Page 47 of Whiskey Run Heroes

Eventually, the guys start to talk, and they mention the trip to Florida. Thankfully, the mission was a success. Everything was resolved except there were a few hiccups, like when Madison showed up at the drop when Knox was supposed to be guarding her at the hotel.

“Man, I had fun in Florida. I wouldn’t mind going back. How about it, Sam? I can pose as the husband if it means I get to relax beachside.”

Logan slaps Knox on the back and starts laughing. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. I bet you’re on desk duty for letting Madison skip out.”

Knox instantly looks at John. “I’m sorry, man. Who would have thought your girl would be an ex-gymnast and could scale the side of buildings?”

Everyone is laughing when the doors open, but instantly the whole room quiets. Every eye in the room is on Bear and Nash as they walk back in. I try to read their body language, but neither one of them seems mad. They seem normal. Well, normal for Bear, anyway. He still has a scowl on his face.

Bear takes his seat, and instead of looking at Nash, he looks straight at me. My whole body turns hot, and I can feel myself start to sweat. There are butterflies in my stomach, and I’m so confused on how I could be mad at him only moments ago, thinking he’s jeopardizing my job, and now I’m all turned on with just a look.Pull yourself together, Sam,Itellmyself.

I have to pull my eyes from him and look at Nash. He holds his hands up and clears his throat. “There's a change in plans. It will be Bear and Samantha making the trip to Miami.”

Everybody tries to act like they're not surprised, but it's obvious that everyone is caught off guard. Nash doesn't take any notice. He addresses Logan since Dylan is home with Jenna and the new baby. “I'm gonna need you to take over on tech today. I need some IDs for Bear and Samantha, and I need their histories swiped and clean. I have the profiles of what I want in the folder.”

Logan nods his head and agrees.

Nash continues to go over details, and I know I should be listening, but I’m not. My thoughts are a jumbled mess on whatis happening, and soon after, Nash must call the meeting over because everyone starts to get up.

It seems that they're all scurrying to the door as fast as they can. I wait until the room is clear and stop next to Bear, who’s still sitting in his seat, looking over the file in his hands. “Uh, Bear, can I see you outside for a minute?”

He merely nods his head, and I follow him out the side door to the back. Any other time I come out this door, I'm always in awe of the mountains, but not today. Today I'm seething mad as I stare at Bear. “What is your problem?”

His forehead creases as if he's confused or something, and I know that he's not. He can't be. He has to realize the scene he just caused in there and what it did to me. Now everyone is going to be questioning me and my performance. I take a step toward him. “What is it? You don't think I can handle myself? You want to be there in Miami to micromanage everything I do? Do you know that I was a first sergeant in the Army? Do you know that I have fought in war on the frontlines? I can do this without you there telling me what I'm doing wrong.”

I'm spitting mad by the time I'm done, and it makes it even worse when he just crosses his arms over his chest. “Are you done?” he asks me calmly.

I shake my head and throw my hands in the air. “Forget it. I'm going to go talk to Nash. I'm not going to Miami with you, Bear.”

He puts his hand on the door but doesn't open it. “You're going with me or you're not going.”

I’m seething mad and so freakin’ frustrated. I’m going back and forth on whether I want to smack him on the face or kiss him. Damn it. I shake my head. “Well, I won't go then,” I snarl at him.

He's still holding the door closed. “There were 35 women kidnapped this month alone, just through this organization thatwe're going to get intel on. You're telling me that you're going to let them get away with it because you don't want to go on a trip with me?”

I rear back and look at him. It's the most he's ever said in one sentence to me. Heck, it's probably the most he's ever said to me period. “It's not that I don't want to go on a trip with you. I just—"

He interrupts me. “I'll be on that plane to Miami. If you're not, then you're not the woman I thought you were.” He barely gets the words out and he jerks the door open and walks back inside.

I let it shut behind him and try to calm myself down. I don't even understand what is happening right now. How could he be so sweet this morning? Well, sweet for Bear, anyway. He brought me my favorite coffee and my favorite pastry. And now he's issuing demands and messing with my job. I don't understand any of it. But I'll be damned if he's going to control what I do here. I love living in Whiskey Run, and I'm not going to let him interfere with my job.

3

BEAR

I try to hide my smirk when I see Samantha walking down the aisle of the airplane. I had no doubt that she would come. It's in her nature, and she's not a quitter. There's no way she would bypass her responsibility. This is part of her job, and as far as I can tell, she loves this job. Plus, she’s not the type that could live with it on her conscience knowing she could help other women and then not doing it.

I scoot my legs in as she moves into the seat next to me. When she sits down, it's apparent how much bigger I am than her. I try to scrunch in my shoulders and arms so as not to touch her. Touching her is not a good thing. My body reacts just being close to her; touching her would be a whole new ballgame. I inhale deeply and then wish I hadn’t. She has on that soft floral scent that has my balls drawing in tight and my cock lengthening in my jeans. Fuck, let’s get the plane in the air already. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get some space between us. Not that I’m going to let her out of my sight or anything, but yeah, I at least need her out of arms’ length. It’s either that or I’m going to do something that will embarrass us both.

She huffs loudly as if she’s letting me know she hasn’t forgotten yesterday and hands me a file. Her words are veryclipped, and it's obvious that she is still mad at me. “I'm here,” she says.

I nod and look at her. “I'm glad you came.”

She obviously expected me to say something else because her face softens, and then as if she catches herself, she instantly goes into work mode. I can’t really blame her for being mad. She’s tried to prove herself ever since she got to the team. And I know that I came across as an asshole by having Logan taken off the job so that I could go, but I'm not really ready to explain my reasoning yet.

I open the file and start to scan all the pertinent information of this mission. My name is Liam Smith. I'm thirty-five years old. I own a construction company. It then goes on to talk about my wife Samantha Smith. She's thirty-two. She's a stay-at-home mom to our two children. I keep reading and notice that we are on a vacation for our five-year anniversary.

I pat the pocket of my shirt and pull out the diamond ring I’ve had there since I boarded the plane. I hand it over to her with a gruff “here.”

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