Search Me(28)

“I think it’s about an hour or two.”

Maddox appeared lost in thought. “Damn,” he muttered, shaking his head. “It might as well be on the other side of the country considering we don’t have a car.”

“Good point. I mean, we’ve got access to vehicles, but they’re directly in the line of fire.” For some reason, that was oddly comforting. There was a pretty vocal part of me begging to forget about the map. It pleaded with me to get to the nearest police department and put out an all-points bulletin for Jensen and his men. It wanted to be able to call my parents and tell them to come home because Maudie could be dead. More than anything, I wanted to forget anymore excitement by going back to the world I knew was safe—one that didn’t involve hidden treasure and men with guns.

Maddox’s next question brought me out of my internal struggle. “How much money do you have in the bank?”

“Huh?”

“We’re going to need some cash for a car. I wanted to know how much you had.”

“Nothing substantial enough for car—even a clunker.”

“Great,” he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest in frustration.

That’s when I stopped to allow the other annoying voice in my head to take precedence. It was the one that in spite of everything crazy and sad that had happened today still wanted to see this through. And there was also that nagging drive for once in my life to have an adventure. I mean, between my dance schedule and school, I never really had tried to let loose—not to mention I was the ultimate rule follower. Lying to my parents, hunting for buried Cherokee gold, and potentially being chased my armed men definitely was an adventure.

“Wait a minute…” I picked up my purse and started rifling through it. When I pulled out the stack of cash, Maddox’s eyes widened. I handed it over to him.

“Where did you get that?” he asked.

“Maudie’s safe.”

He flipped through the bills. “There’s at least five thousand dollars here.”

“Enough for a car,” I said, my voice a mixture of hope and fear.

“Exactly.”

I gulped. “So we’re really doing this, huh?”

He gave a short shrug. “I guess. Why not?”

I plopped back against the couch cushions in exasperation. “You guess? Please tell me at least your Army training is making you a little conflicted about all this.” At his blank expression, I shook my head. “Maddox, this is way too serious a decision for just guessing. We’re talking about throwing caution to the wind, saying screw you to Jensen and his armed thugs, ignoring all reason that tells us to go to the police, and potentially putting our lives in danger.”

A slow grin slunk across his face. “Well, when you put it that way, I would have to say hell yes, we’re really doing this!”

I couldn’t help rolling my eyes to the ceiling at his response. “Fine. We’re doing this.”

Maddox leaned over me, his face inches from mine. “Come on Lane, you know you want to find the treasure. Your head might be telling you that it’s scary and dangerous, and you could get hurt or even killed. Just like me, I’m sure your heart is telling you to do it for Maudie.”

I could barely breathe with him so close. “Maybe,” I murmured.

His eyes honed in on my lips before darting back to meet my gaze. “Even though you loathe and despise my company, you’re willing to stick it out because this is about the most excitement you’ve had in your little perfect princess world, and you like it.”

We stared each other down for a moment. He was right, and we both knew it. But I couldn’t bring myself to admit it. “Oh, don’t tell me it’s not exciting for you too, Rambo?” I countered.

The gleam in his eyes faded and was replaced by a sad, haunted look. “This is the most excited I’ve felt since they told me I was being medically discharged from the Army.”

My heart ached for him and the wounded expression on his face. Now I had another reason for wanting to find the treasure. I wanted to do it for Maddox and for whatever feelings I still had for him.

“Okay, okay, I sure as hell want to do this too,” I replied, with a smile.

He grinned. “Good. Glad to hear it!”

It was when we lapsed into silence that I realized how close were sitting together. To examine the map, we were plastered together on the couch. Maddox’s warm breath fanned across my cheek. My gaze dipped to his mouth as my own tongue darted out to wet my parched lips.

I froze when Maddox reached out and brought his hand to my face. His thumb brushed the corner of my mouth. “You had a little tomato sauce,” he explained.

“Oh,” I murmured. Thinking I might be a mess, I swept my own hand to my face. “Did you get it all?”

Maddox stared at me for a moment before putting his thumb in his mouth and sucking off the sauce. “Got it all.”

That one gesture sent my heart beating faster as heat burned below my waist. Leaning forward, Maddox drew himself even closer to me. Just when I thought he was going to kiss me, the sound of his phone going off caused us both to jump away from each other.

“Fuck,” he mumbled before digging it out of his back pocket. When he glanced at the caller ID, he grimaced. “Shit, it’s my sister.” He brought the phone to his ear. “Hey, Neely. What’s up?”