Necessary Action by Julie Miller

Author:Julie Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“Be practical, Doc. I’m not the enemy here.” The rain soaked through the shoulders of Duff’s T-shirt, cooling his skin. Given her soggy state, Melanie had to be chilled to the bone. She fought him when he tried to give her his poncho a second time, but since he outweighed her by a good fifty pounds, he forced it over her head, anyway. “It’s not much, but it’ll warm you up.”

“You’re stalling, Mr. Maynard or Watson or whoever you are.” She tugged her hair free of the hood. Its wet, heavy weight slapped against the back of the plastic poncho. “Let’s go.”

Duff climbed on in front of her and started the engine. “You’ll have to hold on to me.” She muttered something that wasn’t very ladylike before her fingers curled around the sides of his waist. Her grip tightened when the ATV lurched forward, but he could feel the rain hitting his back as she held her body stiffly away from his. After traveling about half a mile to slightly smoother terrain, he slowed the four-wheeler and glanced back over his shoulder. He raised his voice over the noise of the engine. “You were at the lake, weren’t you? How long have you been following me?”

“I saw you sneak away from the compound. I thought we could talk some more. About us.” He felt a punch of guilt right in his gut. “There is no us happening, is there?” She sounded a little less angry, but the resignation he heard in her tone worried him. He’d never intended to hurt her. He’d never intended to care about hurting her. “Instead, I find you investigating Dad’s boat without me and meeting with two men I’ve never seen before. You were using me to get closer to Henry.”

“I don’t care about your uncle right now. And I wasn’t sneaking. I leave every night for my security patrol.” He turned onto the path leading down to the old dock. “I’ve covered over five miles tonight. How did you find me?”

“I know all the shortcuts and hidey-holes around these hills. That fallen tree at the edge of the woods is hollow. I crawled into it while you were looking at the boat. Then I tracked the sound of the ATV. Once I knew you were heading north, I followed the creek bed. It’s a straighter shot than the path you took.” A streak of lightning lit up the sky, and he felt her jump at the answering clap of thunder. When she scooted a little closer, squeezing her thighs around his hips, he didn’t mind. The physical connection between them seemed to be about the only way he could reach her. “Henry knows all the shortcuts, too, by the way.”

That didn’t bode well for maintaining his invisibility in these woods. “Does Silas?”

“Some. But I’ve known these hills years longer than he has. Plus, he’s lazy. If he can’t drive or ride his way to his destination, he sends someone else. He’s not willing to cross Falls Creek, especially when it rains like this.

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