Page 49 of Whiskey Run Heroes

He crosses his big, beefy arms across his big chest. I try to ignore the way the stance makes him look even more dominant. “What about you? Can you pull it off? You think people will believe that someone like you is happy with someone like me?”

I jerk, instantly offended. “What do you mean, someone like me?”

He leans forward and whispers, “I mean someone like you. A hot-ass stubborn woman that could have any man you want. You think people will believe you’re happily married to me?” He points at himself with his thumb.

Damn. It takes everything in me not to crawl into his lap right now. Any woman would be blessed to be with Bear. And it won’t be hard at all for me to pretend anything with this man. I pull at my shirt around my neck because suddenly the temperature of the plane just got way hotter. “Yeah,” I squeak and then clear my voice. “I can.”

His eyes never leave mine. “Well, this I can’t wait to fuckin’ see.”

Instead of getting into another argument with him, I just roll my eyes and turn back to the file as if I'm studying it. I want to kick myself. I always go for the emotionally unavailable men, and of course of all the men in Whiskey Run I like the one man that shows zero emotion. He looks as if he's impatient just sitting next to me. How the hell are we going to pull this off? There’s no way people are going to believe we’re happily married. Not like this.

4

BEAR

How can a two-hour plane ride seem twice as long? She thinks it's going to be hard to act like I like her when I'm doing my best to contain myself sitting next to her this whole damn time.

And the whole entire time, I held myself back, stopping myself from reaching for her hand, her arm, or even her thigh. I want my hands on her. God help me, when she was talking, I could barely pay attention to what she was saying, because the only thing that I was focused on was her lips. Fuck, they’re so kissable.

We're walking off the plane, down the hallway, and I’m letting her walk in front of me. She has an independent streak a mile long, and I'm trying not to infringe on that, so I've been walking behind her and just watching her hips sway back and forth.

She stops suddenly and turns, frowning at me. She takes the few steps back to me and grabs my hand, threading our fingers together. I look down at our intertwined hands and have to remind myself to breathe.

She leans in, and her voice is soft as she whispers in my ear, “We’re supposed to appear as a happily married couple, Bear. Right now you look as if you’re going to kill someone.”

I pull back to look at her, and there’s a man over her shoulder. He’s been beside us since we got off the plane and hasn’t been able to keep his eyes off Samantha since. It's driving me crazy, and it doesn't take much, but I'm already to my breaking point. I look at the guy and tell him, “Look, buddy, I suggest you stop staring at my wife and move on.”

The man notices me for the first time, which is hard to believe because I'm easily noticeable for how much bigger I am compared to others. His eyes widen, and he takes off in the opposite direction. I feel a little better, but not much. I have a feeling this won’t be the first time I have to run someone off on this mission.

Samantha gasps next to me, but I don't care. I'm not going to stand by and let someone stare her like that. I don't want anybody's eyes on her but me. I know that makes me territorial, and she probably doesn't fucking appreciate that, but I just can’t do it. I’m seething and about to cause a scene when she pulls me to her. Her tight body is pressed against mine, and I swear I’ve forgotten my name, not to mention what it is I’m mad about. She pats me on the chest. Her hand is warm right over my heart, and I know that she can feel it thundering underneath her palm.

I'm surprised when I look at her face because she's not mad. If anything, she's smiling from ear to ear. “Better. I mean, you don’t have to scare people off, but well played.”

She pulls my hand to lead me to the exit of the airport, and I follow behind her like a lovestruck little puppy.

She thought I was joking. She thought that it was all for show, that I ran that guy off to be convincing or whatever. Fuck, that's the furthest thing from the truth. I felt that insane, territorial jealous feeling coursing all the way through my body. I wasn't joking in the least. I won't stand by and let some man look at her the way that asshole was. This is probably going to be oneof the hardest missions I've ever been on in my life. I'm going to have to form a whole new level of self-control.

5

SAMANTHA

Three hours later, and I'm still fanning myself. I stare at the king-sized bed in the middle of the room and know that there is no way I'm going to survive this mission. I may have lived through combat. I may have survived being shot at in enemy territory, but I will not survive sleeping in the same bed as Bear. My eyes flick to him sitting on the balcony. As soon as we walked into the room, he took one look at the bed, dropped the bags that he insisted on carrying, and then went straight outside the balcony door.

I expected him to get on his phone or something like that, but he didn't. And I've been watching him. I hate to admit it, but I thought maybe he wanted to check out the women on the beach or by the pool, both which we have a great view of. I’ve not heard of Bear hooking up with anyone—heck, for all I know he could have a girlfriend or fiancée at home. But I don't think that's the case. He has sat in the same position ever since he got out there, staring at his hands the whole time, playing with the wedding band on his finger.

Instantly I look down at the big rock on my mine. I still can't believe that he went and bought the wedding rings. I have so many questions about it. Like what was he thinking? Who washe thinking about? What does he plan to do with them after this? Surely, he'll just return them, right? I shake my head and sit on the chair in the corner of the room. From here I have a perfect view of the bed and of Bear. Instantly a thousand images start to play in my mind, and it’s all sweaty bodies, my legs wrapped around his waist, his big hands holding mine to the bed. I have a full body tremble and shake my head to try to get the images out.

I jump up and decide that I just need to go on about my business. He can sit out there and stew on whatever it is he’s thinking about. I’m going to shower and get ready for dinner. I take my time, and at the end of it, I turn the faucet to cold to help calm my nerves. It isn't until I'm done that I realize I have not brought in any clothes.

With a towel wrapped around me, I walk out and head straight for the bags on the bed. It isn't until I'm bent over, digging in the bag that I realize Bear has taken up his position in the chair in the corner of the room. He's leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, openly staring at me.

“I'm sorry, I forgot to take my bag into the bathroom,” I tell him.

His gaze goes down my body all the way to my pink toes and then back up again. I wish I could see what he's thinking. His face is completely guarded. He grunts something, but I can't make out what it is. I almost ask him to repeat it, but I can’t get past the thickness of my throat. He has me all turned on because he keeps watching me. I don't think it's my imagination or maybe it's just hopeful thinking on my part, but my whole body comes alive underneath his gaze.

I grab a pair of panties and a sundress and hold it up, then drop it quickly, realizing I'm showing him my panties. I barely resist smacking my hand across my forehead.You are such a fool, Samantha.That’sit,justshowthemanyourpanties.Geez, you’d think I’d never been around a good-looking man before.

I walk quickly away back into the bathroom and shut the door. I dress quickly, take a few breaths, and then walk back out into the room, hoping that we can disregard and forget everything that just happened moments ago. As soon as I’m back into the bedroom, he stands up, and for a second I think he's walking toward me, and I suck in a breath and hold it. But he doesn’t come to me. Instead, he goes to the bed and grabs his bag and walks past me, completely ignoring me.

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