Page 27 of SEAL by Fate

Staying low, Gray made his way around and like a cat, he came up behind the driver, grabbed his shoulder, which wasn’t difficult considering the man was at least five inches shorter, and swung him around, pressing him against the side of the door.

“Who are you?” Gray growled. “Answer me.”

Several long seconds passed and when he didn’t get an answer, Gray grabbed the front of the man’s jacket and twisted.

The driver reached up and dragged off the helmet. Long hair streamed down narrow shoulders and dark eyes widened. Her mouth was set at an awkward ankle.

“Shit!” Gray dropped his hands from her clothing and shoulder.

“I thought at first I was seeing things, but you’re a flesh and blood living person. What in the hell are you doing out here in a blizzard, my friend?” she said in a surprisingly calm voice.

“Maybe I should be asking you the same question.”

“The name’s Dory Shewalter. I live a few miles that direction. You caught me off guard. I didn’t think I’d find anyone out here.” She held out her gloved hand for him to shake.

He stared until finally accepting the offer. “I’m Gray.”

“Is this yours?” She slapped the side of the Jeep.

“There was an accident.” Although she looked harmless, he didn’t trust anyone, and yet he didn’t have the luxury of denying that she could be a big help to him.

“Obviously.” She smiled wider. “Never know what, or who, you’re going to run into and why I make sure I check the roads for accidents in bad weather. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to rescue people. Now I know you weren’t driving both vehicles.” She nudged her chin toward the sportscar. “Looks like it started for you.”

Maybe she was a bit more observant than he first gave her credit for.

“The woman who was driving the other vehicle, she and I are staying up the mountain at a cabin.” As of right now, she was a savior on a snowmobile, even if she was a complete stranger. “We don’t have cell service and we haven’t been able to reach out to anyone. Would you happen to have a phone I could use? One that has service.”

“Not on me. If you need to make a call, you’ll have to go down the mountain.”

“That’s more than five miles away.” No way did he want to hike in the snow with a hurt knee for another five miles.

“It wouldn’t matter anyway. I’m afraid everything is shut down. Business owners tend to do that around these parts. Not like they’d miss any business. Bad weather’s coming again soon and you should be back at your cabin hunkering down.” She must have sensed his disappointment. “Consider this a friendly act of neighborly kindness. I have a landline. When I left, it was working, and it’d be the Godly thing for me to offer it.”

He looked up the incline toward the cabin where Stormy waited. “You say your place is a few miles that way?” In the opposite direction, of course.

She dragged on her helmet and flicked up the face guard. “Now or never. Time’s a ticking and Mother Nature has a mind of her own.” She started toward the snowmobile, and stopped, looking back at him. “Do you have a problem with taking the rear?”

What choice did he have? He needed to contact his team. Climbing onto the back of the snowmobile, he hoped the snow held off for a few more hours.

Although her cabin wasn’t large, it was comfortable and warm. There weren’t any personal effects that told him anything about the woman, except that she had an open suitcase sitting on the floor with a pair of handcuffs and dark wig sitting on top. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d met a woman who liked a bit of kink.

“Is your husband here?” He didn’t need to know everything because he was only there to use her phone, but because it was embedded in him to suspect everyone, he had questions.

“Are you worried…it’s Gray, right?”

He nodded. “Not worried. Just curious.” He swiped a hand down his whiskered jaw.

“Knock that snow off your boots and come on in.”

He stomped the snow off his boots on the knubby welcome mat as she placed her helmet on the table and shook out her long, tangled hair. “Nice place you have here.”

“Yeah, real nice.” She smiled. “I hope you don’t mind if I climb out of this wet snow gear.”

“Sure, go right ahead.” He turned just as she unzipped the thick coat and dragged it off. She wore only a red bra underneath. When her fingers landed on the waist of her pants, he removed his gaze and looked for that phone he was promised. “I won’t come in and get your floor wet, ma’am. Will your phone reach?”

“A gentleman, huh?” She winked. There was something different about her here in her own element. “Don’t see very many of those around these parts. Most men are asking how they can get me—well, my floors wet. I tell you what, stud. I’ll forgive a wet trail of snow tracks across my wood if I can ask you an itty-bitty favor.” She stepped across to the mini bar, wearing only her matching bra and panties and a grin.

“Uhh…” Although he couldn’t miss how blatantly sexual she was, he had a timeline.

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