BEARed to You(18)

Before she had turned around, he was heading around the side of the cabin. He went for the gun first, checked to see if it was loaded then went on a hunt for the bullets. He found a box in one of the kitchen cupboards. “Ah, here we go. I knew the ammo had to be here somewhere.” He put the gun and bullets on the table then went to the refrigerator.

“What’re you going to do with the gun? You’re not going to shoot anyone? Are you? I mean, for some reason it’s kind of okay for you to do that bear-whooping-ass thing when we’re in danger, but shooting people…” She let the words trail off. This was for real! People were chasing her. And someone could end up shot. That someone could even be her, if they weren’t careful.

“I’m taking it as a precaution.” Still staring into the fridge, he grimaced. “I see we’re going to need to stock up on a few things before we head out of town.”

“What’s wrong with what I bought? Can’t we take this stuff?”

He frowned. “Soy milk? And what’s this?” He pulled a prepackaged meal out of the tiny freezer. “Lean Cuisine? First, I won’t touch soy milk. If it doesn’t come out of a ranging animal, it’s unnatural.” He tossed the Creamy Basil Chicken dinner into the freezer and slammed the door. “And these meals wouldn’t satisfy a guy half my size. The portions aren’t big enough for a child.”

“Well they’re big enough for me.” That sounded wrong.

He grinned as he scooped up the gun and headed for the door. “Let’s go.”

Her face warmed. She followed him outside, grateful for the chill on her stinging cheeks. “You know what I mean.”

“Sure I do.”

If she could’ve, she would’ve put money on the fact that he brushed his side against hers on purpose as he opened her door. He sauntered around the vehicle, opened his door, set the gun on the floor behind his seat and climbed in.

“A buddy of mine is out of town for a few days,” he explained while driving the truck back down the long, winding road. “We’ll stay at his place for the night. Hopefully no one at Omega knows I have a key. He doesn’t work with me, so no one should know who he is or that he’s gone.” He draped an arm over her shoulder. His fingertips traced little circles on the nape of her neck. “We’ll be comfy-cozy.”

She shivered. “I’m sure we will.”

* * * * *

They drove about a half-hour, down winding roads that cut through pine forests. A bumpy rutted driveway—didn’t anyone in Alaska have a paved drive?—led to a cabin that was almost identical on the outside to the one she’d rented with Katie.

Tarik parked the truck behind the building and hauled Abby’s luggage and the gun up to the front door. After unlocking the door—no small feat with his arms loaded—he pushed it open for her.

The cabin’s inside looked almost exactly the same as well. Butt ugly furniture and all.

Did everyone in Alaska decorate their homes in Rustic Tacky?

Tarik set her suitcases next to the bed and headed to the fireplace. The view from behind as he bent over to pick up some firewood was interesting, considering what he was wearing. He tossed a couple of logs into the fireplace then wadded up some paper and lit a brilliant blaze with a long wooden matchstick.

Made it look so easy. It had taken her at least a half-dozen tries before her fire had grown beyond a measly flicker.

Show off.

“We’ll have to be careful when we head down to the store, not call too much attention to ourselves,” he said as he poked at the fire with a long metal hooky thingy.

Not call attention to themselves? That was going to be interesting, considering he was still wearing the toga he’d fashioned out of the hotel blanket. If that didn’t get someone’s attention, she didn’t know what would.

“I don’t want to go to Max’s Place,” he continued, standing directly in front of her for a moment before continuing back to the kitchen. He filled one of those old coffeepots with water and spooned some grounds into the little basket that sat at the top. Once he had the coffee started, he headed back in her direction. He sure was a busy bee. A sexy busy bee. “Max is a friend of mine. If any of Omega’s guys ask him about me, they’d know I was still in the area.” He sat down in a chair. “Come here.” He punctuated his words with a come-hither eyebrow wag and pat on his thigh.

It took all of three steps to put her front and center before him. Like she expected, he grabbed her waist and pulled, until she was comfy cozy on his lap. More than her cheeks warmed and it was hard to remember what they’d been talking about. A very curious unseen protuberance was poking her bottom through the blanket and her clothes. “Okay, maybe going to the store isn’t such a good idea. How far away from here do you live?” She fanned her face. Was it getting stuffy in there or what?