Reese had never been more desperate forfresh air than he was as they strolled out of the small candle shop. He didn’t dare look back, feeling Carl’s eyes boring holes into him as he walked away.
“Sorry about that, girl,” he told Tesha, helping her into the truck.
He climbed into the passenger side and buckled his seat belt.
“You enjoyed that a little too much,” he told Brantley as they were pulling out of the parking lot of the retail center.
“What? That he was flirtin’ with you?”
Reese rolled his eyes and looked out the window, but his smile came easily.
“I’m curious about one thing, though.”
Reese peered back at him. “What’s that?”
“Justhoweasily do I put you in the mood?”
“It only takes a look, Navy boy.”
The sound of Brantley’s laughter rolled through him. “My wickedly skilled mouth doesn’t hurt either, huh?”
“It’s not bad.”
Brantley’s head snapped over, eyes narrowed. “Not bad?”
Reese laughed, content he’d managed to get that parting shot in there. “You might just need a little more practice.”
“Yeah?”
Reese’s thoughts drifted back to the earlier encounter on the couch when Brantley had blown his mind with minimal effort. Any witty retort he’d intended came out as a groan as his body hardened just from the memory.
He managed to keep himself under control, not wanting this to get out of hand since they still had work left to do.
Brantley’s cell phone rang.
“Walker,” he answered curtly.
“Hey, boss.” Luca’s voice came through the speakers in the truck.
“Tell me you found somethin’,” Brantley said in lieu of a pleasantry.
“Not much, but I was able to get you the last location that phone pinged from. It’s a pretty rural area about an hour from here. I checked out satellite images, and it looks like a lake dotted with a few cabins. I can’t pinpoint which one.”
“Send me the coordinates,” Brantley instructed. “We’re gonna go check it out.”
“Will do. Anything else you need?”
Reese watched Brantley, waiting for him to bring up that Luca had been out with Honor earlier. He could tell it was hovering on the tip of his tongue, but to Reese’s surprise, he didn’t mention it.
“No. We should be good. I’ll hit you up if I need anything else.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
The call disconnected.
“I have to say, I’m impressed,” Reese told him.
“Don’t be.”
