Snowed In
Page 103
“Not yet.”
I could see her breath, just barely, against the cold. Her lips were amazing — plump and full and painted cherry red. I wanted them again in the worst way.
“So Kyle, back at the bar… who were you waiting for? You said it was complicated.”
“Oh it is,” I assured her. “Very complicated.”
Sammara’s shoulders slumped. “Ah,” she said disappointedly. “You’re married.”
“Nope.”
“Girlfriend then?”
“No again.”
“Boyfriend?”
I laughed. “After that kiss? What do you think?”
Sammara laughed and shrugged. “Shit, I’m stumped. It must be really complicated then.” She rolled her eyes dramatically while wiggling her fingers. “And mysterious!”
“You’re making fun of me aren’t you?”
“A little.”
“Fine, just for that I’ll tell you.”
I looked back at her, and saw her staring at me intently. So intently, I couldn’t resist.
“My lover was kidnapped by Colombian antiquities smugglers,” I said simply. “And if I don’t return a giant emerald we stole from a cave in the jungle, they’re gonna feed her to alligators.”
Sammara nodded, albeit very slowly. “Ah… Sounds like you have Romancing the Stone problems.”
I was completely stunned. “Whoa. You actually know that movie?”
“Sure I know the movie. And they’re crocodiles, not alligators.”
I blinked three or four times in rapid succession. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah. Actually I’m surprised you know it, being a romance movie and all that.”
“Well Michael Douglas was badass,” I explained. “He killed an allig— I mean crocodile — with his bare hands, and then made boots out of it.”
“That is pretty badass,” Sammara admitted. “Especially for a non-Army Ranger.”
She squeezed my hand. Pulling it into her lap, she used the fingers of her other hand to force me to face her.
“Okay now tell me why,” she said, without even the hint of a smile. “But for real this time.”
For real…
I nodded reluctantly. Pulled out my phone…
And showed her.
Three
SAMMARA