Jake raised a hand palm-up to stop her and put it to his ear as Mac’s voice came through again.
“Three tangos headed your way, boss. Damn it! They’re spreading out and coming in hot.”
He heard the regret in her voice. If Mac had any sort of shot on them, she would have taken it, which meant she either wasn’t in a good position, or she had her hands full with Coop. Probably both.
“Got it covered,” Jake responded with confidence. “Just get yourselves out of there.” He gave Olivia a quick glance before adding, “If we aren’t at the chopper when the rest of you get there, initiate Plan B.”
There was hesitation from his team, and Jake understood why. No one liked to rely on a Plan B, but sometimes there just wasn’t any other option. There’d been times they’d been forced to skip right the hell over Plan B and had gone straight to Plan E. Still, he needed to make sure the order had gone through clearly.
“Alpha Team. Do. You. Copy?”
Jake waited a beat and was about to repeat the order when Mac and Grant responded with, “Roger that.”
Derek and Trevor both gave him a quick, “Copy, boss”.
Coop grunted, “Got it.”
Trevor added, “Do what you have to do, Jake.”
Knowing his team had their orders, Jake’s sole focus was now on Olivia’s safety. Glancing back down at her, he saw the fear she was desperately trying to hide. Jake vowed to find a way to erase it, if it was the last thing he did.
Chapter 6
Praying Jake couldn’t see how truly terrified she was, Olivia licked her lips and asked, “What’s Plan B?”
He smiled down at her, making her heart do a little dance. Oh, how she’d missed that smile.
“Don’t worry. We’ll get there in time. Come on.”
Gently grabbing her elbow, he guided her as they continued east. Olivia pushed away her inappropriate thoughts. Now was most definitely not the time for that. Later, when she was home and alone, she could stir up the memory of how he’d looked at her just then.
Fear of never making it out of the jungle alive had her already-frazzled nerves running at full speed. Jake seemed certain they’d make it, so she’d trust that he knew what he was doing.
Olivia looked over at him, amazed. The man was barely breaking a sweat. Shouldn’t he at least be a little panicked?
Not that she wanted him to be. It was just that she was about a hair’s breadth away from a complete and total meltdown, and he didn’t even look worried.
She always had a feeling that there was more to his job than he’d let on, but seeing him here, like this—If there were any previous doubts he’d been lying about what he did for a living, they were long gone, now. The man was simply too at ease in such a deadly situation.
Sure, it could just be his military training kicking in, but Olivia didn’t think so. Plus, there was the team he’d mentioned. That little tickle in her gut told her there was a lot more to the man she’d known nearly her whole life than he’d ever shared with her.
As they kept on, she continued sneaking peeks, those quick glimpses holding all the proof she needed. Jake was alert, his eyes darting about in every direction, checking for any possible threat.
His stride was long and strong, his steps silent and purposeful. His taught, chiseled body was completely attuned to their surroundings, and he held his gun so comfortably in his hand, it was as if it were actually a part of him.
This was a side of Jake she’d never seen before. He was dark. Dangerous. And as much as she tried not to ignore it, sexy as hell.
Avoiding that line of thinking altogether, Olivia decided to ask again about Plan B. She’d just opened her mouth when Jake stopped abruptly.
He let go of her hand and motioned for her to stay quiet. Olivia’s lips tightened as she strained to hear whatever it was that had Jake so spooked. Twigs snapped, the sound coming from somewhere close by. Her eyes flew up to his.
Without warning, Jake pulled Olivia behind a cluster of bushes with leaves nearly as big as she was. He pushed down on one of her shoulders and, without hesitating, she dropped into a squat. Using her hands to balance herself, Olivia ignored the wet dirt and leaves—and whatever else was beneath her.
They heard another snap, this one way too close for comfort. Jake quickly dropped down with her. Check that...on her.
Holy. Hell.
Now flat on her back, Olivia tried to wrap her head around the fact that Jake McQueen was lying on top of her, their bodies pressed together. She held her breath and tried not to move.
If the situation weren’t so serious, she probably would have laughed. How many times had she fantasized about lying beneath this man? About a billion or so, if she had to guess. But this wasn’t her bed, and in her fantasies, they sure as hell weren’t being hunted by a bunch of crazy-assed murderers.
Shutting her eyes, Olivia began to feel crushed. Not physically. No, it was her spirit that had taken the hardest hit of all. This became evident when she found herself wishing in vain that she could somehow fast forward through all this insanity and just get back home where she belonged.
It wasn’t like her to waste useless energy complaining about something she couldn’t change. Not even mentally. But damn it, she was just so sick of this!
Sick of being scared. Tired of being hungry and thirsty and...well, tired.
Olivia was beyond ready to be someplace cool, where her clothes didn’t stick to her like a second skin and her entire body didn’t feel like one big mass of sweat and stench. She wanted to be able to fill her lungs with air that wasn’t so thick with humidity, it felt as though she were trying to
