Redhead Meets Redneck: First Date (10 page)

***

“We should do this more often. The steak was cooked just right,” Laura said.

“It was fun. Why don’t you rest by the fire and I
’ll clean up the kitchen,” William said.

“Better yet, why don’t you take a break? You
’ve been busy saving me from those pesky terrorists, and being hospitable. You sit by the fire, and I’ll join you when the dishes are done. Then we can call General Thompson.”

William grabbed the satphone. “Hey, give me those boots of yours and I’ll clean them up.”

“Oh, their hopeless. Just leave them.”

“No, I have some magic cleaner that
’ll bring them back to life.”

Laura looked down at her
new boots, scratched and scuffed as they were. She sat on a chair, pulled them off, and handed them to William. “Good luck.”

William sat on a couch and pulled out a clot
h and container of saddle soap. Laura looked over her shoulder and saw him apply the saddle soap with his fingers, then used the cloth to buff the leather. Doing a small section at a time, he soon finished one boot and began the other.

When Laura finished the dishes she walked over to William. He was leaning back against the sofa, eyes drooping.

“Hey, wake up. Finish my boots before you go to sleep.”

“Hey yourself
. They are finished.” He reached down and picked up both boots and held them out to Laura.

“They . . . they look like . . . new. How
’d you do that?”

“The magic is in the saddle soap.”

Laura’s eyes glistened. She never would have guessed that she had been mountain climbing in them earlier.

“You’re pretty handy
, for a redneck.” Looking at William, she noticed that distinct fragrance: leather and saddle soap. Like before, the smell intoxicated her. She gazed into William’s deep blue eyes. She wanted him, all of him.

“Laura, I suppose we should call General Thompson now.”

Laura’s mind snapped back to the problem at hand. “Oh, right. But isn’t it a bit late to call? It’s after business hours.”

“The general didn’t give you an after
-hours number?”

“No.”

“I have a number that should work.”

William turned on the satphone
, pushed the speakerphone button, and punched in a number from memory. He waited for the operator to pick up. “This is William Helmsley. The password is delta-echo. The condition is tango-three. I need to speak to General Thompson.”

Laura heard the operator say: “Please stand
by.” The line went quiet. She wondered what the code words meant. Furthermore, how did William get direct access to the general?

“This is General Thompson.”

“General, this is William Helmsley.”

“William, how are you
? I haven’t seen you since Moscow.”

“Right, good to talk to you, sir. I have a friend of yours here: Laura Richardson.”

“Hello, General Thompson,” Laura said.

“H
ello, Laura. Wait, you’re calling me on a secure line. Is there a problem?”

Laura spoke first
, talking very fast. “General, some terrorists blew up my car, and then chased us because they want to torture me. So we had to hide in William’s hunting lodge, and we didn’t know what to do, so we went shopping for new clothes, and then hiked a mountain, and after eating a steak dinner, we decided to call you.”

“Slow down
. What can I do to help you?”

“Gene
ral, we need an extraction team,” William said.

“Okay, I can make that happen. I need your coordinates
, and I need to know how fast you need to be extracted.”

“Tomorrow morning will be fine. We ditched
Laura’s cell phone so they can’t track us to my hunting lodge.”

“I can have the extraction team there at oh-nine-hundred. Anything else I can do?”

“No, sir. Thank, you.”

William gave the general the coordinates of the cabin, and said goodbye.

“So, is that it?” Laura said.

“Yes, now we wait.”

***

Laura watched William retrieve some cloth
es from a closet. “You can wear these while I wash your new clothes.”

Laura looked down at her new jeans and flannel shirt
she was wearing. They were still dirty, even though she had beat most of the dirt out of them after their hike. She took the clothes from William and looked up at him. “Which room should I use?”

“The first room at the top of the stairs.”

“Your room?”

“How’d
you know?”

“You
’d want to walk the shortest distance when you’re here by yourself.”

“I like intelligent women.”

Laura began walking to the stairs, looked over shoulder, and smiled. “And I like intelligent rednecks.”

She entered his room and closed the door. S
he looked around: a twin bed, nightstand, and a chair. Rather Spartan, but nice. She noticed a few pictures on the nightstand. Walking closer, she saw one was a dog, another was a bunch of guys in combat clothes, and another was a couple in their twenties.

She sat on the neatly made bed, leaned
over and gently put her head on the pillow, and inhaled. She tried to imagine lying next to William on this narrow bed. Then, she sat up with a start. Reality set in. She berated herself for thinking about having a serious relationship with William when she didn’t know if she would soon be killed by another car bomb. It wouldn’t be fair to get involved with him, and then die.

She
undressed and changed into the fresh clothes: sweat pants and another flannel shirt. She returned to the first floor, and handed her dirty clothes to William. “Just out of curiosity, where are you going to sleep tonight?”

William smiled a boyish grin. “I
’ll let you use my room because it’s the biggest. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

“But that sounds so uncomfortable.”

“It’ will be the best location, in case we have trouble. Anyhow, if I get really uncomfortable I can sleep in the room next to yours.”

“
Okay.” Laura stared at William’s dimples. “The photos on the nightstand, who were they?”

“
The dog is Bondo. The military guys were my seal team. And the couple . . .”

Laura saw William
’s eyes begin to fill as he looked at the ground. “Your parents?”

“Mmm
.”

Laura stepped close to William, reached out her arms, and embraced him tightly.
She felt sorry for the little boy who lost both his parents at such a young age.

William’s arms were l
imp at his sides. Then, he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. “I miss them, but sometimes I feel guilty because I don’t miss them more.”

“But you were only seven years old, an
d that was a long time ago.”

William’s blue
eyes stared into hers. He slowly leaned into her and placed his lips gently on hers. His lips traveled down one side of her neck, then the other. Then his kisses traveled back to her lips.

Laura lost
track of time. The kisses. The hugs. His warm body pressed into hers. That was all that mattered. This moment, this point in time. Tomorrow they could both die at the hands of terrorists, but now was her time to be with him.

“William, are you sure
you wouldn’t like to sleep in your room tonight?”

Another boyish grin, then
he let out a deep breath ever so slowly. “Laura, you are an amazing, sexy, intelligent woman. You’re—“

“
So, I’m not good enough for you,” Laura stiffened and stepped back.

“No, that’s not it. You
’re more than good enough for me. I just don’t want us to lose this battle with the terrorists. We could be our own worst enemies if we allow our relationship to distract us too much. If I go any farther, I won’t be able to do my job.”

“Your job?”

“I have to protect you.”

“
That’s all I mean to you—I’m
a job
.”

William paused, took a deep breat
h, and looked into Laura’s eyes. “I want a chance. That’s all—a chance to develop a relationship with the most intelligent and sexy woman I’ve ever met. To do that, I must get us out of this mess so our lives can go back to normal. Otherwise, things could be very bad for you, and for me.”

“You think we could still be in trouble, even though the extraction team is coming tomorrow?”

“We have to be ready for anything. I’m a light sleeper, and I have a perimeter alarm surrounding my cabin. I’m sure we’ll be okay until the extraction team gets here, but I must be ready just in case any unexpected problems occur between now and oh-nine-hundred tomorrow.”

Laura smiled. “You sound so sexy when you speak that military jargon.”

“You like that?”

“Mmm.”

“Laura, it’s going to be a long night. We should get our rest. Would you like anything to eat before you go to bed?”

Laura frowned. “No
. I’m going to miss you in the night.”

“Me too. If you need anything in
the night, just give me a shout.”

“Okay
.” Laura turned and climbed the stairs. Just before entering William’s room, she turned and smiled. “Goodnight, William.”

“Good night, Laura.”

She closed the door, pulled back the covers, climbed in, and turned out the light. Soon, she was warm, very warm. Was it thoughts of William, or just the heat rising from the first floor? Laura removed the sweatpants and put them on the nightstand. Then, she removed William’s flannel shirt, folded it neatly and reached out to put it on the nightstand, but she pulled it back and put it on the top of the pillow, squeezed it close to her face, and drifted off to sleep.

***

William locked the doors, set the alarm, and turned the lights out. He looked at the stairs to the bedrooms.
I’d better sleep down here on the sofa tonight.

He walked to his gun rack and pulled out a Remington
870 shotgun. He loaded it with double-aught shells, stuffed his pockets with more shells, and settled in on the sofa, hoping for a quiet night.

***

As the moon rose in the eastern sky, its rays cast dimly on William’s face. He opened his eyes. His watch said it was three a.m. His stomach stirred. Food, he needed food.

H
e walked to the kitchen, set down his shotgun, and opened the door to the fridge. Finding some lunchmeat and cheese, he grabbed a loaf of bread and began making a snack.

He
heard a quiet squeak, and it came from inside the house. He grabbed his shotgun and looked around. Someone was coming down the stairs. It was Laura. He set the shotgun down.

“William, what are you doing up?”

William looked at Laura. Her hair was in a sexy tangled mess. She was wearing his flannel shirt, but her slender legs were uncovered, and they had an alluring aura in the soft moonlight.

“I was hungry.”

“Me too.”

“Would you like a sandwich and some milk?”

Laura walked to his side, slid her arms around his waist, and squeezed gently. “That sounds wonderful.”

Looking at
Laura in just a flannel shirt evoked longings that distracted William. “I . . . ah . . . have lunchmeat and cheese, and . . . um, some rye bread.”

“That sounds wonderful, but I want something else too
.” She squeezed tighter.

His pulse quickened as he sucked in a deep breath
. “Laura, let’s remember our priorities. Our lives must get back to normal. Then we can take it from there.”

Laura relaxed her grip on William, and her lips pouted. “You’re no fun, but you’re right.”

After eating her sandwich and milk, Laura spoke, “Can I just have one more good- night hug and kiss?”

William smiled as he
complied with her wish.

Morning twi
light pierced the darkness of William’s room, and a robin’s chirping stirred Laura’s ears as she opened her eyes. The peacefulness of the moment abruptly melted as her mind snapped to the thought of terrorists torturing her for the information they wanted.

Throwing back the covers, she sat upright and looked
down at William’s bed. For a moment, she imagined William lying in it. Outside the window a robin was singing her a melody. Laura saw the glow of the soon-to-be sunrise as the twilight brightened the eastern skies.