Desperate Girls (Wolfe Security #1)(54)

“Did you bring my sports bra?” she asked skeptically. If not, she wasn’t running anywhere.

“Everything’s in there. I threw in your earbuds, too.”

“And where is this secure area?”

“A friend of mine’s DEA, and they’ve got a training campus about twenty minutes from here. They have a track, a firing range, an O-course.”

“What’s an O-course?”

“Obstacle course. This place has everything. My friend offered to get us in on a visitor’s pass.”

“Did he, now? Well, wasn’t that nice of him?”

“You interested?”

“That depends. You’re not going to make me climb a rope or scale a wall or anything, are you?”

“The O-course is optional.”

“I opt no. The track will be plenty for me.”

He glanced at her. “So are you in?”

“I’m in.”

The training campus was beautiful—wooded paths, lush green grass, glimmering fish ponds—and being outdoors was heavenly. Even the distant snap-crackle-pop coming from the pistol range added to Brynn’s feeling of tranquility as she and Erik pounded along the track.

It was five miles, though—a little feature Erik forgot to mention, probably because the distance was hardly noticeable to someone in prime athletic condition.

Which he was. Wow. After changing into her workout gear and stepping out of the bathrooms near the trailhead, Brynn had been struck speechless by the sight of him stretching his legs against a tree. Wide shoulders, lean waist, muscular arms. She’d noticed it all before, but the details of his body were even more obvious as they stretched together and then started jogging side by side. In an olive-green T-shirt and cargo shorts, he looked like a Marine, which made him fit right in with all the law-enforcement types using the track.

Mile one was fabulous. Erik set a nice, doable pace, and Brynn had no trouble keeping up with him. But the heat was a factor, and by mile two, she was soaked. At mile three, her quads started to burn, and by the time she reached the four-mile marker, she was fighting a cramp in her side.

Just when she was about to wimp out and walk, a water fountain came into view.

“Water break!” she yelped, sprinting ahead.

He caught up to her, of course, and gave her a look of concern. “We can walk the rest, if you want.”

“I’m fine!” She guzzled some water down, then dipped her forehead into the cool stream.

“You sure?”

She stepped back to give him a turn at the fountain. “Absolutely.”

He took a brief sip, then straightened and looked her over. “No need to push.”

“I’m not.”

He lifted an eyebrow in a way that told her he knew she was full of bull.

“Let’s go,” she said.

He started up again but at a more relaxed pace.

“You usually do four, so I figured five would be no problem. I wasn’t thinking about the heat.”

“I have a confession.” She darted a look at him. “I usually do two miles. The four is just this week. You guys shamed me into it.”

He looked at her. “We shamed you?”

“Yes! You’re all muscle-bound action heroes.”

“I don’t know about action heroes. But we try to stay in shape.”

“Are you kidding? Your whole team could be out of a comic-book movie. I mean, Hayes could be Captain America.”

She glanced at him, but she couldn’t read the look on his face now. She was definitely affected by all those long glances and hard stares. He had the silent badass thing going, and it totally worked for her. He had to know that, since she’d practically jumped him the other night in her bedroom.

Thought you might want to blow off some steam.

How thoughtful was that? Not just that he’d listened to what she said but that he’d noticed something she needed and rearranged his whole day to get it for her. She felt touched.

“So,” she said, wanting to keep the conversation going. “Will we get to see this friend of yours? I’d like to thank him for getting us in here.”

“He’s really more my brother’s friend than mine. They went through training together.”

“Your brother’s a DEA agent?”

“Yeah.”

“How come I didn’t know this?”

He didn’t respond, but the answer was obvious. Brynn knew almost nothing about his family because he was so guarded about his personal life. Meanwhile, everything about hers was on full display.

“Tell me about the rest of your family,” she said. “I need something to get my mind off this heat.”

He gave her a wary look. “What do you want to know?”

“What do they do?”

“My dad was a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps. He’s retired now, does some consulting for the Pentagon. My brother Jake is in the Marines, too. Just promoted to captain. And then there’s Brad, the youngest. He’s DEA.”

“Damn. What a bunch of underachievers.”

He smiled slightly.

“Are you guys close?”

The smile faded. “Not really. They’re all back east. I travel so much that I don’t get back there very often.”