Page 29 of Point of Contact

His eyes moved over her face, cataloging her determination for a second, before dropping to her smooth palm. The one that had been stroking his dick not so long ago. He gritted his teeth against the memory as he yanked the cap off the pen and rolled the tip across the dashboard, hoping to get the ink moving. It left a faint, but legible line after a few swipes.

“Whew.” Courtney blew out a breath. “I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to follow through on that skin carving suggestion.”

Reed brought the pen to her palm and started writing out the numbers, being careful not to press too hard into her skin. “You in the habit of writing checks you don’t want to cash, Princess?”

Courtney’s dark brows pinched together. “I don’t think anyone even writes checks anymore.” She leaned closer. “How freaking old are you?”

“It’s a saying.” He finished with the pen just as it stopped working. “And how old do you think I am?”

She shrugged, turning her hand toward her face. “I don’t know. Fifty?”

He scoffed. “Are you fu—”

She shot him a grin as she pushed open her door. “Was I wrong?” She slid out of the seat. “I should have known. You don’t look a day over forty-five.” She slammed the door as he continued to scowl at her.

She was fucking with him. He knew that. But she was so damn good at it.

The woman knew exactly what to say and do to rile him up and did it at every opportunity. Unfortunately, she seemed to be figuring out how to rile him up in more than one way, so hopefully she managed to make the call to Heidi. Then they could meet up with Rico at the closest airport and get back to Fairbanks.

Back to everything that waited for him there.

He scrubbed one hand down his face, already tired at the thought. The weight.

The guilt.

He watched from the camper, keeping his focus on Courtney to avoid letting it get stuck on more difficult things. Things he couldn't actually do anything about.

At least here, he could fix shit. He had the skills to get Courtney out of Florida. Could change her life in a way that would hopefully be for the better. It was a marked contrast to all he couldn't fix in Alaska. It didn't matter how strong he was. How capable. How much money he threw at it, the problems he faced there would never go away.

They would only get worse.

Courtney pressed one hand over her mouth as she made a beeline for a young guy loading bags into the trunk of his Mustang. She reached him, shoulders hunched, looking small and broken. Her other hand came out to rest on his arm as they spoke. Within seconds he was digging into his pocket and pulling out his cell phone, passing it over without hesitation.

Reed shook his head. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

Apparently, Courtney could be quite convincing when she needed to be, because this guy looked ready to do whatever it took to help her. He dug through his trunk, pulling out a bottle of water and offering it up with a bag of chips as she dialed his phone.

Reed gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as the guy moved closer, invading her space.

Nothing would happen. Courtney was completely safe, he knew that. The distance between them was small enough that if the guy made one wrong move, he would be on him before the asshole knew what hit him. But he still didn't fucking like how close he was to her. The desperate way she looked at him, like he was her savior.

Courtney stood a little straighter, her eyes darting his way for just a second as her lips started to move into the cell phone. Hopefully she gave Heidi enough information to make it possible for one of Intel's hackers to get into the cell lines and figure out exactly where they were. Unfortunately, that meant the call would last a little longer than he cared for.

Especially since the guy was now rubbing her back like he was trying to soothe her.

He narrowed his eyes, zeroing in on the point of contact. "Fucking guy."

After nearly five minutes of conversation, and five minutes of that asshole touching her, Courtney finally ended the call and passed the cell phone back, offering up a sweet smile.

Phone guy didn't seem interested in letting her get away that easily. As she backed up, he walked toward her, talking and gesturing at his car.

Courtney shook her head, waving him off with one hand before turning and skipping back to the camper. She jumped into the passenger’s seat and locked the door before turning to him. "Let's get the fuck out of here before that guy decides I owe him for using his cell phone.

"I'll kick his fucking ass." His words carried a little too much of an edge. One that gave away more than he'd like.

But Courtney didn't seem to notice as she sank further into her seat. "I would let you." She let out a little breath as he pulled out of the parking lot, leaving the confused-looking cell phone lender with his arms out as he watched them retreat.

"What did Heidi say?" Reed tried to get Courtney talking.

---