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Bennett had to make a decision.
“Try to find the weapons,” he instructed, moving her up against the wall and putting both backpacks in her hands.
If only they’d let him bring his own gun and knives.
No time to moan about it now. He eased away from Rose and toward the edge of the steps, waiting for what he assumed was a large species of cat headed their way—jaguar, tiger, lion—it didn’t matter. He was in for a wrestling match and his opponent had sharp claws and teeth and was almost to the top of the stairs. Protecting Rose was his first priority, but the fight would be fun and unique.
Bennett smiled, and then he leapt.
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Excerpt - Romancing the Treasure
Tess James shielded her eyes. The black asphalt reflected the sun and made it feel even hotter. It was April, for goodness sake, but somebody forgot to tell this fancy private airport east of Phoenix, Arizona. Sweat ran in rivulets down her back and pooled in her bra. She’d had her last shower for the week this morning and had at least planned on staying clean and nice-smelling until they reached whatever remote destination she and her military counterpart were supposed to conquer. Apparently not. If she kept this sweating up, she’d smell like a three-hundred-pound pro wrestler who never washed his stretchy pants.
She smiled to herself and the cameraman gave her a thumbs up. From what she understood, this segment of her first meeting with the military hero would be filmed, but then she’d be in charge of filming on the camera they would provide for the rest of the week. The filming would not be expert, but she had done enough filming of herself to promote her charity that she would do just fine. She only hoped she could get enough footage for the show as she scaled a mountain or swam with crocodiles or whatever they asked of her. She shivered with delight. She wasgoing to get out and live. Oh! She was excited, and terrified. Maybe more terrified than excited.
A silver truck pulled into the small parking lot and a man climbed out. He straightened to his full height and looked her direction. Tess sucked in a breath and murmured, “Woo-ee, lucky me. I got the hot military hero.”
He strode their direction, carrying nothing. They’d been instructed that the show would provide their bag of supplies and they were to bring nothing but the clothes on their back. He looked tough and irresistible and he had one of those walks that had … purpose. He was large and in charge and it looked great on him. His hair was dark and cut short and his jaw line was manly and smooth. He had a high brow and his lips were a nice bow-shape, almost too-pretty, but nothing about this tough guy could be considered too-anything but perfectly appetizing.
His eyes zeroed in on her as he approached and she knew she’d found her favorite part of him. Those eyes were deep brown and framed with lashes she was jealous of. They were incredible.
“H-hey,” she stuttered, lifting her hand and forgetting to shield her forehead. What woman cared about sun-damaged eyes when a man like this was looking at her?
He stepped right up and extended his hand. “Britton Grady. Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
He even talked like a military man. “You too,” she managed, clinging to his hand and giving it an extra-long shake. His hand was nice: manly, strong, perfect. She turned it over with her own hand and looked at the back of it, tanned with strong vein lines. Definitely her type of hand. “I like it,” she said. As she looked up, she caught a flash of humor in his eyes, but it was there and gone quick. “Your hand,” she clarified. “It’s a good one.”
He pulled his hand back, regretfully, and said, “And you are?”
“Oh!” She laughed and put her hand to her chest. “Tessannalisa Magdelana James. I guess my parents gave me impossibly long first and second names to make up for our lame, boring last name. And … you don’t care. You can call me Tess.”
He actually gave her what she thought might be his full smile. It crinkled the edges of his eyes and mouth and, more importantly, lit up those beautiful dark eyes of his. His smile was as glorious as the rest of him. She swooned. At least in her mind. Luckily, she didn’t fall over on the burning asphalt.
“Pleasure to meet you, Tess. How did they rope you into … all of this?”
“Oh, it wasn’t hard,believeme. I’m hopefully going to earn half a million dollars for my charity, Love the Littles. How generous and incredible is that?” His brows arched but he said nothing, so she kept talking, as was normal for her. “Plus, I got so excited about the whole adventure of it. I love Bear Grylls and Survivor and Amazing Race and you’ll even catch me watching Naked and Afraid on occasion. Have you ever watched that? Wild. Absolutely insane. I love it all.”
She’d never actually done anything adventurous. Would he want to ditch his assignment when he realized how domesticated she was? Her parents were the dentist and oral hygienist in her tiny town of Pine, Arizona. Everybody knew, loved, and protected her. Only the real rebels in town would’ve let her do brave stuff like balance on their fence posts or sneak her Halloween candy that “rotted her teeth out” according to her parents. As an adult, she had a stash of licorice that nobody knew about.
“Except for the eating yucky, disgusting stuff,” she continued. “Are you good at killing in the wild, Hot Military Hero? Do you think they’ll give us any food or you think we’ll starve? I don’t like being hungry, but I promise you won’t hear me complain.” His eyes widened as she driveled on. She tookthat as her cue to zip it. “I apologize. I tend to ramble when I’m nervous.” She flapped her arms. “Sweating like a stuffed pig here. I’m from Pine, actual mountains and trees. Aren’t you hot? You don’t even look hot.”
The cameraman chuckled, reminding Tess they weren’t alone. She ducked her head in embarrassment, scared to meet Britton’s gaze but unable to pull her eyes from him. He was so incredible. If she could stop her runaway tongue, this might be the best week of her life. It would definitely be the most exciting. She wouldn’t know adventure if it bit her on the hind side. Even if she didn’t humiliate herself with her lack of survival skills, would a guy like this actually notice an Average Ally like her? He would be stuck with her for a week. Maybe her shining personality would hook him. She grimaced. Or her flapping tongue would drive him insane. She mentally slapped herself. She needed to focus on the charity, not how to get Hot Military Man interested in her.
“I’m hot,” he admitted, but he didn’t look it in a fitted t-shirt, joggers, and running shoes. He looked model perfect. “What are you nervous about?”
Her eyes widened. “Everything! I love those adventure reality shows, but I actually have zero survival skills. Zilch!” She made a zero with her fingers and thumb and realized—dang, she’d admitted the truth to him before they were stuck in a cave with wolves outside. Would he run from her before the show started? She continued talking despite wondering if she should cut off her rambling tongue. “Will we die out there? Will we starve to death? Will cannibals eat us? Will I win the money and help untold children or will I fail and disappoint the entire world?” She threw a dramatic hand up. “Not to mention I’m alone with some unknown hottie for a week. Whatdon’tI have to be nervous about?”
His lips twitched but all he said was, “First, I can reassure you I will protect you and you are safe with me.”
She fanned her face. “I’m going to swoon. I hope he catches this on film because you are going to have to catch me.”
His face tightened with concern and he took a step closer, extending his hand. “Are you serious?”
She waited, trying to ascertain if she would indeed swoon, but then she deflated with disappointment. She’d read about it a lot, but it had never happened to her, not even close. But then, she’d never been close to a man like this. “Nope. Sorry. But thank you for being willing to catch me. That was awfully sweet of you.” She batted her eyelashes at him.
