Finding Paradise

by Barbara Dunlop

Marnie didn’t answer.

  “You never told me that,” he said. And they’d talked about her childhood.

  Both Raven and Mia looked him over in confusion.

  “Why would she tell you?” Raven asked.

  “It’s not something I talk about,” Marnie said. “Everybody ready?” She gave them a minute to put on their safety gear before taking a couple of shots at the two-hundred-yard target.

  Cobra looked through the binoculars to the overlapping holes she’d put in the center of the bull’s-eye. “Okay, now you’re just showing off.”

  He caught a glimpse of her self-satisfied smile. He liked it so much better than her scowl.

  “You have to try Cobra’s guns,” Raven said. “They’re higher quality than mine.”

  “You prefer a .270 or a .308?” Cobra asked Marnie, arranging the three rifle cases on the stand next to where she was shooting.

  Instead of answering, she rose from her seat, backing up as she spoke to Raven. “I don’t want to get in the way of your practice.”

  Raven grasped her by the arm to stop her progress. “How long can you stay in Paradise?”

  Marnie blinked. “A couple more days, why?”

  “Any chance you can stretch it?”

  Cobra understood where Raven was going with this, but it took Marnie a moment.

  “Oh, no,” she said with a definitive shake of her head. “That’s not going to work.”

  “We need you,” Raven said. “Paradise needs you.”

  “For the Klondike Challenge?” Mia asked, catching on a second behind everyone else.

  “Yes,” Raven said emphatically. She gestured to the targets down the range. “You’d win it easily. I came fifth last year in the women’s competition, and you’re way better than me.”

  “Not a chance,” Marnie said.

  Cobra wanted to urge her to stay. But given her attitude toward him right now, he was worried he’d drive her away.

  “You don’t like my guest room?” Mia asked in an obvious ploy to corner Marnie.

  “Oh no you don’t,” Marnie retorted, seeing right through Mia.

  “I’m insulted,” Mia said on a huff, crossing her arms and raising her nose in the air.

  “Not going to work,” Marnie told her.

  “Turn it into a vacation,” Raven suggested.

  Cobra bit back his own thoughts.

  “I have clients,” Marnie said.

  “I’m your favorite client,” Mia said. “And I need you here.”

  Cobra gave Mia a smile and a nod. That was an inspired counter argument.

  “You’re not my only client.”

  “Hannah and Henry are important clients of your firm now, and I’d bet they’d be fine with you staying here for a while.”

  “You can’t call Hannah and Henry,” Marnie said in a warning tone.

  “I call them all the time,” Mia said airily.

  Cobra wanted to cheer her on.

  Marnie looked disconcerted by that. “I can’t ask Gretchen Miller to cover for me for two more weeks.”

  “Why not?” Mia asked. “You’re bringing increased Lafayette business to the firm, and you’re expanding into entertainment law. Trust me, that’s going to be lucrative.”

  Cobra fought a grin at Mia’s convincing delivery.

  “Everyone needs to take a vacation sometime,” Raven added. “Come on, Marnie. Paradise came second last year, a close second. You could take us straight to the top.”

  “Serious bragging rights,” Cobra offered helpfully, earning him an annoyed look from Marnie. “You’d be the town hero.”

  “I don’t want to be the town hero,” she told him.

  “Why not?” Mia asked.

  “Brodie would be thrilled,” Raven said. “And if you make Brodie happy, let’s just say he’ll get very cooperative on our future matchmaking rounds.”

  “It’s true,” Mia said. “After I saved his plane from crashing in the flood, Brodie was putty in my hands.”

  “Really?” Cobra had a hard time believing Brodie would completely roll over for anyone, even for someone who’d saved his plane and his pilot.

  “Really,” Mia said with conviction.

  Raven took Marnie’s hands. “Say yes. It’s only a couple of weeks.”

  Marnie shook her head.

  “I think that’s a yes,” Mia said.

  It looked like a hard no to Cobra, and he was sorely disappointed. He wanted two more weeks with Marnie. He’d take anything he could get, but two weeks sounded exceptional—if only he could get her to talk to him again.

  “I’ll ask,” Marnie said with exaggerated resignation.

  Raven whooped with joy.

  “I’ll ask,” Marnie repeated for emphasis.

  “They’ll say yes,” Mia said. “I can guarantee they’ll say yes.”

  Marnie’s eyes narrowed at Mia. “You’re going to lobby them, aren’t you?”

  Mia produced her phone and wiggled it in the air, causing Cobra to fight off yet another smile. “I am.”

  “Can I stop you?”

  “You don’t want to stop me. We’ll have fun. And you deserve a break.”

  Marnie rolled her eyes at that. “My life at the law firm isn’t all that tough.”

  Mia pressed on the screen with her thumb.

  “How are you with pistols?” Cobra asked Marnie, since it looked like Mia had all but won the argument.

  Marnie gave him a menacing look—hard to do given the differences in their sizes, but she pulled it off.

  He ignored it. “I’ve brought a .270 and a .308. You might like the .270. The action is smooth, and it has a nice trigger.”

  Raven moved to pack her rifle in its case.

  “Gretchen?” Mia said into her phone, taking a couple of steps away from the rest. “It’s Mia Westberg. I was wondering—”

  “I’m ignoring you,” Marnie said to Cobra.

  “I got that.”

  She made a shooing motion with her hands. “So back off.”

  “You know I can’t do that.”

  She put her hands on her hips and tipped her chin even higher. “Why not?”

  He wanted to say she’d invaded his dreams and his waking hours and thoughts of her had taken over his life. “Because you took three shots and only made one hole, and—”

  “My mistake.”

  “—and I have higher-performing firearms.”

  Mia waved her phone as she called out to Marnie. “You’re good to stay.”

  “Inevitable,” Marnie whispered in an undertone as her chin dropped.

  Cobra’s chest warmed at the thought of her staying in town. His fingers flexed, and it was all he could do not to reach out to her.

  Chapter Eleven

  A dozen thoughts rushed through Marnie’s mind as she squeezed off a final shot from the 9mm pistol. Among them, that Cobra wasn’t exaggerating about his high-performing firearms.

  Also, that Mia was a good friend and an important client, and Marnie really was doing legal work for her here in Paradise. Although Marnie felt guilty about staying, she was happy to hang out with Mia awhile longer. She also admitted that Cobra—who was shooting his own .357 revolver a few lanes down—had gotten under her skin like no man ever before.

  She dropped the empty magazine from the 9mm. Her arm was getting tired, and she knew it was time for a break.

  The people of Paradise had set up a rustic but very functional shooting range in a small box canyon that provided natural safety barriers. Meadow grasses and flower stalks shifted in the light wind in front of rows of stands. The targets were set up at intervals all the way up to four-hundred yards. They had to manually replace the paper targets, but Cobra had done that after he arrived.

  She went to the binoculars now
to check her accuracy at fifty yards. She was glad Cobra was at the far end of the stalls. If he were sitting next to her, she’d have been jumpy, messing up her aim.

  “How does it look?” he asked, coming her way.

  Raven had left to take her own gear back to her truck, and Mia had . . .

  Marnie looked around, wondering where Mia had disappeared to. “Not bad,” she answered Cobra.

  He sat down at the next bench and put his hand out for the binoculars.

  “What about you?” she asked instead of handing them over.

  He gestured out on the range. “Target six.”

  She put the binoculars to her eyes and focused.

  He was good. He was really good.

  “My turn,” he said, and gently drew the binoculars from her hand. His fingers brushed hers, sending a current of awareness skittering along her skin.

  She sucked in a breath. “Good shooting,” she managed to politely tell him.

  He raised the binoculars to look at her target, then he whistled under his breath. “Survivalists, you say? They taught you well.”

  “You’re better,” she responded, rubbing her hand where he’d touched her, trying to erase the ridiculous sensation.

  “I had professional training.”

  “I was a child prodigy.”

  He smiled at that, and she felt it to her core. She wished he’d move away again. Then she wished he would move even closer. Then she wished she’d get her own emotions under control already.

  “I can also replace the seals in a water pump,” she rattled off to fill the silence. “Operate a ham radio and identify every edible plant in the greater Midwest.”

  He was gazing at her now, his dark eyes both probing and puzzled at the same time. “Impressive.”

  “Thank you.” She wasn’t sure what else to say.

  “Seriously. The world needs more women like you.”

  She scoffed at that. Her survivalist skills were the least practical thing about her these days.

  “But there aren’t other women like you.” His voice turned gravelly and humor lit his eyes. “Listen, I know you said you’re not looking for a husband, and I’m really not looking for a wife, but—”

  “Ha, ha,” she mocked, guessing where he was going.

  “Would you consider marrying me?”

  She wasn’t ready to joke around with him. “Not a chance.”

  “No?”

  “No.”

  “Well, that’s disappointing,” he said easily, still looking amused by his own joke.

  “You’ll get over it.”

  “Tough to find a woman who can replace the seals in a water pump.”

  “I don’t do things like that anymore.” She found herself lightening up.

  His brow quirked upward. “No real call for it in LA?”

  “One of the reasons I moved there.”

  Their gazes met and held, the scent of gunpowder overlaying the drying grasses and leaves.

  “Are you going to tell me?” he asked, his voice low and intimate.

  “Tell you what?”

  “Why you’re avoiding me.”

  “I’m not.”

  He went silent, letting the faraway squirrel chatter fill the air around them.

  Marnie wished Mia or Raven would get back here.

  “Why are you lying to me?” he asked.

  “I’m not lying,” she said, feeling guiltier for lying about lying than the original lie. Interesting, that.

  “Marnie.”

  Her frustration was clear in her tone. “What?”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Do we have to do this?”

  “Yes, we do.”

  “Fine.” She tested a couple of explanatory sentences inside her head. Neither of them worked.

  “You’re not doing it,” he noted.

  “I’m thinking about it.”

  “Okay.” He waited.

  She took the plunge. “I didn’t want to be . . . you know . . .”

  He cocked his head. “If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking.”

  She squared her shoulders then and glanced around to make sure they were still alone. She pivoted her body on the bench to face him full-on. “You didn’t sign up for this, and I didn’t want to be that woman.”

  His brow furrowed. “What woman?”

  “The one-night stand who never went away.”

  He drew back. “One-night stand?”

  She pasted him with a warning look. “Keep it down.”

  He lowered his voice, leaning closer. “A one-night stand? Is that what you think happened between us?”

  There was no other way to describe it. “It was one night, and . . . well, you were standing.” She didn’t know why she’d added that irreverent ending. It just popped into her head.

  His gaze darkened further. “That wasn’t what I wanted.”

  “To be standing?” she asked flippantly, trying to keep ahead of her emotions.

  “A one-night stand.” He kept his voice low, but the strain in it was obvious.

  “I was leaving the next day.”

  “There was nothing we could do about that.” He paused. “I mean, nothing that we knew of at the time, anyway.” He reached out to touch her hand.

  She pulled away, and he gave a frustrated sigh.

  “What did you want, Cobra?”

  “I don’t know. Ten nights, thirty nights.” His deep voice vibrated through her, drawing her in like a magnet. He leaned closer still. “What did you want? What do you want?”

  Raven’s voice reached them, followed by Mia’s.

  “Tell me,” he said with urgency, glancing toward the trail and the voices, clearly expecting the two women to appear at any second.

  “I don’t know,” Marnie answered. “I haven’t thought it through.” She’d thought about him plenty, but she hadn’t let herself consider the possibility of anything more happening between them.

  Mia and Raven appeared in her peripheral vision, and she straightened, realizing how close she and Cobra had gotten to each other.

  Cobra straightened away as well, his gaze still holding hers. “Think it through. Give it a chance.”

  “Cobra.” She didn’t know what she was asking.

  “We’re both adults,” he elaborated. “We can be discreet if that’s what you want. Just don’t—”

  “How’d the 9mm work for you?” Raven called out to Marnie, crossing the last few yards between them. “Did you like it?”

  “It’s a perfect match,” Cobra answered for her, taking a beat before he moved his gaze from Marnie to Raven. “She’s incredible.”

  Marnie was slower to shift her attention.

  Just don’t . . . his cut-off words echoed in her mind. Just don’t, what?

  * * *

  * * *

  Cobra’s statement still echoed inside Marnie’s head as the Klondike Challenge team gathered at the Bear and Bar the next night. Brodie surprised her with his involvement. Given his attitude on their matchmaking scheme, she hadn’t seen him as a community leader. But there he was in front of the bar explaining the timing and logistics of the Klondike Challenge that was taking place in just over a week in the Alaskan town of Balsam Ridge, two hundred miles away.

  According to Brodie, WSA would fly the participants to Balsam Ridge where they’d be provided with luxury tent accommodations. Marnie was also surprised to learn that it was such a big event. Communities from all over Alaska would be there, winding up everyone’s season as winter set in.

  At a table next to the window with Mia and Raven, Marnie eased back in her chair to bring Cobra into view. He was closer to the bar than they were, facing front, and she could see his profile.

  Watching him now, she vividly remembered the taste
of his lips, the touch of his hands and the silky feel of his hot, smooth skin. She wanted it again. She wanted all of it all over again.

  Brodie was talking about meals now—a central cafeteria and a barbecue pit. He listed the names of the current Paradise team members, noting some spots hadn’t yet been filled and they needed two women for the new Green Energy Challenge. Then he opened the floor to questions.

  Marnie only half listened, restless, frustrated at being this near to Cobra, wanting to talk to him, to pick up where they’d left off yesterday and ask him the question that was burning in her mind.

  He smiled at something Brodie said, and some people laughed. She realized it must have been a joke.

  She quickly grinned, pretending she’d been listening. Then she joined in the applause with the rest of the crowded room.

  Brodie took a mock bow, and conversation came up around the room.

  “Do you cycle?” Raven asked her.

  Marnie shook her head. “Walking the city streets is my best exercise.”

  Mia looked around at the crowd of mostly men. “I wonder who might . . .”

  Silas appeared behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders.

  She immediately smiled and looked up at him.

  He gave her a quick peck. “I told Brodie you’d try out for the cycling.”

  “Me?” Mia asked in obvious surprise.

  “You run.”

  She reached down to touch her slender thighs. “I don’t have a lot of power in these.”

  “We don’t have a lot of choices.”

  “Hey!” Mia said in mock offense.

  Marnie took the moment to casually rise from the table. She started to explain that she was going to the ladies’ room but then realized nobody was paying any attention. She moved away, scanning the room until she spotted Cobra.

  He was around the corner, standing between the pool tables and the dividing wall, talking with T-Two.

  She started his way, greeting a few people she recognized along the way—AJ, Kenneth and Xavier, who looked a little down and was probably missing Scarlett. The music had been turned up after Brodie’s talk, and people were three-deep at the bar ordering drinks. She was thirsty too, but she was much more interested in talking to Cobra.

  He saw her coming, met her gaze and stilled.