Page 28 of Point of Contact

He shifted on his feet, tugging at the hem of his T-shirt to hide the jut of his cock as it focused a little too easily on Courtney and that very bad decision. The woman burned hot in every sense of the word, and fire was fucking dangerous. He had to make sure neither of them got burned.

He turned back to the camper, deciding to be optimistic and popping the hood for a second time, propping it open and carefully working the oil cap free just in case they needed to move quickly when she came out.

He leaned against the side of the vehicle, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited. And waited.

And waited.

He was just about to go in after her when Courtney's dark head came sashaying through the sliding doors. He expected her to look awkward, considering she likely had a quart of Valvoline shoved into her shorts, but she might as well have been a runway model as she strode through the parking lot.

Carrying three full bags.

He held his hands out when she got close. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Courtney's brows pinched together. "What do you mean what am I doing?" She shoved one of the bags in his direction. "I got what we needed."

He took the bag, looking down inside it at the three bottles of motor oil. "Why is it bagged up?"

Courtney looked at him like he was the biggest fucking idiot she'd ever seen. "How did you think I was gonna get out of there? If you have it already bagged up, they assume you bought it in a different department."

He glanced back at the sliding doors, half expecting to see someone running across the lot in search of the woman who just raided the store.

And it had definitely been raided.

Reed pointed at the other bags she carried. "What else did you get?"

Courtney's chin tipped. "Stuff." She clutched the remaining bags tight to her chest before opening the side door. "Pour that shit in so we can go."

She slammed the door, leaving him with no choice but to make it seem like he was doing her bidding. Which he was not.

He quickly added the Valvoline—hoping she grabbed something semi-close to what the engine required—before capping it off, dropping the hood, and climbing into the driver's seat. Courtney was already seated in the passenger's side, chewing through an energy bar. She reached into the bag between them and tossed one into his lap. "It's the best I could do given the circumstances."

He picked up the package and tore into it as he started the engine, breathing a little easier when the check engine light didn't immediately flare to life. "It's better than what I made." He bit off a chunk. "But I'm more worried about how to fill the gas tank than how to get food." He knew calling Alaskan Security was what would get them out of this, but figuring out how to do that was easier said than done. Strangers didn't typically hand over their phone for use, and Walmart certainly wouldn't be interested in letting him use their system to make an out-of-state call.

"That's a good point." Courtney chewed on her lower lip. "Can we call Heidi or something?"

It was a little unsettling how quickly her train of thought aligned with his. "With what phone?"

Courtney shrugged. "Any phone. Do we need a special phone to call them?"

"No, but I don't have a phone and neither do you." He glanced into the back end of the camper. "I'm sure this thing didn't come with its own landline."

"So why don't we just go ask somebody to use theirs?" Courtney said it like it was a completely reasonable plan.

"Because people don't generally like to let strangers borrow their cell phones."

Courtney smirked at him again. "No. Strangers don't like to letmenuse their cell phones." She held out one hand, wiggling her fingers. "Give me the number."

Reed looked down at his shirt and shorts. "Do I look like I have a pen?"

Courtney rolled her eyes. "You're so fucking dramatic." She pushed up out of the chair, going back to the tiny kitchen area and yanking open the drawers. A few seconds later she came back with a pen that looked like it came from the eighties. It was emblazoned with the logo of an auto repair shop and the white plastic was stained yellow at the edges.

Reed lifted his brows. "You really think that thing's gonna work?"

Courtney held her hand out. "If nothing else, you can use it to carve the number into my skin."

He studied her for a second. “You’re a strange woman, Princess.”

“Not strange.” Courtney pushed her palm closer. “Just ready to get the fuck out of here.”

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