This good and honorable man. His brave teammates.
And her, she’d probably die, too.
“You’re starting to worry me. What are you thinking about?” Mack stood right in front of her, forcing Marley to look up to meet his gaze.
She tried to think of a plausible lie to explain the expression on her face, but her mind went blank. All she could think about was how she’d been asked to betray him. Could she do something like that, even if it was to save her daughter?
Marley searched his gaze. Would he figure out a way to save her and Maddie if she told him about the threat? He’d promised to protect her with his life. She still had time to tell him . . .
She’d have to trust the fact that he would not act brashly and alert Ramsey. Trust also that Ramsey wasn’t close enough to hear them.
But hadn’t she already learned Mac had good instincts? He made decisions quickly, true, but they never lacked in judgment or logic. Her muscles pulled tighter than a bowstring and her ears started to roar. She could trust Mack. Just him. “Mack, I need to tell you something.”
Marley’s tongue darted out to wet her bone-dry lips.
Mack closed the distance between them, reaching up to gently caress her cheek. “Anything.”
“I—”
“What took you two so long?” Riser stepped out from the bushes beside them. Marley jumped and spun around, filled with sudden panic.
Riser’s gaze darted from her to Mack with a knowing gleam. “Oh, I see what took you so long.”
Mack’s arm encircled her waist and pulled her back against his chest. “Next time you should let me know you’re here before interrupting.”
Riser lifted his hands in surrender, but his face was full of mischief. “The boss man getting it on with the pilot lady. I was beginning to wonder if you could even perform anymore.”
Mack growled near her and Marley jumped in to intercede before the two got into some sort of testosterone-laden fight. “Of course he can. That’s a dumb thing to say.”
“So the she-tiger has claws. Good, you’ll need them to put up with his crap.” Riser softened his words with a smile and Marley realized they were simply teasing her.
She felt heat rise to her cheeks, and that heat tripled in intensity when the rest of the team stepped into the small clearing.
But none of the others had a teasing look on their face when they saw Mack’s arm around her. In fact, most of them looked downright suspicious. Their team leader, Hunter James, was the first one to speak up. “You should’ve been here yesterday.”
