He’d been stupid to leave the plane, but he’d been concerned about the look of panic on Zoey’s face and wanted to get her to safety.
Fuck, he’d been an idiot.
He had no idea who was behind this, but he was going to find out. Whoever had planned this had seriously underestimated his abilities.
He was a fucking Navy SEAL, for God’s sake. He’d been through cold-weather training and he’d spent more than his fair share of time in the wilderness. And while he had no idea where they were, he’d figure it out as soon as he could get Zoey calmed down.
While his duffle was still on the plane with the deceptively helpful and kind Eve, he never went anywhere without some basics in his pockets. Once a SEAL, always a SEAL.
He felt Zoey take a huge breath as she attempted to get herself under control. He appreciated it. He didn’t mind crying women, but he was a man of action. They had a lot to do and everything within him said he needed to get started. Though, holding Zoey wasn’t exactly a hardship.
Back in high school, he’d definitely noticed Zoey when she’d transferred to his school. She’d been the new kid, and of course all the guys had their eyes on her. She’d been shy and soft-spoken, and something about her had called to him. But then Malcom had asked her out, and after the way things had ended between them, it seemed weird to pursue her, to see if she might be interested in the other brother.
He’d already been burned by girls who didn’t care which brother they dated. Even in high school, he’d wanted a woman who wanted him and only him.
And he’d also been more concerned with keeping his grades up and getting into the navy than dating.
But holding Zoey right now, and having her turn to him for comfort when she’d thought they were crashing, felt good. Really good. He was used to being in charge, being someone people turned to in precarious situations, but having Zoey rely on him felt different. Felt right.
Taking a deep breath of his own and mentally telling himself to chill out, that they were about to have an extremely difficult few days—hopefully it would be only a few days—Bubba put his hands on Zoey’s shoulders and gently pushed her back so he could see her face.
Her eyes were puffy and her face was blotchy from crying, but he didn’t see panic, which was good. He could deal with her being scared and unsure, but panic was a harder emotion to combat.
“Feel better?” he asked.
She nodded, but said, “No.”
Bubba couldn’t help it. He chuckled. That was one more thing he remembered about Zoey. She could make him laugh at the most surprising times. “Right. First of all, I need to apologize.”
She frowned. “For what?”
“I should’ve been paying attention. I know better. But I was tired, and I let my guard down. It won’t happen again.”
“Mark, this isn’t your fault. How could we know this would happen?”
Much like it had in the airport, hearing his given name on her lips made him feel…odd. He couldn’t put his finger on why, though, so he simply ignored it. “Well, we both know my pop had plenty of money. So I’m guessing someone didn’t want us to make it back to Juneau for the reading of the will.”
“That’s stupid,” Zoey said. “I mean, making us disappear isn’t going to automatically make the money go to someone else…is it?”
Bubba shrugged. “I have no idea. I don’t know what was in Pop’s will or how he worded it. If he set up a trust, it’s possible if I was indisposed—or dead—it would go to someone else.”
Zoey’s eyes got big. “Who do you think is behind this?”
“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” he asked. “And something I should be asking you. You spent a lot more time with Pop than I did. Who do you think would want to get rid of us?”
“Us? I’m nobody. I wasn’t even related to Colin. Why would anyone include me in their scheme?”
“Another good question,” Bubba told her, glad she’d stopped crying. “And maybe you just had the bad luck of sharing a plane with me. But as far as you being a nobody, that’s definitely not true. I hadn’t seen Pop in forever, but I know that you’ve been by his side for over a decade. You were very important to him, and since he included you in his will, you definitely weren’t a nobody to him, either.”
Zoey stared at him in silence, and Bubba couldn’t read what she was thinking.
Eventually, she closed her eyes and sighed. “So someone wanted us both dead, or at least out of the picture so we couldn’t claim your dad’s inheritance? It’s a stupid plan.”
Again, Bubba chuckled. That definitely wasn’t what he thought she’d say. “I agree. Because if we are declared dead, whatever Pop left us will go to our heirs.”
“But it still leaves us with the question of who wants us dead,” Zoey said.
Bubba nodded. “Yes. But we have bigger things to deal with at the moment.”
Zoey looked around them. She hadn’t pulled out of his grasp. Bubba saw that she had a fleece-lined shirt tied around her waist, and he moved his hands down to tug at the knot.
“What are you—”
Before she could finish her question, he moved behind her and helped her shrug on the shirt. The temperature was in the lower sixties right now, but he was glad she had the extra layer because it would get quite chilly at night.
“Thank you,” she said when he walked back around her.
“We aren’t going to die out here,” he said in a sure, serious tone.
Zoey tilted her head up to look him in the eyes. “You don’t know that.”
“I do. Whoever was behind this messed up.”
She raised an eyebrow at him.
Bubba felt his lips curling upward again. God, she was adorable. “Their first mistake was thinking dropping us off in the middle of nowhere was going to get rid of us.”
“I hate to break it to you, Superman, but we have no food. No transportation. No way of contacting anyone. No shelter.” Zoey looked around comically. “And I don’t see any Ubers lining up to take us home.”
“Oh, ye of little faith,” he chided. “On a scale of one to ten, how comfortable are you with the outdoors?”
She frowned and wrinkled her nose. “Maybe a four. Four and a half,” she said.
Bubba beamed. “Perfect.”
“Perfect? Has anyone ever told you that you’re insane?”
“My teammates, actually,” he told her, straight-faced. “If you had said zero or one, then things might’ve been a little more difficult, but I can work with a four.”
Zoey shook her head and rolled her eyes, making Bubba suddenly want to grab ahold of her head and kiss the look of exasperation off her face. He didn’t have time to examine that reaction before she was talking again.
“Seriously, you’re crazy. I mean, I live in Juneau, so of course I’m somewhat familiar with the outdoors. You know as well as I do that we all like to be outside as much as possible in the summer because it’s so miserable, cold, and dark in the winters.”
“I do know that. What about exercise?”
“What about it?” she asked.
“Do you do it?”