“Darn, I was just about to tell her how loudly you snore.”
“I don’t snore, asshole,” Cole said, then turned his gaze on Avery. “You all right?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” she asked.
“No reason,” he said with a smile. “So, you and Phantom got along?”
“Yup,” Avery said, not elaborating.
The smile on Cole’s face widened for a moment, then he got serious and turned to Phantom. “This is gonna be tricky.”
The other SEAL nodded. “Yeah, I figured as much.”
“Why?” Avery asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, per se,” Cole told her. “The actual landing zone for the chopper is tight but—”
“Meaning?” Avery interrupted, not understanding the terminology.
“Meaning there’s barely room for our guys to land, but that won’t matter. There’s lots of cover leading up to the top of the mountain, though once we’re there, it thins out and we’ll be sitting ducks when we run to the helicopter. And the rocks may give us cover before we catch our ride—but they’ll also give the insurgents cover as well. That’s our biggest issue. There’s a small camp on the other side from where we are right now; must be where those guys came from earlier. If they got their share of the weapons from that convoy, this isn’t going to be the easy extraction we were hoping for.”
“Should we cancel it and go back the other way?” Avery asked, nervous now.
Phantom shook his head. “No. We need to get you out of here. You need to see a doctor then work on identifying the traitor who put you in this position in the first place. Rocco told me there’s a team of Delta Force who just arrived to help track down the assholes who killed their army brethren, and I’m sure they’ll be interested in hearing what you saw as well. We’ve been in trickier situations than this, Avery, don’t worry.”
Don’t worry. Yeah, right. Avery didn’t like the sound of a “camp” of insurgents being on the other side of the mountain they were climbing to get a ride back to the American military base. “I’m fine,” she said stubbornly. “I can walk to another pickup point.”
Cole moved then, came closer and squatted down in front of her. She did her best not to let her gaze rest between his legs, but come on, he’d pretty much made that impossible. Before raising her eyes, she noted that he was extremely well-built. All over.
Smirking, as if he knew exactly where her eyes had been, he brushed a fingertip over her cheek. “God, you’re pretty when you blush.”
Which of course made her blush even more.
“A team of Night Stalkers will be flying in to get us. Do you know who they are?”
Avery shook her head.
“They’re a specialized unit of helicopter pilots who are tasked to work with special forces. They’re used to flying in and out of hot zones and they’re the best of the best. It’ll take two minutes, tops, for them to arrive, drop a ladder, allow us to grab it, and take off while hoisting us into the helicopter. It takes longer than that for an RPG to be readied and fired.”
Avery wasn’t exactly convinced, but she felt as if she’d be ungrateful if she continued to argue. “Okay.”
Cole huffed out a breath, as if he knew she was only going along with him because she had no other choice.
“If we change the plan now, we’ll be on our own for at least another two days. We don’t have enough water purification tablets or food for the three of us for that long. Phantom and I could go without easily, but you can’t. Not after two weeks of nothing to eat. But most worrisome are the insurgents. We took a chance on doubling back to this area to lose the men chasing us. It worked, but in the last twelve hours, it looks as if those terrorists have come home to roost, so to speak. The last thing any of us want is to risk you being recaptured.
“You’re the most important asset right now, Avery. You’re the only one who can identify the traitor and avenge the two privates who were killed, and possibly the hundreds more men and women who will be murdered as a direct result of those weapons getting into the hands of the insurgents.”
“Jeez,” Avery complained, “when you put it like that, I feel like an asshole for hesitating.”
“I’m sorry,” Cole said. “I don’t mean to give you a guilt trip. All I’m trying to do is make sure you realize that this is the best option at the moment. Phantom and I will do everything in our power to make sure you get out of this in one piece.”
“I know. As long as you don’t do anything stupid,” Avery said.
“Never,” Cole said with a smile and a wink. “Now, if you and Phantom are done having a nice cuppa tea and a chat, how about we make our way to the extraction point?”
Avery nodded and stood, with Cole’s assistance. The second she was upright, he pulled her into a hug. Avery hung on tightly, feeling his beard rub against her cheek as he embraced her. It felt good.
“Trust me,” Cole said softly. “I’m not going to do anything to screw up that date you promised me. I’ve waited too long to just fuck that up at the zero hour.”
Avery chuckled, then said softly, “Would it make you think less of me if I admitted that I’m scared to death?”
“No. I’d be more concerned if you were looking at this as some grand adventure,” Cole told her.
Then he shocked the shit out of her by kissing her temple, then her cheek, then brushing his lips lightly against her own. His beard tickled her face, and she liked it. Without thought, she brought a hand up and stroked the side of his face and beard.
“It’s soft,” she whispered.
He smiled, and when she went to drop her hand, he brought his own up, trapping her palm against his cheek. “I need to get it trimmed,” he said.
“Maybe a little, but I kinda like it.”
Cole’s intense dark eyes bored into hers. “I’m glad. It helps me blend in on the job in countries like this, but honestly, I’ve gotten used to it. I think I’d feel naked without it.”
“I’m not asking you to shave it off,” Avery assured.
“I would,” Cole told her. “If you said you hated it, I’d shave it off in a heartbeat.”
Avery knew her heart was beating overtime. She knew they had to leave. That they weren’t exactly safe and Phantom could probably hear every word they were saying, but she couldn’t look away from Cole’s eyes. “I don’t hate it,” she reassured him.
“Good.”
They stood there, Cole holding her hand to his face for a long moment. Then he finally dropped his hand and, after kissing her once more on the forehead, stepped back. “Are you good? Do you need another energy pack before we head up to the drop zone?”
Avery shook her head, trying to understand what had just happened between them. They’d connected on a level she hadn’t ever shared with a man before. Their chemistry was intense, and while she was scared about what the next few hours would bring, she couldn’t help but feel excited for what might happen between them when they got back to Riverton.
She watched as Phantom and Cole picked up their packs and shrugged them on. She wanted to volunteer to carry something again, but knew they’d say no. So she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and being as quiet as possible.