Faked (Ward Family #2)(33)

I shrugged. "It's okay. Go ahead, I won't eavesdrop."

One hand rubbing the back of his neck, Bauer actually looked ... worried. "Okay." He shook his head and brought the phone to his ear. After a few moments, he smiled. "No, I didn't storm the offices. Tried a different tactic, but ... it didn't pan out exactly like I planned." He nodded. "Don't tell me you're extending your trip."

He glanced at me.

"Yeah, I'm actually in West Vancouver right now, so I'm about an hour away from your place. Why?" He shook his head. "No, I was going back down to Seattle."

I grabbed some clothes and walked back to the bathroom but kept the door cracked. Quietly, as I slipped my shorts off and tugged leggings up over my legs, I heard him mutter a curse under his breath.

"Scotty, I have a passenger with me, and she will not like this." He paused. "No, it's not like that."

I tugged my sweatshirt on and walked out of the bathroom, giving him a questioning look.

He scratched the side of his jaw. "I know, Scotty, but I'm sure she's okay." He grimaced. "Yeah, I heard it could be bad, but come on, we've lived by those mountains for how long? You've been there a hundred years. Don't tell me they don't always exagger—"

Whatever Scotty said on the other end of the phone had Bauer letting out a slow exhale.

"Does she have food?"

My hands lowered slowly where I had started packing away my pajamas. Oh geez, was someone stranded? Lost? My mind started racing, my heart hurting for whoever might be in trouble.

"She's tough, okay? I'm sure Agnes will be fine. Besides, I'm the last person she'd want to have check on her. She hates me."

I would've smiled, if the name Agnes hadn't conjured mental images of a sweet, little old lady, and now I wasn't even sure if she had food.

"We can check on her," I heard myself say.

Bauer's face dropped in shock. He blinked. "Yeah, Scotty, that's her. But—"

"Tell him we'll check on Agnes," I said, more firmly this time. I lifted my chin for good measure. For some reason, that made Bauer grin widely. "We can bring supplies from Richard, if he'll let us part with some canned goods and produce. We'll make sure she has food."

The person he was talking to said something that made Bauer chuckle. "Yes, she is definitely a better person than me. Though she may regret this when she meets Agnes."

My mouth fell open. Everything nice I said about Bauer, I took it back. He was horrible. And rude. And mean to little old ladies without food stuck in the middle of nowhere before a blizzard.

His eyes were glued to my face, full of mischief and fire. "Okay, Scotty. We'll leave now, but all I can do is check on her, make sure she's inside with some food, and then turn right back around. I have a precious package to deliver safely back to Seattle."

"Oh geez," I mumbled, ignoring his unwavering gaze as I zipped my backpack a bit harder than necessary. "Laying it on a little thick, don't you think?"

Bauer said goodbye to whoever he was talking to, probably Agnes's husband or son or grandson who was worried sick about her, and then watched me quietly. I fidgeted with my backpack until I could fidget no longer.

"Who's Scotty, and why does Agnes hate you?" I asked.

He smiled slowly. "Scotty is the man who taught me everything." Bauer sat on the couch, shoving his feet into the hiking boots he was wearing the day before. "I owe him my entire career, and he damn well knows it, which is why he calls me for this horrific task of checking on Agnes. Which I probably would've said no to, if you hadn't piped up and given the poor old man hope."

"That's terrible," I wailed. "You'd leave her out there, completely defenseless?"

Bauer tilted his head to the side. "Yes. Because she'll be just fine. She always is."

"Bauer whatever your middle name is Davis, you should be ashamed of yourself." I propped my hands on my hips. "She's a little old lady, and she needs supplies. I know you act tough, but come on, even you're not so coldhearted."

"I almost don't want to warn you," he said cryptically. He leaned forward, letting his forearms rest on the tops of his thighs, and his hands dangle between his knees.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because you are the most frustrating, adorable, mystifying woman I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, and that's the only reason I'm going to tell you what you just signed us up for."

It was impossible not to want to reach my hands up and cover my face. I'd never been called any of those things. Okay, frustrating maybe, by my sisters. But I was an open book. Literally. I spent my life in open books, trying to absorb everything I found there. But for some reason, this man looked at me and saw a version of myself that I never knew existed.

Something about me drew him in.

"What did I sign us up for?"

Bauer stood and sauntered toward me, those gray sweats hanging off his hips in a way that I was not looking at, and he stopped just out of arm's reach. "Agnes is a cat."

I blinked up to his face. "What?"

"Agnes is Scotty's horrible, evil, mean-tempered cat that hates every human being except him. And he can't remember how much food he put in her automatic feeder, so he's afraid she's going to starve to death before he can get home."