Page 16 of Sear
“That sounds great,” Lucas told him. And it did. Hunting close to the road was breaking the law. So was shooting game from a vehicle. He refilled their mugs and his own.
“Whereabouts you staying?” Bickham asked.
“A vacation rental on the Jacobsen Ranch. It’s not too far away.” The inexpensive one-room cabin was a far sight nicer than the places Lucas usually stayed while on assignment.
“We’re in town. Let’s meet up in the parking lot here at sunrise,” Bickham said. “Arnie and I will take care of you.”
Silvers nodded.
“Thanks a million, guys,” Lucas said.
The hunt was on. Inside him, his cougar’s tail was twitching with a predator’s anticipation.
His first objective achieved, he wasn’t in the mood to hang around much longer with these two.
He finished his beer, then rose. “Guys, I’m gonna call it a night. I had a long drive from Boise. See you first thing tomorrow—and I really do appreciate you lettin’ me tag along.”
“We’ll see about getting you that bear,” Bickham promised expansively, and reached for the pitcher, which was still a third full.
“See ya,” Arnie said.
Lucas made his way out of the club, which was even more crowded now. He couldn’t help looking at the table where the shifter girls had been sitting.
Malia was gone, though Ellie and Maggie were there.
Lucas ruthlessly suppressed his pang of disappointment, telling himself it was for the best.Too young and too much of a distraction.
He exited the club, and paused under the covered porch that graced the front of the club. It was late afternoon, and a warm, fresh breeze brushed his face. He inhaled a deep breath to clear his lungs of the thick fog of mingled food, beer, and other odors that resulted from too many human bodies crowded into a confined space.
Once he got back to his cabin, he would write up his notes first thing, while he still remembered all the details of his conversation with Bickham and Silvers. Then he needed to contact Tringstad and ask him to run a database search on the pair, to see if they had any prior criminal records.
After that, he had to figure out his game plan for tomorrow’s hunting expedition. The best-case scenario was that he’d catch his two new friends in the act of poaching, and—
“Hi again, Lucas,” said a low, pleasant feminine voice from behind him.
He froze momentarily, thrown for a loop.
Then he turned to watch Malia approach.
She was petite, the top of her head barely reaching his chin, and with the kind of curvy figure that looked damned near perfect in skin-tight jeans. His palms itched with the sudden desire to run his hands from the dip of her waist over her deliciously rounded hips and ass.
He wondered if she’d been hanging out here, waiting for him to leave the club, and instantly dismissed the idea.Yeah, right. Talk about flattering yourself, man.
Then he noticed that the previously-composed young woman looked nervous.
He went on high alert. “Are you okay?”
“Um, yeah. I’m fine,” she assured him.
Helplessly, he watched her wet pink tongue dart out and stroke over her full lips. His mouth went dry as his brain instantly flooded with unwanted images of whatelsethat sweet tongue might lick…
“So, I was wondering,” Malia began, looking down at her sandals. Then she paused.
“You were wondering?” he prompted, when the silence had stretched.
She took a deep breath and looked up at him. Her eyes were the clear blue of a high mountain lake. “If you’d like to have coffee with me some time. Like, maybe, tomorrow morning? Before my shift starts?” Her words tumbled out in a breathless rush.
Holy shit. She just asked me out on a date!
