Page 99 of Tangled up in You

The men exchanged a confused glance and replied in unison, “No!”

She planted her hands on her hips. “Then why are you here? You made it pretty clear you weren’t interested in me.”

Mark had the audacity to gape at her. “Followyou? Why areyouhere?” He pointed toward the cartful of groceries. “We fuckinglivehere. Looks likeyoufollowedus!”

Chris eased between them. “Let’s back up a step,” he said. “Literally and metaphorically.” Then he turned to her. “Mark and I work and live in the park. He’s a park ranger.”

Oh, shit.

That’s when something that had nagged at her all day yesterday finally slipped into place. “Wait. Hold on a minute. Are youMarcusPowell andChristopherWright?”

They exchanged a wary glance. “Yes?” they said in unison.

She blew out an aggravated and relieved breath.Aggralieved? Had to be a word, right?“My name is Dr. JessicaLynn Scott.” She sarcastically waved. “Hi. Dr. Fornier-Thomas arranged for you to take me into the park.”

The men exchanged yet another look. “Oh,” they both said, and while that was cute it was also irritating in this situation.

“Yeah,oh,” she said, blowing a stray hair out of her face. “I guess I should have put that together.”

Chris smiled while Mark took another half-step back. “Ha! That’s crazy, right?” Chris said. “I didn’t even recognize you from your picture on the website. With the glasses and hair.”

“I figured contacts weren’t suitable for wilderness activities. And less for me to deal with.”

She left out the part that she knew exactly which picture he meant, her official corporate photo that was on the website and on her official work badge. She went for that look deliberately to make herself appear older and imposing to help deflect some of the typical bullshit she encountered from tech-bros.

“You’reDr. Scott?” Mark asked, disbelief tinging his tone.

“Pretty sure I am, yeah,” she said. “It’s what my diploma says. I mean, I’m not a pill-prescribing doctor. Is that a problem?”

“No, because I have one of those, too,” Chris said. “A doctorate. And don’t mind him. He always takes his sweet time chewing on his foot before pulling it out of his mouth.”

She really liked Chris. “Maybe use some hot sauce?”

Chris cackled and fist-bumped with her. “And here he thought you might be a drug mule.”

“Wait,what?” She stared at Mark, who had the decency to turn red. “Why thehellwould you assumethat?”

He pointed to his uniform…which he filled out quite nicely, come to think of it. Including a badge and a gun on his hip. “Hellooo, I’m a park ranger. It’s part of my training. A womantraveling alone with a fancy car like yours, dressed the way you were, and being evasive with your answers?—”

“Dude! I was by myself and talking to a stranger. Like I’m going to volunteer I’m the daughter of Gudbrand Klevenson.”

Mark looked like he had no clue who her father was—which, ironically, relieved her.

Chris gasped. “Your dad isGudbrandKlevenson?”

“Yeah. You’ve heard of him?”

He looked at Mark. “Her father is like one of the top 100 richest people on theplanet!”

“He’s 126 as of last year,” she said. “And now you see why I’m not eager to advertise that I’m traveling alone.”

“Whyare you traveling alone?” Mark asked. “Shouldn’t you have a bodyguard or something?”

“I would if my father had his way. Unless I tell people who I am, if they aren’t familiar with my field they usually have no clue who I am.”

“Well, that explains the fancy car,” Mark snarked, as if being wealthy was a bad thing.

Well, okay, there were plenty of wealthy people who were not a fraction as rich as her father who were douchebags, not counting all the people as wealthy as and even wealthier than her father who should be sent on one-way trips to Mars for the greater good of humanity.

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