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“I’m going to study two places on the island, so I’ve got two single-station setups coming in. The two instruments, a rotational sensor and a compact seismometer. They’re placed about ten centimeters apart on a concrete slab. The instruments are connected to GPS, power, and the seismometer to a digitizer. All of their readings will dump into my laptop where I can analyze them.”
“Wow, that sounds really technical,” Twister said.
“She’s got a PhD, Twist,” Shark said, his eyes a warm gunmetal gray today. She could get lost in them if she wasn’t careful. And don’t get her started on his mouth. That full upper lip she wanted to lick and kiss. She needed to make him understand she had her own reasons for not getting tangled up in a committed relationship right now, but what was wrong with the two of them enjoying a bit of sexy fun?
“Maddy,” Shark said. She snapped out of it. “Brawler asked about your education.”
“Oh, sorry,” she gave him a sheepish grin, and he smiled at her. “I was distracted.” He looked down, then back up at her, those eyes of his wreaking havoc with her senses.
“I have a Bachelor of Science from MIT…um…Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. I then went to UCLA and got both my PhD in Geotechnical Engineering, and a Master of Science in Stats.” She looked at Brawler. “Did you get a degree?”
“Yes, I got my degree in Criminology through the Navy with courses taken online,” his voice was so deep with a raspy edge to it.
“Do you want to do that kind of thing when you hang up your spurs?” she asked, feeling hokey using that term.
Brawler smiled. “How do you know that term?”
She smiled back. “I think I heard it in a movie one time.”
Brawler laughed. “Yeah, I think I might do something small-town, like being a sheriff.”
“You won’t miss traveling the world?” she asked.
“Naw, not by then. I expect I’ll be doing this gig for a while.”
She looked at Shark. “Do you have a degree?”
“School was never my thing. I’m not sure what I’ll do when I hang up my spurs,” he said with a wink.
“Whatever it is,” Twister said. “He’ll kick ass at it.”
“I’m sure he will,” she said, her stomach fluttering with butterflies.
“Twister got his degree in biology and is our team medic. I suspect he’s got his sights on something in the medical profession or EMT maybe?” Shark said. She wondered if he was deliberately switching the attention off him to his teammate.
“I thrive on saving lives under pressure, or I might just decide to become a chiropractor.”
She burst out laughing with Brawler and Shark, liking Twister’s sense of humor. His eyes twinkled.
Since she had finished her breakfast, she decided to get the SUV out of the garage and prepared for them to leave ASAP. She got up and said, “I’m heading to the garage. I’ll meet you out front.”
She grabbed the key fob and headed to the garage. Her father had several cars, and she loved driving the silver Mercedes SUV. The back had ample room for her equipment and she?—
A door closed behind her, and she whirled around. Shark was coming toward her. “I thought maybe I should drive, in case we get into any trouble.”
Suddenly, she decided it was time for her to get into some trouble. It was time to go after what she wanted. Time to shake Shark up and let him know she’d more than welcome some one-on-one attention.
4
He took the fob out of her hand, mistakenly thinking she’d approached him to give it to him. He opened the driver’s side and glanced her way. She hadn’t moved.
“Let’s go.” It was a brusque order, tinged with impatience to match his restless need to get out of this secluded area with her. But, if that was the case, why had he followed her?
She started toward him with a determined stride—like a woman on a sensual mission who wouldn’t be dismayed. Not this time, at least.
“You are very bossy, Bale,” she said. The anticipation of executing her plan infused her voice with a low, husky quality.
His eyes flashed at the use of his first name. His gaze, so dark and intense, narrowed at her, as if he was trying to figure out exactly what she was up to. “We have a timetable. Brawler doesn’t want Beast to have to endure his kennel any longer than he has to after a long flight. He needs to be exercised.”
