Taming His Montana Heart(29)

One thing he was certain of, this woman wasn’t going to laugh at him any more than he’d make fun of anything she said. He again studied his surroundings. After rising onto her toes, she did the same.

She watched as he replaced the Glock. Then, instead of straddling the snowmobile, she twisted to her left and froze.

“What?” he asked.

When she didn’t answer, cop instinct kicked in. He had no way of proving it, nothing to point at or take a picture of, but he had no doubt they were being watched.

His heart thudded, the hairs at the back of his neck lifted, and he had to work at breathing. If he’d been by himself he would be retrieving his Glock, but he had to take her fear of it into consideration. Still, his fingers settled around the weapon.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“I want to try to see—”

“No. Haley, I’ll put your life first. Please don’t force me to prove it.”

*

It had been dark for nearly an hour when Haley spotted the light from the snowmobile building. Shaw and she hadn’t seen a single vehicle while they were on the county road but just knowing there was pavement under the snow allowed her to relax for the first time since she’d spotted the wolf tracks. The prints were real all right, but that didn’t mean their lives had been in danger. As Echo had explained, wolves were curious creatures. Haley just hadn’t expected to see and sense what she had, and to share the moments with Shaw. That had been the best part of her time in the wilderness, not experiencing it alone. For the rest of their lives, they’d remember what they’d gone through together.

Unfortunately, even with the distraction of civilization, she couldn’t stop replaying how she’d acted when she’d seen his weapon. Darn him! He should have warned her before pulling it out. Fighting tension, she chastised herself for having lost her composure. Shaw’s explanation of why he carried one made sense. He hadn’t pointed the lethal thing at her. Quite the opposite, his intention had been to protect her if need be. A part of her longed to tell him why she’d acted like she had, but the truth was deeply personal and painful. She didn’t know him well enough to feel safe laying her past out to him. Maybe they’d never get to that point.

Nevertheless, he might press for an explanation for her behavior. She wouldn’t be surprised if he did and, as her boss, did he have the right? If he pulled rank, how would she respond?

As they neared the building, Daron emerged from it and hurried toward them. Shaw leaned into her and placed his mouth near her ear. “Don’t say anything. We don’t need what we experienced to take on a life of its own once people start talking about it.”

“I agree.” She’d removed her helmet when she’d spotted the outside lighting. As a result, Shaw’s moist, warm breath caressed her ear and sent goose bumps running down the side of her neck.

“I want to show the pictures to Echo,” he said. “She’ll know how to handle this.”

“I was getting worried,” Daron said before she could respond. “I tried calling but it went right to voice mail.”

“We were out of range.” She was tempted to hug the young man. “You can leave now. I’ll finish—”

“There’s nothing for you do. Except for this one—” He indicated their snowmobile. “They’re all tucked in for the night.”

Shaw fist-bumped with Daron. “Do I know how to pick an assistant or what? It sounds as if there’s no reason for any of us to stick around.”

Keeping her decision to check Daron’s work before he showed up tomorrow morning to herself, she thanked the boy. After Daron brushed off most of the snow from it, the two men pushed the snowmobile under cover. Seeing it tucked in for the night as Daron called it helped her close one chapter on the day’s adventure.

“I’m out of here,” Daron said. “Mom’s working late and she doesn’t want the boys left alone any longer than necessary. They might kill each other.”

“What are you going to do?” she asked. “Babysit?”

Daron rolled his eyes. “Don’t ever use that word around them. Mom and I have them convinced I’m there only to fix dinner.”

“My brother and I gave our folks the same argument about not needing looking after,” Shaw said. “Problem was, too often attempts at cooperation led to a wrestling match and resulted in something getting broken.”

“Mick’s ten years older than me so we were in pretty much different worlds growing up,” she said.

She longed to tell Shaw how grateful she was to her older brother for pulling her back from the edge but that, like explaining the reason for her aversion to weapons, was a door she knew not to open, especially around this man who kept her emotionally off balance.

“Sibling relationships can be complicated,” Shaw said. “Except for what we have with our parents, they last the longest.”

Not long ago Shaw and she had been united in their determination to control the public’s reaction to the wolf’s presence. She wasn’t sure how they’d moved onto family matters, but it felt right. Everything about being close to him felt that way, which was also dangerous.

“Shaw makes a good point,” she told Daron. “I’m all for you getting home before your brothers tear the place apart. See you tomorrow.”