Page 12 of The Billionaire's Obsession

The air steward from before stood nervously in the door. “The comms weren’t cooperating either. I don’t know what was going on but I’m not sure our distress call was heard.”

Cole turned a hard look at him. “Are you saying that no one is coming?”

“No, Sir, they’ll come. I’m just not sure if it’ll be quick enough,” the man said, his eyes darting to the injured pilot.

Silence fell between all of us as we considered his words.

“Then some of us go for help. Where are we?” I asked, my voice startling everyone.

“The last co-ordinates we had put us over Henry W. Coe State park, just southeast of San Jose.”

“Ok, well, if we’re in a state park, maybe someone saw the plane come down, or there’s a trail we can find that leads to a ranger station.”

Cole was staring at me. With my announcement, he nodded, and turned back to the staff.

“She’s right. We can’t just sit around and wait. You stay here and take care of the patient, try to slow the blood loss, and don’t move him. We will go for help.”

I jolted at the feeling of Cole’s fingers sliding through mine.

“Are you ready, sweetheart?”

CHAPTER8

Cole

This entire date wasn’t going at all like I’d planned and yet, watching Riley walk down a trail in front of me, her long red hair swaying around her shoulders, catching the light and glowing, I couldn’t regret it too badly. Except for the pilot being hurt, of course, but then, we were trying to help, which was the most we could do.

“Do you hike a lot?” I wondered as I watched her walk.

“Yeah, it’s good for you and cheap, so I like it,” she called back over her shoulders. “You?”

“Not really. Not since I was a kid.”

“You obviously exercise though,” Riley said, glancing at my body in a way that turned it to lava.

“Are you calling me hot?”

She burst out in an indignant cough. “No! I just mean, you’re in shape, ah! Whatever, you know what I meant.”

“I run on a treadmill and watch the news. I lift weights and work,” I confessed a moment later. The sun was slanting through the trees and the entire wood around us smelled sharp and clean. A freshness I’d not experience in years. “Even when I’m exercising, I can’t get out of my head.”

Riley had stopped and was waiting for me ahead. My heart picked up its beat as I approached her.

“Well, that sounds like an easy fix. Make yourself go outside to exercise, or do something funner than running on a treadmill. There are a lot of fun ways to break a sweat.” As soon as she spoke, she paused a second, heat shooting to her cheeks. “Actually forget I said that.”

“You’ve got a dirty mind, Miss Delaney.”

I grinned at her, itching to get close. The memory of the kiss earlier kept running through my mind. I needed to repeat it and soon. I needed it to be a daily occurrence, in fact.

“I really don’t,” Riley called over my shoulder. “As you saw, I don’t actually sculpt naked men.”

“I know. I’m still getting over my disappointment about not being asked to model.”

Riley rolled her eyes at me. “And I’m still trying to get over my disappointment at how you invaded my privacy and found me so quickly.”

Ouch. “There was nothing illegal about it. I looked up an article about Ella Clarke, and there you were.”

“Right, whatever helps you sleep better at night,” she quipped.

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