The wet fluff wasn’t as thick on the ground as it had been right up against the tent—likely due to the wind—but it was still four or five inches deep. It blunted the features around them, the way a cloth thrown over an ornate chair only revealed its basic shape. Todd wanted to wait a few more hours to head out, but all she could think about was Megan, who’d been stuck with those awful men for more than two days now.
The oatmeal turned to dust in Lindsey’s mouth. She set the bowl on the ground and looked at Todd. “I have to go after her.”
He nodded. “We will. Let’s see if some of the snow melts—”
“No. If we wait until conditions are better, it’ll be better for JJ and his guys to leave too.” She stood and rubbed her parka-clad arms. “I know you think I’m being rash, but I can’t wait any longer. You don’t have to come. I don’t want to put you in extra danger for someone you don’t even know.”
He rose too, shaking his head. “If you want to go now, we’ll go. It’s not ideal, but maybe it never will be. I’m sure as hell not letting you walk into that compound alone.”
CHAPTER TEN
LINDSEY GAPED AT Todd. Maybe his outburst had surprised her. Or his support. Did she really think he’d let her march off after Megan by herself?
He rubbed his fingers over the knit cap he’d snugged down past his ears. Clearly, she didn’t know him at all. Which, duh. Two days might be enough to start catching feelings, but that didn’t mean they knew each other. Not really.
Whatever. “Help me pack up and we’ll head out,” he said, cleaning up their breakfast mess.
The shooting had stopped, and he could tell the absence of it bothered her almost as much as the noise. Whether that silence meant the men were leaving or had merely finished target practice, they’d find out soon enough.
Todd looked at his snow-dusted tent. If he lightened his load—or better yet, left most of it behind—they could move faster. Plus, depending on her condition, he might need to carry Megan out of the compound. He couldn’t do that with a full pack.
Worst case, they could return here and camp would already be set up.
“Any chance you’d let me go alone?” he asked, running through a mental checklist of everything he needed. He didn’t expect her to say yes—wasn’t sure he wanted her to—but he’d regret it later if he didn’t offer.
“You would do that?”
The tone of her voice made him look over at her. “Of course.”
“Why?”
“Never mind that rescuing people is what I did for a living as a PJ. Or that I have the training and the experience to get in and out alive.” He closed the gap between them and held her gaze as the first rays of dawn washed the sky. “Mostly I hate the idea of you anywhere near those assholes and their guns. If anything happened to you…”
He couldn’t stand the thought.
“What would hurt me,” she said, “is having something happen to you while I sat out the rescue like a coward. Especially because this is my mess, and Megan is my friend. If I were paying you, it might be different, but you’re an innocent bystander.”
Hardly. “It’s not a contest.” Couldn’t she see that he was far more qualified for this op? “I would do it anyway, but I need to save Megan as much as you do. She’s our alibi. You and I were both thrown into something beyond our control.”
“Then we should both go to the compound.”
Shit. He actually laughed. He’d walked right into that one, hadn’t he?
Lindsey crossed her arms. “If I had to wait here, wondering what you were facing, if Megan was alive, when—or if—you’d return, I’d go out of my fucking mind.”
He palmed the back of her head and let his forehead fall against hers, sighing a foggy puff of surrender. “Okay.”
He could tell himself she’d be safer with him than stuck alone in the wilderness as a novice camper. He could make a convincing case that he might need her help with Megan, or to act as a lookout. He could argue that JJ’s men might find her here alone and unprotected and do…things he couldn’t even bring himself to ponder.
But ultimately, he just wanted them to stay together.
He had this—probably misguided—feeling, superstition maybe, that they’d be safer with each other than alone. Honestly, there were no great options. Might as well keep her close as long as possible.
She pressed her cool, dry lips to his and he fell into the kiss, buoyed by her touch, her taste, the hunger that coursed through him. If they survived, he was going to beg her to go someplace where they could be naked for a week, nonstop.
Their tongues wrestled desperately. He wanted to strip her bare and lay her in the snow and love her until neither of them could see straight. Instead, he gave her one last hard kiss before releasing her, both of them catching their breath as they stared into each other’s eyes.
Ten minutes later, he finished stashing everything in the tent and looked at her, more afraid for someone else than he’d ever been in his life. “Ready?”
