Marcus
It wasn’t that I didn’t know I was completely fucked—I just didn’t want to admit it.
I was hiking with Dani the day after she’d spilled some of her list to me, suddenly realizing that I
didn’t miss being on an airplane or in a foreign country at all. It was the first time I’d actually been
stateside for more than a few days, and I wasn’t the least bit edgy or eager to get back on my private jet
and fly away.
I held her hand tightly as we both navigated down a rocky incline, worried as hell that something
would happen to her. Jesus! I think I’d be fucking upset if she so much as broke a damn fingernail—not
that she had long nails to break.
After everything she’d been through, all I wanted to do was protect her, make sure nothing bad ever
happened to her again. I still had nightmares about seeing her right after her brutal captivity, and it wasn’t
something I wanted to see ever again. Hell, I didn’t want to see her unhappy in any way.
Maybe she didn’t see herself as strong, but she was one of the gutsiest women I knew. Honestly, she
probably should have died while she had been held captive, but she’d pulled through it, and was still
willing to risk her ass again trying to take down a man who was hurting other people. Danica’s capacity to
care about someone other than herself was probably both a curse
and a blessing. Sometimes I almost wished she’d be more selfish, but then she wouldn’t be Dani.
“I’m okay, Marcus,” she said breathlessly beside me. We’d reached the bottom of the rocky area and
had our feet on solid ground. “You can stop squeezing my hand. I’m not going to fall.”
I released the pressure on her fingers, not even realizing I was holding them hard enough to cut off her
blood supply. “Sorry,” I rumbled. “I wanted you to have support if you fell.”
“I won’t fall,” she promised, shooting me a happy, glowing smile as we trekked along beside each
other.
Her grin made me feel like somebody had punched me in the gut. That’s how I knew I was screwed.
All she had to do was show any sign that she was happy and it had me thinking about how I was ever
going to let her go.
Fuck that! She’s not going anywhere! The woman needed somebody to ke ep her out of trouble, and I
was more than willing to volunteer for the job.
We were so much alike, yet so damn different. Neither one of us had ever put down permanent roots
and let them grow. What I’d told her yesterday was the truth. I hadn’t ever found anybody who made me
want to slow down traveling.
Until her. Until now. Her sadness over things she might have missed if she actually had died made me
want to help her experience every one of those items on her list. Sadly, I wasn’t much help in telling her
what was worth missing and what wasn’t. My life had been as career-focused as hers.
Every moment I’d spent with her had been worth whatever I’d missed in my business life. I’d been
overseeing my responsibilities from home, and very few things had needed my personal attention. My
conglomerate had so much upper and middle management that they didn’t constantly need me anymore.
Everything ran just fine without me racing all over the planet.
Problem was, now that I’d experienced how good it felt to start being part of my family again, and I
had Dani with me, I was afraid I’d grow to like the contentment way too much.
I was a loner. I never stayed in one place for very long. Hell, I wasn’t even sure what I’d do with
myself if I wasn’t always on the go.
Right now, my focus was on getting Dani to relax and just be happy. She’d jumped out of one bad
situation and into the next way too fast. There had been little time for her to recover, and it didn’t surprise
me that she’d experienced a panic attack after going so long without them.
I might not be the perfect guy to teach her how to relax. I wasn’t exactly Mr. Calm and Happy. But I
knew one thing... nobody cared about her well- being more than I did.
“Are you okay?” Dani asked quietly. I shook myself out of my thoughts. “Yeah. I’m good.” “You
were frowning,” she pointed out. “And you looked like you were de ep in thought.”
I shook my head. “Nothing important.” Just me making a life plan for you in my mind! Jesus! She
was a grown adult. It was none of my business what she did in the future. We’d helped each other achieve
a common goal: getting Becker put away for good.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, I’d stopped seeing her as just a cooperative journalist. Hell,
I probably had never looked at her as just a r eporter. There had never been a day when I hadn’t wanted to
nail her, and today was no exc eption. But there was a hell of a lot more than just sex between the two of
us. We’d established a kind of intimacy that I’d never experienced with a woman before.
That was how I’d come to the conclusion that I was downright screwed, and I wasn’t sure that I cared.
Being with her felt too damn good to worry about how in volved I was becoming. But I probably
knew, de ep down inside, that I might end up regretting it. However, even knowing that I might end up
completely alone and pissed off wasn’t enough to deter me.
“It’s raining,” I informed her, suddenly feeling the light sprinkle that may or may not have been
falling for a while.
“It feels good,” she answered. “It was getting hot.” We were both dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. I’d
donned a pair of underused hiking boots while Dani had slipped on sneakers for our jaunt.
“At least it’s not storming,” I r eplied. There was no thunder or lightning, and Dani was right. It had
been getting warm.
“We’re almost home, right?” she asked curiously, not sounding the least bit concerned.
“Almost,” I agreed. I stopped in the woods, causing her to halt with me. “But it reminds me of
something. It’s on your list.”
She looked confused for a moment, her puzzled expression and questioning eyes looking for
clarification.
I nudged her backward until her body came into contact with the trunk of an enormous pine tree.
“Time for that kiss in the rain,” I explained in a husky voice. “It was on your wish list of things you’d
never done.”
God, I loved the way she smiled and tilted her face up to absorb the raindrops falling from the sky
before r eplying, “Yes, it is,” she answered. “An experience you said you didn’t know about yourself.”
I shrugged. What in the hell did I know about romance? I had quick fucks. I didn’t get emotionally
in volved. “It could be interesting.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck. “We could try it,” she told me suggestively.
When she swiped a bead of rain from her lips with the tip of her tongue, I nearly lost it. My cock
strained against the denim material of my jeans as I grew transfixed by a pair of tempting lips that I
couldn’t resist.
“Make it happen,” I insisted, bracing my hands on the massive tree trunk, one on each side of her
head.
I wanted her to initiate the embrace. I had no fucking idea what I’d do if she didn’t because there was
no way I was turning back now.
I needed her too damn much. Watching her eyes, I could almost see her brain working as she
contemplated exactly what to do.
Kiss me, dammit!
For one long moment, I waited for her to act, my heart nearly galloping out of my chest as we simply
stared at each other, both of us wanting the same damn thing.
Finally, she threaded her hands into my damp hair and pulled my head down.
Desperate, I met her halfway.