hoped their voices hadn’t carried. He didn’t want to draw attention to their proximity to the home in the woods.
He almost smiled. He had to hand it to her—she was the most determined person he’d ever met.
As they approached her rental, Rae hiked past him and stood next to the hatch at the back. She said nothing as she worked to remove her snowshoes, taking out her frustration on the equipment. Finally, she tossed the snowshoes in the back and slammed the hatch shut. “Okay, now you can tell me why you followed me.”
“Because I had a feeling you were putting yourself in harm’s way again.”
“I know I came looking for you earlier today, but I don’t need you to take a bullet for me this time.”
No one ever planned for that. “I don’t know what you’re doing here, but I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Again.
“You didn’t seem interested in hearing my story earlier.” Rae stomped around to the door and opened it as if to get in and leave him standing there, but she leaned against the vehicle instead. “I don’t intend to get hurt. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do. I don’t need your help, after all.”
“So you say now. You came to me and asked for my help.” This . . . this contentious exchange between them had never been their way before. Liam blamed himself—he didn’t want to let her get under his skin. He’d set the tone earlier and now Rae was continuing it.
“And you told me in no uncertain terms to go away.” She blew out a breath, then a bird caught her gaze as it fluttered away in the branches above.
Liam took in her blue-green eyes. As always, the shift in their color amazed him. They appeared greener now as the forest closed in and wrapped around her, framing her face. Her long neck stretched as she watched the bird. There was a time when he thought he couldn’t get enough of looking at Rae’s eyes. Of being with her. Even as they were both caught in the middle of a tough and dangerous investigation, he’d somehow fallen for her.
That was then.
This was now.
“You’re right. I told you that,” said Liam. “But you’re not going away, are you? You’re here in my neck of the woods and you might not know this, but I’m not that big of a jerk.” Her eyes softened, and he felt that familiar kink in his heart. “I only act like I’m a big jerk.”
That elicited a smile she so obviously fought, but then a chuckle escaped too. She straightened and composed herself before squinting and angling her head as if considering his words. “Okay. I didn’t mean to give you a hard time. But you gave me one earlier. I don’t have time to play games or act like I don’t need your help, because I do.” She shivered. “I’m freezing. Let’s go somewhere warm and I’ll tell you everything. Snow is beautiful on a postcard but not much fun to sit in while you’re on a stakeout.”
“Is that what you call what you were doing?”
“I hadn’t intended to stay long, so call it what you want, but you were right before.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I should’ve been a private investigator. Except, well, I want to help the public, not individuals.” She got into her car. “I’ll follow you.”
“Okay. I know the perfect place.”
“Um . . . unless it’s on the road heading back to the Jackson Hole Mountain Ski Lodge where I’m staying, I might need to say no. I don’t want to get caught somewhere far from the lodge if it gets dark. I’m not that great at driving in this stuff at night.”
“How did you get a room? The place would have been booked months out.”
“I told the lodge I was going to write a story for World Tour. The marketing and publicity person there seemed impressed. As it turns out, they need extra publicity with the latest, greatest resort’s grand opening this season. I got a discounted rate. Go me.”
“Wait. You work for World Tour?” Her deception hit him all wrong, but he had no right to throw stones. “The reporter extraordinaire, Rae Burke, daughter of Buckner Burke, working for something as lighthearted as a travel magazine?”
“Don’t look at me like that, Liam. I am going to write that article for the magazine. I’m interviewing with them, and since I don’t have a lot of samples to