Outmatched

No answer was forthcoming. Instead, Rhys suddenly tore out from behind the barrier and sped toward Pete’s position like a champion sprinter, roaring this deep, terrifying bellow.

There was a shuffle of noise and curses from the trees, but Rhys’s tactic to scare the shit out of Pete and his friend Alan worked. I ducked my head out the window to see better and caught sight of Pete, now out from behind the trees, gaping at Rhys in shock, while Alan fumbled with his gun. Rhys skidded to a stop, gun up, and fired continuously until both Pete and Alan were covered in red paint.

Pete looked shell-shocked while Alan cursed in pain.

I laughed so hard, tears leaked out of my eyes.

Rhys lifted his gun and strolled casually over to Pete. He smacked him hard against the upper arm, causing Creepy Pete to wince. “No hard feelings, huh?”

My colleague nodded slowly. “Uh … sure.”

I pulled my gun back and hurried out of the bunker just as Rhys walked toward me. He grinned and gestured toward the tree house. “Go on up, see if the flag is there.”

A small part of me hoped the flag wasn’t in there so I could watch Rhys go all commando on the rest of the yellow team’s butts. Yet, if the flag was there, I could take comfort knowing he’d schooled the two guys in my office who’d upset me that week in a way that wouldn’t affect my relationship with them in the office.

It was all part of a team-building exercise after all.

Giddiness filled me as I hurried up the ladder and through the hole in the floor. Sure enough, lying in the corner was the yellow team’s flag.

I crawled into the tree house, snatched it, and hurried back down. Rhys waited at the bottom, smiling up at me. I jumped from the third rung with a girlish squeal of delight and he caught me with a bark of laughter. I lifted the flag in victory. “We won!”

Our eyes locked, and suddenly the air expelled out of my lungs as the urge to kiss him became almost impossible to hold back.

“Uh, looks like we aren’t needed.” Laura’s amusement-filled voice drew our heads apart.

Rhys slowly lowered me to the ground, and I avoided his gaze. With a smile less genuine than the one I’d given him, I turned to Xander, Laura, Stuart, and David with the flag. “Rhys kicked their butts.”

Stuart grinned at my fake boyfriend. “There’s a surprise.”

Rhys shrugged while I attempted to tell myself that I didn’t find Paintball Rhys sexy as hell.

Standing in the clearing where our paintball exercise had begun, I grinned at the sight of my colleagues covered in paint. The only teams who remained unscathed were Rhys and I, Jackson and Camille, Xander and Laura, Stuart and David, and Ben and Nick.

Everyone else had been shot.

Jackson grinned at the red team. “Well done.”

“We had a great team leader.” Xander patted Rhys’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Jackson chuckled, “we’re all surprised the ex-professional boxer whooped our asses.”

Rhys shrugged, a slight smile curling his lips. My eyes zeroed in on his mouth, as Jackson’s voice grew muffled.

“Are we all set?”

“Huh?” I asked, dragging my gaze and thoughts off Rhys.

Jackson gave me a knowing look. “I said, now that the team exercise is over, let’s just play.”

My heart dropped. “As in … no rules. Just …”

“Play until we’re exhausted? Pretty much. We booked the outdoor grounds for three hours, and Rhys led the red team to victory in thirty minutes. We might as well get our money’s worth.” Jackson lifted his gun. “You all have ten seconds to get your ugly, khaki, no-good keisters out of here before I cover your cargo pants in paint.”

Laughter filled the woods at his Home Alone reference as we took off toward the cover of the trees. This time, knowing Rhys was the enemy, I went off on my own.

Pain flared in my shoulder, and I cried out, realizing I’d been hit. Spinning around, I saw Pete aiming at me with his stupid overpowered gun, a calculated look in his eyes. Just as he was about to fire again, red paint splattered all over his visor.

Then just all over him, period.

Glancing around, I found Rhys, standing behind a tree, gun aimed at Pete. His head turned toward me, and he winked.

I grinned. Grateful.

Then I shot him.

Rhys looked down at his chest in apparent shock, and I threw my head back in laughter. It cut off when he lifted his head, eyes narrowed in determination.

Oh dear God, what had I done?

With a yelp of apprehension, I spun around and bolted through the trees. I half expected to feel the sting of shots across my back, but instead I heard racing footsteps.

Oh hell!

A strong arm caught me around the waist, a heavy weight propelling me toward the nearest tree. At the last second I found myself turned and pulled into Rhys’s arms as we collided with the trunk. He wasted no time pushing me against the tree as he ripped off his mask. Determined heat filled his beautiful green eyes as he gripped the bottom of my mask and gently took it off.