“That’s not conclusive evidence that they’re going underground,” he pointed out.
“It’s not conclusive evidence that they’re not either,” Cage countered. “You of all people know how advantageous an underground bunker is in the face of a threat. And we still don’t know how Dwayne Freed and those vandals got as close as they did without being detected.”
Mad Dog understood. Thanks to his time overseas, he was intimately familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of underground caves and networks.
“I do. But Petraski and friends aren’t special teams, are they? Six-by-sixes and aluminum beams can be used for a lot more than shoring up old tunnels. Judging by some of the way their compound shacks are slapped together, they might just be looking to upgrade what they’ve already got.”
“Maybe,” Church agreed, but his expression was doubtful.
Mad Dog wondered what he knew that the rest of them didn’t. The guy liked to play things close to the vest and was the poster child for disseminating information on a need-to-know basis. However, Mad Dog also knew that if they did need to know something, they would.
Proving his point, Church added, “Regardless, we need to know what’s under our feet.”
They all murmured their agreement.
“So,” Doc said, shifting gears, “how’d the big date go?”
Mad Dog withheld his sigh. So much for no cross-examination. “It went fine.” He pointed at the screen. “Can I access those from my laptop?”
Cage nodded. His smile suggested Mad Dog’s change of subject had not gone unnoticed.
“Good. I’ll check them out along with these.” He stood and tapped the cylinder containing the plans.
If he’d thought he’d have a clean getaway, he was mistaken. Church followed him out, and it sure as hell wasn’t because he needed an escort.
“Something on your mind, Church?”
“You went out with Kate Handelmann,” Church said, his tone giving nothing away.
It wasn’t a question, but Mad Dog nodded anyway.
“Was she pumping you for information about us?”
“No,” he answered honestly, then narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“The Handelmanns have been around for a long time.”
“So? I thought they were good people.”
“They are. They’re also tight with a lot of local VIPs—not to mention, they depend on the business of those VIPs to survive. We already know they’ve been supplying a lot of the materials used by Petraski and the other preppers, and Kate’s ex is the one handling the finances.”
“Again, I ask, so?”
“So, you need to keep that in the back of your mind.”
“Duly noted. We done?”
Church grimaced. “Yeah, we’re done.”
Mad Dog grabbed his coat and left, feeling hot enough under the collar that he probably didn’t need it. He was irrationally angry at Church’s unspoken but very clear insinuation—that Kate might be using him to get inside information. What made him even angrier was the possibility that Church could be right.
He didn’t want to believe that Kate was interested in spending time with him for any other reason than she wanted to. It certainly hadn’t felt as if she had an ulterior motive. Not when they’d talked over dinner and definitely not when he’d kissed her good night.
Could he trust his instincts where Kate was concerned? Or was he allowing what he wanted to cloud the reality of what was? He wasn’t exactly an expert on women. While he held immense appreciation for the opposite sex, he hadn’t actively pursued or participated in relationships because he never felt strongly enough about anyone to want to.
Kate was different. He’d felt instantly drawn to her. And he definitely wanted more.
He was still grumbling when he reached his trailer, the excitement of exploring and mapping out underground routes overshadowed by Church’s unwelcome and unsolicited warning.
Tossing the cylinder on the sofa seat, he removed his coat and pulled his phone out of the zippered pocket. The light was blinking, informing him of a missed text. He swiped his print across the screen and immediately felt his heart speed up.
Kate: My lips are still tingling.
He laughed and thumbed out a response.
Mad Dog: Good.
He followed that up with a winking smiley face. That alone proved that the woman affected him. It might have been his first use of an emoji ever.
Chapter Ten
Kate
Kate looked at Chris’s text and grinned like an idiot, picturing him pulling those fine male lips into a devastating smile.
She shifted, feeling yet another flare of desire as her thoughts ventured into wicked territory. She hadn’t specified which set of “lips” were tingling. Spoiler alert: both.
That was a novel feeling for Kate. The man’s kisses had been potent enough to have her blood simmering with unrealized potential, making her feel like what her grandmother would have called a sexpot.
And not just his kisses. His touch. His deep, bone-liquefying, panty-melting voice.
Gah. She was officially suffering from the worst case of lust she’d ever had. She needed to get a handle on that, pronto, before she said or did something she’d regret.
She really liked this guy and didn’t want to screw things up. In addition to pushing her feminine hot buttons, he was also intelligent, funny, gentlemanly, and extremely easy to be around.
Fortunately, Chris seemed to have a better grip on his self-control than she had on hers and had been able to stop things before they went too far, too fast. If it had been up to her, they’d have been upstairs in her bedroom, putting her box spring to the ultimate test—assuming he wasn’t a quick-shooter, that was.
She didn’t think he was a quick shooter. She thought he was the type of man who would take his time and be very, very thorough, eliciting every possible drop of pleasure and making it last.
Unfortunately, that left her feeling rather ... restless. She was coping by sitting on her couch in her favorite super-soft flannel PJs with a cup of hot chocolate, topped with mini marshmallows and a lot of whipped cream. If she couldn’t satisfy one desire, she would compensate with another. Chocolate, marshmallow, and whipped cream couldn’t compare to good sex, but it was the next best thing.
She bit her lip and typed out a response.
Kate: I had a great time tonight.
Three dots popped up on her screen, disappeared, and then appeared again. That happened several times before her phone chimed with an incoming call.
“I hope you don’t mind. I thought this would be easier.” Hearing Chris’s deep, rich voice sent a fresh wave of tingles through her.
“Not at all. I prefer talking to texting, but I didn’t want to bother you.”
“You could never be a bother, Kate.”
Her heart—and a few other things—warmed. The way he’d said it, she could almost believe him.
“Same.” She winced after the word was out of her mouth, realizing just how lame that sounded.
He chuckled. “Good to know.”
“So ... what are you doing?”
“You mean, besides trying not to think of what we might be doing had I not walked away?”