Page 13 of Emma's Element

“She crooned at the damn thing the entire time. ‘Poor Terri. You must have been so scared, Terri.” Tin Man shook his head as if he hoped he could erase the memory from his mind.

“Terri the tarantula,” laughed Marcus. “Classic.”

“How do you feel about spiders now, Tin Man?” Emma asked.

He shuddered. “Still hate them.” Laughter erupted around the table. They had probably all heard the story dozens of times but still found it hilarious. The night was filled with stories like that one, and Marcus found it refreshing. Most of the time, when he was with a group like that, they only wanted to know about his fellow actors. Not once had any of the Nighthawks asked him what “so and so” actor was like. Or what it was like to work with the latest diva actress. It had been a long time since he’d been with such arealgroup of people. He never wanted the evening to end.

Chapter five

AfterspendinghourswithJude Riker learning the intricacies of tracking and sign cutting, Marcus stood at the edge of the woods near the Nighthawk complex about to put the skills he’d learned to practical use. The first objective he’d already completed was to find the mannequin dummy the team had dubbed “Manny.” Emma had done her best to leave a small trail to where she’d hidden Manny in the forest for him to follow. Marcus had found Manny in no time, discovering he had a knack for tracking.

A few days had passed since his tour of the complex, much of his time having been spent in the classroom. For a majority of the time, he’d shadowed Emma. She was an excellent teacher, patient and understanding. She’d demonstrated the intricacies of the knots and pulley systems they used for rescues like his, and it stunned him the amount of planning and skill that went into them. He enjoyed learning from her.

Emma had an exceptional way of instructing. She held his attention and motivated him till he believed he could handle everything and anything. It was as if he’d always known the skills needed for SAR, deep down inside, and she just pulled them out of him. She worked beside him in her quiet manner, never standing apart or hovering, allowing him to participate in his own learning.

He enjoyed simply talking to her as well. They’d developed an uncomplicated rapport which he was relishing. She made it easy to like and appreciate her. With the women he’d dated in the past, he never felt like they truly heard what he was saying. He’d often found out after just one date that the only reason they were with him was to boost their social media presence. They never gave a damn about creating a genuine connection with him.

But Emma was different. Conversations were effortless and the silences were even more undemanding. There was no need to fill the empty silences with unnecessary chatter. She allowed him to disappear in his head when needed while also being a calm presence when he was ready to share the thoughts on his mind. While they spent a lot of time talking, they never delved too deep, and he could tell she had secrets in her past that she was keeping close. He didn’t want to pry, though he couldn’t help but hope that someday she’d trust him enough with her secrets.

He certainly understood trust did not come easily. He’d made the mistake of trusting the wrong people one too many times and been burned. But with Emma, their interactions were natural, effortless. Each day, he could feel her breaking through more of the walls he’d erected. He’d been alone for so long, built up many thick barriers; it was surprising she could get through at all. He still wasn’t fully willing to eradicate all his protections; past betrayals always hovered in the back of his mind to keep him wary. But Emma was like a breath of fresh air worming its way through the tiny gaps and cracks in his blockades. It remained to be seen if he would need to shore up those cracks to prevent incursion.

After returning to the ATVs at the edge of the forest and stashing Manny away, Emma had announced the intention of giving him a bigger challenge. “It’s one thing to find someone who’s standing still, but most people won’t stay in one place. Their instinct is to keep wandering until they can find their way out.”

“Makes sense.” Marcus was momentarily distracted by the attractive pink in Emma’s cheeks. It was cold, and the wind had a stinging bite to it. Emma raised her shoulders and buried her nose into her coat, something he’d seen her do several times. He guessed she was trying to either block the wind or warm up her face. She should have a scarf even though he could think of far better ways to warm her up. The thought sent a throbbing ache south, an ache he struggled to keep at bay the more time he spent with her.

“I’m going to put you to the test. Wait here for thirty minutes, keep your back to the woods. I’m going to lose myself in there but not stop in one place. I’m an eight-year-old kid who is lost and scared, wandering aimlessly,” she told him. “So, any sign I leave is going to be lower than an adult would leave. Got it?”

“Absolutely.”

“Good. Now turn around,” Emma made a twirling motion with her finger. “Don’t cheat.” He grinned at her and watched as one of her brows shot up to her hairline. “Am I going to have to blindfold you?”

Marcus waggled his eyebrows. “Could be fun.”

She laughed. “Very funny. Now turn.” When she dug into a bag attached to the ATV, he could have sworn he heard her mumble something that sounded likefrag daggle. Remembering her penchant for using unusual expletives, he stifled his amusement as she handed him a pair of headphones. “Here. So you can’t hear which direction I’ve gone.”

He was about to put the headphones on when she touched his arm to stop him. “Thirty minutes,” she said. “Find me.”Fuck.Even her voice was sexy. It had a sultry huskiness to it that heated his blood.

“I will,” he promised with confidence. He set the timer on his phone, turned his back to the woods, and put the headphones in place. As he waited silently, he recalled what he’d learned from Jude about sign cutting but found his thoughts drifting to the woman he was waiting to track. Emma never ceased to amaze him. Her climbing skills were unmatched; that was obvious. But it was everything else about her that fascinated him. She was kind and caring. Strong and graceful. She never hesitated to lend a helping hand. Hell, she hadn’t hesitated to plunge her hands into a sink full of dirty dishes when Jolene’s dishwasher called in sick. Her devotion to her friends ran deep. Inspired by her selflessness, he’d stood beside her to help dry those dishes, and had never had a more enjoyable evening doing chores.

But it wasn’t just her kindness that attracted Marcus. She was beautiful and sexy as hell and didn’t even seem to know it. Tall and lithe with curves in all the right places, he ached for the right to run his hands over those curves. The desire was so strong that he couldn’t stop himself from touching her. Her hand. Her arm. The small of her back when he escorted her out of a room. Even her cheek when he’d reach up and move a lock of hair out of her eyes. Hair that looked so soft and sensual that all he wanted was to run his fingers through the strands, to hold her in place as he devoured her with his mouth.

But the thing about Emma that attracted him most was that when she looked at him, she sawhimand not the movie star. After their initial awkwardness together, she’d interacted with him just as she did any of the others, not like the majority of people he came across did. As if he were only to be used to help them get ahead in the world. She spoke to and teased him as she did any of the other Nighthawks. And she listened . . . truly listened to him.

Even though he had many people in LA who were at his beck and call, no one wanted to hear his thoughts or his views. They were too busy telling him what he should say or do, even what he should feel. Emma let him be himself. The man he hadn’t been able to be since his first big break. And that was refreshing. He’d missed himself, having spent way too much time lately hiding from the world. With Emma, and even the rest of the Nighthawks, he was finally himself again.

The vibration of his phone in his pocket alerting him to the passage of thirty minutes, startled him out of his reverie. He grinned in anticipation as he removed the headphones. He was looking forward to testing his skills at tracking Emma.

Marcus moved to the edge of the tree line and stood for a moment, looking left and right as he deduced where she’d entered the woods. A few yards to his left, he saw a broken branch. The wood at the break appeared bright as if it had been damaged recently and hadn’t had a chance to weather. Examining the ground, he looked for any other clues that would confirm that this was the way she had gone.

There.

A few feet ahead, a small rock had been overturned. The wet side that usually lay in the moist ground was now on top, a sign that someone had passed that way recently. There were more signs as he moved farther into the woods. More overturned rocks. A piece of hair caught on a branch blowing in the breeze. A section of undergrowth that had been disturbed. Even a spot on a fallen tree where moss had appeared smushed like someone had placed a foot on it to climb over the log. He followed the signs, his eyes constantly moving as he searched. After about half an hour, he spotted Emma’s figure in the distance. He cried out to her in success. She turned to face him, grinning as he caught up with her.

“You found me,” she exclaimed, her cheeks rosy from the cold.

“I always will,” he teased, trying to slow his breathing. He hadn’t realized how much adrenaline had been pumping through him. And when she smiled up at him, her eyes shining with pride, his heart skipped a beat. He wanted to gather her in his arms and never let go.

Emmawasamazed.Shenever imagined he would have found her so quickly. He could give Jude a run for his money, and Jude was the best tracker in the Midwest. She had made it as hard for him as she could, making sure not to leave too obvious a trail. Next time she’d have to give herself an even longer head start.

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