Page 22 of Montana Delta Rescue
She nodded to him. “We’re heading your way now,” she told Sadie. “The soup sounds delicious. Thanks Sadie.”
“You’re welcome,” Sadie said. “Try to relax now. Rock will have you here soon. See you then.”
“Yes,” Marilyn said. “See you soon.” She handed the phone back to Rock after they hung up and then she climbed into the SUV.
He closed her door and then went around to his side and got in. He placed the phone in a holder in his SUV and switched his earpiece back on. Then he started to drive toward the Patterson Ranch.
“Is Rock your real name?” Marilyn asked. She wanted to know more about this huge, sexy protector.
“Rick Trumbull is my real name, but no one has called me Rick for years,” he said.
“Ricky?”
“No. Never Ricky,” he said with a shake of his head.
“You don’t look like a Ricky. Why do they call you Rock?” she asked.
“It’s my face,” he said.
“Your face?” She looked at him quizzically, but he focused on his driving without looking back at her. He did have a chiseled rock like face and was muscular all over.
“Because I don’t smile much,” he said.
“Why not?”
He shrugged. “No reason,” he said. “Doing my job isn’t like working with kids or the public. It’s serious business and requires concentration and focus, not friendly smiles.”
“So, you’re a Brotherhood Protector. You’re a bodyguard.” She nodded. “I can see that. You’re too busy watching for bad guys to smile. Also, you’re a really big guy and running into you was like running into a rock. You don’t move.”
“Not for a soft body like yours, I don’t,” he gave a small grin and a nod. “Unless you ask me nice.”
There he was, teasing her again. She couldn’t decide if she liked it. Fact was, she was too tired from her ordeal to care. Maybe on a different day she would enjoy it a little. Right now, she just wished he would stop. She was still filled with tension and not in the best of moods despite making conversation with him.
She leaned her head back in the seat and noticed the tension in her neck wouldn’t let her relax. That hot shower Sadie had mentioned sounded really good right now. And she was hungry, now that she was safe.
It had been so many hours over the last few days that she hadn’t felt safe, she’d nearly forgotten what it felt like. No one was chasing her now, and even if they did, Rock looked like he could handle anyone.
She wondered what it was like seeing him and Hercules in action. “So how long have you and Hercules been working together?”
He glanced over at her. “That’s a long tale to tell. Do you want the short version or the long one?”
She regarded him for a moment though he’d looked back at the road to pay attention to his driving. “Can you tell it in the time it takes to drive to Sadie and Hanks ranch?”
“Yep,” he nodded.
“Then the long version,” she said.
He started at the beginning, when he and Herc had just met.
By the time he’d told her about getting Herc back to live with him in Montana, she was starting to doze off, her head bobbing every so often.
He reached behind him for a sweatshirt in the back seat and handed it to her. “Rest your head on this,” he said.
“Thanks.” Taking it from him, she balled it up and put it next to her head. In less than five minutes she was asleep.
He pulled up in front of the ranch and turned the SUV off.
Marilyn was sound asleep, her soft snores filling the vehicle.
