Page 30 of Point of Contact

He needed information. Needed to think about something other than his responsibilities in Alaska, that fucking guy, and the way Courtney's legs felt wrapped around him.

"She said she's going to hook us up with a cell phone but we have to pick it up at a store around the corner. Then she said we should go to a campground instead of a hotel since fewer people will see us there because there aren’t as many cameras."

Reed snorted. "Heidi wants us to go camping?"

Heidi had asked him to do a lot of things when he was out on jobs or missions, but spending the night in a nineteen seventies motorhome with the daughter of a Colombian drug lord might take the cake.

Courtney turned to him, lifting her brows. "What's the matter, Sexy Pants? Not much of an outdoorsman?"

He had to laugh at that. "I grew up in Alaska, Princess. Everyone's a fucking outdoorsman there." He turned at the light, heading in the direction Courtney pointed. "I'm worried about you. You're used to the finer things in life. I can’t imagine you'll be too comfortable roughing it for a night."

Courtney motioned to her filthy T-shirt and messy hair. "Do I not already look like I can handle some shit?" She grabbed the wrapper from her energy bar and chucked it at him. "At least give me a little goddamned credit."

Reed turned to face the road. "I will admit, you have done surprisingly well under the circumstances."

"Under the circumstances?" She pointed at his forehead. "At least I duck under bridges, Mr. Outdoorsman." She wasn't willing to give him an inch. Probably because he hadn't done it for her.

And unfortunately, he was starting to like it as much as he hated it. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see how you handle being a nature girl for an evening." He lifted one finger in the direction of a freestanding cell phone store. "Is that where we’re headed?"

Courtney glared at him a second longer before turning away. "Probably."

"What do you mean, probably? You don't know?" His irritation flared to life, making him relax a little. It was infinitely safer than any of the other emotions trying to tie themselves to the woman beside him.

"Do I look like a fucking GPS to you?" Courtney crossed her arms.

There was no way to stop the smile spreading across his face, no matter how much he wanted to. “What you look like, is a pain in my ass.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

COURTNEY

“THIS PLACE IS way nicer than I expected." Courtney looked around their campsite, taking in the trees and the grass and the quiet. After hours of driving, they’d finally not only made it out of Florida, but also through nearly all of Georgia. And while the weather was a hell of a lot cooler, the fear pushing her to keep running was finally starting to ease.

Reed finished opening one of the collapsible camping chairs they'd picked up after meeting with one of Heidi’s contacts to collect the money she’d wired them. He’d passed along not only the cash, but also a few prepaid cards to use for gas, along with an offer of assistance. He’d seemed a little on the dangerous side so she’d been relieved when Reed politely declined.

"It's decent enough, I guess." He hooked the bag that came with the chair over the back before going to work on the second chair. "I mean, it's not as nice as the national parks in Alaska, but I can’t imagine Georgia is a hot destination for outdoor enthusiasts."

Courtney smiled, relaxing a little more at the peace and quiet of the nearly empty campground. "Is that what you are? Not just an outdoorsman, but an outdoorenthusiast?"

Reed glanced up at her as he worked on expanding the other chair they’d snagged at her new favorite store while picking up warmer clothes and food. "My dad's family has lived in Alaska for as long as any of them knows, so I'm pretty sure being an outdoor enthusiast is in my DNA."

She wasn't surprised to hear that Reed’s family was Alaskan to their core. He was clearly at home in the cold and unforgiving climate, frequently showing up coatless for his shifts when she was in the cabin. "Is your mom Alaskan too?"

Reed finished with the chair and moved on to the fire pit, dropping in a few of the logs from the bundle they bought at an unmanned stand in someone's front yard just outside the campground. He went to work lining them into place. "No. My mom's Korean."

She inched closer, eager to learn more about the mysterious man who kept his personal life close to his chest. "Does that mean you speak Korean?"

Reed chuckled as he spilled some charcoal briquettes around the wood. "Only when I'm in trouble." He glanced up at her. "She has a harder time being mad at me then."

Courtney lowered into one of the chairs, watching as he added a squeeze of lighter fluid and started the fire. "She sounds fun."

Reed shook his head, his smile holding, eyes watching the fire. "She's something all right."

The warmth of the fire had her wanting to inch closer. To learn as much as she could while Reed was in a chatty mood. But the annoying itch of her scalp made it hard to sit still. And her dirty hair might not be the worst of what she had going on. She ran her tongue across the front of her scummy teeth, cringing a little at the texture. "Do you think they have bathrooms here?" Her eyes drifted to the trees around them. "Or is this a ‘go in the woods’ sort of outdoor experience?"

Reed's focus came to her, one dark brow cocking. "You would go in the woods?"

Courtney waved her hands around them. "Where else am I gonna go? I can't hold it forever."

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