Page 19 of Wild in the Woods
“Fox.”
“Okay, Fox. Men’s Adventure Magazine is producing a special edition next spring featuring high-octane adventure camps for adults, and my editor would like to do a full spread on No Boundaries. That’s four glossy pages in the magazine dedicated to your business. Our readership is wealthy, adventurous, limitless. It’s a cliché, but it’s true. A match made in heaven.”
He worked his jaw to the side but didn’t respond.
“What I’m here for now is to conduct the initial interview and gather specifics about your business and pull out what our readership will find the most interesting. Then, a photographer will be commissioned to meet with you and get appropriate photographs to go with the article. We can talk today or tomorrow, and if I need anything more, I’ll follow up with you by phone.”
Drumming his fingers on the porch rail behind him, he continued to say nothing. Lulu took a breath. Stubborn mule!
“Are you hesitating because I saw you naked?”
His eyes widened. She was on to something. He was embarrassed!
“I’m very sorry that I saw you naked.”
He lifted his chin. “Are you? Are you really sorry?”
No. Not even a little bit. Time to divert.
“I’m leaving in, oh, about 48 hours, so I’d really like to do as much as we can, as fast as we can.”
“You’re leaving?”
She did a double take. After all she’d said, that’s what he responded to?
“The magazine won’t pay me to be out here forever.”
A loud chime sounded from inside the house. The dog burst to her feet and raced off the porch to the truck and sat by the passenger door.
“That’s my emergency radio,” he said as he hurried into the house.
Curious, Lulu followed him to the door, which he’d left open, but didn’t go in.
“This is Captain Mitchell. Go ahead.”
Captain Mitchell?
A scratchy voice responded. “Captain, Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue has a report of a missing hiker last seen leaving the southern end of Burke’s Point and heading east. RMSAR is requesting your assistance. Please stage at your station for briefing at 0900. A CAD has been faxed to your station.”
“Copy. I’m enroute to stage.”
He met her eyes as he came toward the door, pulled it closed behind him and brushed past her.
“What’s happening?”
“Missing hiker.”
He hesitated but didn’t argue. Lulu opened the passenger door. Osprey jumped in first, leaving just enough seat space to get the door closed.
“By the way,” she said as she pulled on her seatbelt. “I’m not at all sorry that I saw you naked.”
Chapter Eight
Ospreywaspissedtohave to share her seat. She stood half over the center console and put her front paws on his leg, which wasn’t safe, so Fox shooed her into the back seat.
Lulu seemed relieved when the dog moved but also irritated to find yellow hair all over her dark jeans and the hem of her black, knit sweater. He tried not to gauge her reaction to, well, everything, but it was difficult to keep his attention off of her. Her presence in the truck felt all-consuming, as if her scent and nearness were taking up every inch of available space and drowning him in it.
This wasno bueno. He had a search to focus on and she’d been in the truck about ten seconds and was already distracting the hell out of him. Why had he agreed to let her come with?
