“Hurting…but that’s on me. If I hadn’t been running on it then it wouldn’t be hurting so badly. At least this is almost over.”
“No chance I’m going to get you back up this mountain is there?”
“Absolutely not,” she said as if he should have known the answer to that.
He laughed. “Well you see we still have the same problem. They can get up, but getting you down won’t be easy. We’ll have to go up,” he pointed, “before a chopper can land for us. That means we’re probably going to have to stay the night at the cabin up there.”
“There’s a cabin up there?”
He nodded. “Belongs to Lula. I am sure she won’t mind. She only uses it once, maybe twice a year. James drops her there via chopper and then he comes back for her when her vacation time is up. Of course with the new owners that might change for her.”
Sahara laid her head on his shoulder. “Thanks for saving my life and not leaving me behind no matter how much I insisted you should.”
“You saved mine too,” he wrapped one arm around her. He held the gun in his free hand just in case he needed it before help arrived.
“I guess we saved each other then,” she cuddled closer to him.
“You’ll have a story to share at the next family dinner.”
“I don’t suppose you would be interested in coming to share it with me; would you?”
“Hmmm,” he sat silent for a minute.
“Of course you wouldn’t,” she sighed.
“Actually, I was just thinking I have some vacation time stored up so yeah; I’ll come.”
“Really,” she looked up to him with a smile on her face.
“Really,” he winked.
Epilogue
Sahara sat at the dinner table watching her family interact while Cody sat beside her with his hand locked in hers.
“And then she saved my life,” he said. “Farley Thorpe was about to pull the trigger when this woman comes up and clobbers him with a tree branch. No fear, this one,” he looked at her with admiration.
“Well if that branch hadn’t already fallen I may have had to come up with a different plan.”
He laughed. “Thank Mother Nature for the assist then and I’ll keep thanking you for keeping me alive.”
“That’s our little girl. It’s in her blood because she is without a doubt one of the Daniels.” Her mother boasted. “We have adventure in our blood.”
“That’s my baby sister.” Kallie said and Jeff seconded her words.
Sahara laughed. For the first time at a family dinner she felt like real family. She wasn’t the butt of the family joke, and still the only thing she could think about was the hot man sitting next to her.
Cody had taken her up to Lula’s cabin where they spent a couple nights with each other. Apparently Cody had told her to send the chopper back slowly and Lula had complied without protest. While Sahara was ready to get down the mountain she would have to admit she loved having the alone time with Cody—even if he did insist on camping out on the plush fur rug by the living room fireplace.
“So what’s next for you, Cody? Back to the Ranger station?”
“Actually, Sahara and I are going to spend a few weeks together here and then I’m taking her to South Dakota to meet friends of mine. They have a ranch style bed and breakfast with adventure hiking tours. Gavin, my friend and former Marine, mentioned the last time I saw him that I might like to lead some of the tours. I’m going to go out and take a look, spend some time and then make up my mind. But I’ll only go if Sahara’s planning to go with me so I figure I might as well take her out there beforehand so she can see if she likes South Dakota.”
Sahara smiled at him. Some of this was news to her. She knew they were going out to South Dakota together, but they hadn’t gotten to the part about this being more of a permanent situation. She just thought he wanted to take her on vacation with him. But he had said he would only take the job if she was going to come with him. He hadn’t mentioned a job, or that condition before. Something about it warmed her heart.
“What about your job, girl?”
“There are bugs everywhere,” she said as she gazed into Cody’s eyes with a smile on her face. “But there’s only one Cody Donovan and if he’s in South Dakota then I guess I’ll be studying the South Dakotan bugs,” she smiled at him. “Spending time with a fabulously wonderful man is by far the best adventure this woman can have.”
She kissed his lips softly. Her family went back to their conversations, talking about their adventures as she and Cody got lost in a world of their own. She brushed her lips against his before pulling back enough to look in his eyes. “Be my family,” she nearly whispered.
“We’ve only known each other for four months, are you sure?”
“I’m positive,” she said. “Be my family?”
“Absolutely,” he winked. “Sahara Donovan…I like the sound of that.”
“Me too,” she smiled.
“Should we tell them now?”
She looked back to her family who all happened to be engrossed in passing food around the table while Jeff talked about his Alaskan adventure.
“Nah,” she shrugged. “We can tell them later.” She kissed him once more before turning her attention back to her food. They ate, side by side, listening to her family’s great adventures while silently planning one of their own. Soon, very soon, she was going to be Sahara Donovan; the ranger’s wife and the woman who studied bugs. What more could a woman ask for? Nothing, she mused; nothing at all.
~ A Look Ahead ~
There are two more books in the Men of Action series left to come.
• Hunted staring a woman on the run and a retired Navy SEAL determined to protect and claim her.
• Ghost staring most of the major men of action and featuring one of the most mysterious ones we have met in this series.
It has been fun writing these Men of Action stories. There is something special coming from the last book so I hope you’ll see the series through to the end to find out what’s to come. The next Men of Action series book, Hunted, is slated for an early 2014 release. I’ll have more details later this year.
~ Question for You ~
What MOA moment has surprised you, made you cry, made you laugh or made you gasp and wonder “what were they thinking,” during the series thus far? Contact me on the Facebook fan page and let me know.
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Don’t forget to stop by the official Capri Montgomery Books Web site for information on current and upcoming books. The site has recently been redesigned and now offers exclusive site only content. I hope you’ll stick around to see what’s on the way.
Capri Montgomery
About the Author
Capri Montgomery is an author of multicultural and interracial suspense, science fiction and contemporary romance. Her passion for writing started at a young age and for over twenty years she has been turning the movies playing in her head into written works. She is passionately exploring worlds one book at a time.
When she’s not writing, Capri enjoys nature—unless the insects are biting her, traveling, old movies, art, photography, playing cello, and exploring emotions and worlds through music.
Find more books by Capri Montgomery at:
Official website: www.caprimontgomerybooks.com
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