feet into the air and now rode in a helicopter that was left wide open on either side. “And you’ve got nothing to worry about. You’re perfectly safe, now.”
She didn’t say a word, but I could tell that she was studying me for clues but her furrowed brows hinted that she didn’t quite know what to do with me. Could it be that she felt the same sparks flying through the air? Was that what had her so tongue-tied?
With the turbulence caused by a sudden gust of wind, my face got very close to hers where I could almost taste the sweetness of her lips. Just a little bit closer and –
“Come on, we don’t have all day here and we don’t have an unlimited take of gas,” Kai said, his tone impatient.
Knowing I was risking everyone’s lives by dwelling in my fantasies, I buckled her in, making sure the strap was snug around her hips. I didn’t want anything happening to a woman so fine because honestly, they’re a dime a dozen.
I took my own seat and Kai took off as Ranger nudged me. “What was that about?” Ranger whispered so the girls wouldn’t overhear. “You were practically drooling over her, man. I thought you had more self-control than that. I mean, I know you haven’t been with someone for a while but c’mon, that was pathetic, even for you.”
He continued to mock me, but I found it easy to ignore him. I had eye candy to admire and plenty of thoughts running through my head that was much more pleasant than my team member’s teasing.
“Shut up,” I snapped after a while just because I was getting sick of the sound of his voice. Of course, he failed to listen, but it hardly mattered because I caught her looking my way with a shy sort of curiosity.
Her eyes widened when she realized I had caught her in the act. In an instant, her cheeks became a rosy shade of pink but to my surprise, she didn’t look away. She allowed me to get lost in the depths of her eyes. Man, I could have stayed lost in those eyes forever. They spoke to me, whispering about a future yet to come but one that seemed so bright. But I was getting ahead of myself. This woman, although gorgeous, was a rescue and it was pretty damn likely that once she left the mountain I would never see her again. The smart thing to do was look away and create some distance but of course, doing so next to impossible. A girl like that is meant to be admired and if I had my way, I’d admire her every last inch, not just with my eyes, either.
***
We reached headquarters in record time.
“Any longer and we would have sputtered out,” said Kai. “Frankly, I’m amazed we even managed to make it. I swear, we were running on fumes for that final stretch.”
I clapped his shoulder with enough force where he stumbled forward. “The only thing that matters is that we got it.”
“And that we just rescued three gorgeous girls.” He whistled like an old cowboy trying to hit on the local girls. Sometimes Kai was nothing but cringe. However, the guy could fly a helicopter better than anyone, so I guess that’s why we’ve kept him around. “When you guys were making such a fuss and telling me that they were smoking, I was damned sure you were pulling my chain, but I have got to admit that I am surprised.”
I left Kai rambling because Ranger was helping the girls out of the helicopter and the girl that had filled my fantasies was on deck. I held out my hand.
“Easy,” I said. “Just jump and I’ll catch you.”
She seemed hesitant about putting that much faith in my catching abilities. She searched around for a ladder or something but when she saw none, she conceded and made the leap. I of course kept my promise and caught her, one hand on either hip, fingers tightening their grip to steady her. I should have released her the second I saw that she was on firm footing but I held her a little longer, feeling the buzz of having her near. It was like I had just taken a couple of shots of tequila.
“Um…? I think I’m okay now,” she said and I was forced to let her go. As if eager to get away from me, she followed the other girls into headquarters. Did she realize she was swinging her hips from side to side as she walked? That she was driving me insane with that body of hers?
“Come on, lover boy,” Kai teased. At least he had stopped rambling for the moment. “Let’s get you inside before you start to drool.” The idiot then made a hand motion, as if he were wiping drool from his chin and I glared daggers at our pilot but unfortunately, he wasn’t wrong.
There was something about this woman that was making me act like a fool. It was like she had somehow managed to rearrange my brain, crossing all the wires.
Damn, get a hold of yourself, came that voice of reason that often guided me through life. She’s just a woman. One that’s sexy as all hell, sure, but you’ve seen sexy women before and you’ve never let your brain fall out of your skull before.
“So, what were you ladies doing this far up the mountain?” asked Ranger. “I don’t mean to be rude or make an ass of myself by assuming but it doesn’t appear to me that you three are very much into the hiking scene. I would even wager a bet that hiking doesn’t make it onto your list of hobbies.”