“You have the perimeter set up.”

Motion detectors. Infrared sensors. A few traps to welcome anyone who stepped in the wrong place. The usual. “Sure, I’m not a fucking novice.”

“Then?”

“Neither will the person be who comes after us.” This was a game for grown-ups. He lived in a world where experts littered the ground. Finding someone to venture out here would not be a burden if someone really wanted to find her. If that happened, the cat-and-mouse chase would begin. The only way to turn this was to keep running or convince the people after her, if there proved to be any, to back off.

“You still think people are coming.”

“Possibly.” He kept walking and watching, doing the job he’d been sent out here to do.

“Don’t.” When he lifted an eyebrow but stayed quiet, she kept talking. “No hesitating and hiding things from me because you think that will somehow keep me safe.”

Time to come clean. She deserved the facts. Her knowing would double his strength . . . and likely make keeping her there even harder. “The same biplane has flown over twice today already.”

She halted at the edge of a drift with the snow piled around her, past the top of her boots. Her grim expression said she understood the potential peril. “You’re sure it’s the same one?”

He excelled at gathering intel. He could lie on his stomach in a swamp and not move for hours while crocodiles circled and the enemy closed in. Visually tagging a plane and marking its movement counted as child’s play to him. “It’s buzzing low. Doesn’t have any distinguishing marks.”

Skepticism showed in every line of her body and in the smirk she held back, but not by much. “And that’s enough to tell you someone is coming?”

Well . . . “And Andy sent me a signal. Insists the person is not coming to inflict harm, just do a check, which is why we’re walking the perimeter.”

She sent him that same you’re-an-idiot eye roll she’d been aiming his way since they met. “Why would someone come out here just for a check?”

“Good question.” As soon as he could raise his brother, Gabe would ask. Right now they communicated through abbreviated code in an attempt not to disclose their location, because there was no question someone out there was watching. “I’m waiting for more intel from Andy.”

“It might be easier to grab the person lurking around out here and squeeze the information out of him.” She slipped her hands out of her pockets and acted out her words.

“I like your style.” Her no-nonsense practical nature appealed to him. He’d known strong women, many agents and military officers throughout the years. He admired brains, and her beauty sure sucked him in. The combination drove him to his knees. “And that was my thought exactly.”

“So, we’re really looking for tracks.” She glanced at the ground to the blank canvas of snow in front of them.

Good instincts but wrong direction. “Something like that.”

“And while we do that, you thought it was a good time to talk about tying me to a bed?” She rubbed her hands together.

“I think about it every fucking second, so I may as well talk about it.” And that was the truth. So was his need to keep her mind unfocused and off the danger. He needed her to act like a job and listen, not question if something life-threatening headed their way.

She froze. “What if I don’t want to be tied down?”

No way that stiffness came from the cold. “Your eyes are all big. Not sure why you’re afraid to admit you’re a sexual being and enjoy sex.”

“I never said—”

“You’re pretty great at it and clearly like it. Seems to me, you should stop fighting it.” Oh, she let go during. He just sensed that she didn’t like losing control with him.

He understood the sensation of being out of control. The way he discarded every personal rule with her and felt a twisting in his gut whenever he stared at her for more than two seconds. All new, and none of it welcome. But he’d ride it out, enjoy the sex and keep her safe until he turned her over to restart her life.

“You don’t know everything,” she mumbled as she started walking again, taking big marching steps.

A white blanket surrounded them. The makeshift forest filled with the sounds of their thudding steps and the crackle of branches as the weight of the wet snow sent them crashing to the frozen ground.

He took it all in, the sights and echoes of the unpopulated area around them, but his mind kept winging back to her. “Tell me what I don’t know.”

Through the scarf, she snorted. “Forget it.”

“Exactly my point.”

She continued to scan the ground, careful before placing each footstep as they ventured closer to the trees outlining the side of the cabin. “You’re trying to bully me into this conversation.”

“I’m trying to let you know that the guy you’re sleeping with gets that things happen and that life can be shit sometimes and is willing to talk it all through with you.” Backgrounds usually amounted to nothing more than lines on pieces of paper to him. With her, he wanted to dig around, get to know the woman who tried to keep him at a distance even as her gaze followed him around.

“We’ve had sex a few times.”

If she wanted to piss him off she’d found the right way to do it. His jaw tightened and his teeth clamped together as he spotted a pattern in the snow about six feet in front of them, right at the edge of the forest.

He knew he should drop the conversation and get back to work. And he would—in a second. “The number of times doesn’t matter.”

She broke eye contact with the snow long enough to glance at him. “You think we’re dating now?”

Not that he was looking for commitment or even nights together once the assignment was over, but still. He’d used that line so many times. Having it thrown in his face made him realize how shitty it sounded. “I think I’m the closest thing you have to a friend.”

She touched a hand to her hat. Pulled it down closer to the top of her eyebrows. “I don’t sleep with friends.”

For some reason that sent his temper spiking. “You sure do have an answer for everything.”

She smiled above her scarf. “How does that feel? Annoying, isn’t it?”

One point for Natalie.

Perfect time to pivot. He reached for his gun and took a step toward the spot that had grabbed his attention a minute ago. “Now we have an entrance point.”

The corners of her mouth dropped. “What?”

“Do not look until we start to turn around and head back to the cabin, but we have covered tracks. No prints, but snow that’s been pushed and not just fallen in that pattern.”

She kept her focus on him. Didn’t engage in the usual panicked rookie mistake of checking out the scene despite all warnings. There certainly were benefits to having a client who knew how the dark side of the world worked.

“Can you see anyone in the vicinity?” she asked, as she gathered her coat around her and turned back to walk directly into the wind.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. To anyone watching the move might look romantic. For him it was really about being able to jump in and shield her if necessary, though part of him wondered if she’d let him try.

“No, but I’d be real disappointed in the person’s skill set if I could.” He kept his voice steady and his steps even. No signs they’d found the person scouting him. Even now the person, man or woman, could be watching from nearby, and Gabe refused to tip them off.

“So, now what?” Her hand slipped into her pocket, right where she kept the gun he gave her.

He looked forward, but with each step he did a quick visual sweep of the land, looking for any sign of movement. In the trees. On the ground. The person could be hiding anywhere. But wouldn’t be for long. “We set a trap.”

She hmpf’d. “We could just shoot the person.”

“While I appreciate your bloodthirsty response, we need him or her alive to answer questions.” He squeezed her shoulder but doubted she felt it through all those layers. “And Andy’s code said non-hostile.”