Chapter 2 #3
He had a strong chin, high cheekbones, and the greenest eyes she’d ever seen.
The last time she’d seen him, his hair was receding a bit, but that wasn’t a turnoff.
How could it be when he was the most masculine man she’d ever met in her life?
And when he’d taken off his coat, revealing tattoos covering his right arm from shoulder to wrist, she’d nearly melted right then and there.
But the last thing Reese would ever consider was dating one of her brother’s former Army teammates. They were…intense. Bossy. And physically perfect in every sense that she could see. She’d never measure up, and she didn’t even want to try.
But that didn’t mean she hadn’t thought about Gus over the years.
She was too chicken to ask Woody about him, but he’d once mentioned in passing that he and six other men had joined together to open some kind of resort for men and women suffering from PTSD.
She’d never tell Woody that she’d immediately looked up The Refuge and checked out the website.
From what she could tell, Gus and his new friends were doing very well for themselves, and she was proud of him for helping others battle their demons.
“Reese?”
Shit. She’d been standing there staring off into space, and the man she was thinking about was on the other side of the door.
“What are you doing here?” she blurted, then mentally kicked herself. She should’ve stayed quiet. He would’ve left eventually. Maybe.
“Bubba called. Said you hadn’t heard from Woody. I went to Kansas City to talk to you, but you’d up and left already. Open the door.”
Reese blinked. He’d gone to Kansas City? That was the last thing she’d expected him to say. Without thought, she moved toward the door, unlocked and opened it.
She stared at the man standing in front of her.
Good Lord, the years had been good to him. Dammit.
Why was that? Why did men seem to age gracefully, while women…okay, she, only got wider and more wrinkles?
He smiled at her but made no move to step inside her room.
And that smile…
Reese felt a tingle between her legs and did her best to ignore it. This man wasn’t for her. No, if anything, seeing him after all these years made it even more obvious how far out of her league he really was. And she needed to concentrate on finding Woody.
“This is Tiny, a friend of mine. Can we come in?”
For the first time, Reese noticed the man standing behind Gus.
And she had a feeling her mouth was hanging open, but she couldn’t help herself.
Gus was good-looking, but the man at his side was…
beautiful. With his dark hair and piercing hazel eyes, he reminded her of a famous actor, but she couldn’t place which one at the moment.
Then she realized she recognized him from a picture on The Refuge’s website. She’d stared at it often enough to know that he was one of the seven owners of the retreat.
“Um…yeah. Come in,” she stuttered and stepped back.
Gus and the other man came inside and shut the door behind them.
They didn’t move away from the door, as if they wanted to give her space, not make her feel uncomfortable in any way.
Reese appreciated it. She felt discombobulated.
She trusted Gus. He was her brother’s friend. But it was weird that he was here.
“Seriously, Gus, what are you doing here?” she asked as she backed into the room and sat on the end of the bed.
Gus’s lips twitched. “Oh, you know, we decided Bogotá might be a great place to vacation.”
Reese’s brows furrowed, then she snorted. “You’re kidding. Right?”
“Yeah, Reese, I’m kidding. We heard you came down here to find Woody, and we wanted to help.”
“Help?” she asked skeptically. “Not drag me home?”
“Would you go if I asked you to?” he inquired with a small tilt of his head.
“No,” Reese said firmly.
“Right, so we came to help you find your brother so we can all go home.”
Her respect for the man rose exponentially.
The fastest way to piss her off and make her dig in her heels was to tell her she couldn’t do something.
She supposed Gus probably knew that, since it was one of Woody’s greatest complaints about her.
She had no doubt he wasn’t thrilled she was here, but at least he wasn’t immediately talking down to her and telling her she was an idiot for coming.
“What have you found out? You’ve been here a while now.”
Reese felt her face heat and hated that she was blushing.
“Yeah, um, well…I went to Isabella’s address the first day and she wasn’t there.
And I couldn’t get anyone to talk to me.
Well, anyone who spoke English, that is,” she said, hoping that information would be enough to distract Gus from asking what she’d been doing since then.
But of course, she didn’t have that kind of luck.
“And then? What about the last two days? Where have you been looking?”
Reese looked down at her hands. She shouldn’t be embarrassed. Her body was just doing what bodies did when they were in foreign countries and were fed questionable meat products from an even more questionable vendor on the street.
“I’ve been here.”
She peeked up at Gus and Tiny, and saw both men watching her intently.
“Here?” Gus asked. “In the hotel room? Are you all right?”
Reese sighed. She was going to have to tell them why she’d been in the room and not out looking for Woody. “I ate something that didn’t agree with me. But I’m okay now. Good. Fine.”
“Montezuma’s revenge,” Tiny muttered sympathetically.
Instead of letting her gloss over the fact that she’d been pooping her guts out for the last two days, Gus walked over and sat beside her on the bed. “That’s tough. Ice?”
Reese did not want to talk about this. But if he could be cool about it, so could she.
She shook her head. “No. Woody told me never to get ice when I was in a foreign country. I was hungry and frustrated when I returned from Isabella’s place.
There was a guy selling some hot dog things on the street, and I couldn’t resist.”
Gus winced.
“Yeah, I know,” Reese said with a shake of her head. “It was stupid.”
“Not necessarily. There are plenty of street vendors that are safe.”
“When’s the last time you had a mystery meat hot dog from a street vendor?” she asked.
Gus’s lips twitched again. “Um…never.”
“Right,” Reese said with a roll of her eyes. “Anyway, I’ve been here because, well, you know.” She gestured toward the small bathroom. “But I’m better now. What’s the plan on finding Woody?”
“We haven’t eaten,” Gus said, ignoring her question. “We came straight here from the airport. How about we go downstairs to the restaurant and grab something? We can talk about our next steps while we eat.”
Reese opened her mouth to say she wasn’t hungry, but her stupid stomach chose that moment to growl. Loudly.
“Right, that answers that. You’re probably dehydrated too. Tiny, you want to head down and get us a table? Reese and I will be right there.”
His friend smiled and nodded before turning toward the door. Reese couldn’t help but wonder why Gus wanted to speak to her in private.
As soon as the door shut, he turned to her and reached for her hand.
Oddly, she wasn’t mad about it. If he’d been anyone else, she would’ve pulled her hand away and asked where he got off touching her without permission.
That was her usual reaction to anyone who acted overly familiar.
But…this was Gus. She knew him. Kind of.
More importantly, he was there because of his concern for her brother.
And she could secretly admit that having this man touch her was anything but offensive.
When he ran his index finger over the pulse point on her wrist, goose bumps broke out on her arms. She prayed he didn’t notice as she did her best to control her reaction.
“Are you really okay?” he asked quietly.
“I’ve been there. We were on a mission to Venezuela and I stupidly accepted a drink from a local we were trying to impress.
Spent the next two days wishing I was dead.
I couldn’t go more than ten feet from a toilet.
The guys were sympathetic, but they also gave me so much shit… no pun intended.”
Reese was too distracted by his grin to respond.
“Anyway, it took a while for me to feel normal again. Don’t be embarrassed about this. Seriously.”
Okay. Not embarrassed. Not a chance in hell of that happening. “Okay,” she said as breezily as she could, trying to act like a woman unashamed of discussing diarrhea issues after eating food in a foreign country. Yeah. Right.
“We’re gonna find Woody,” Gus told her next.
Reese was well aware he hadn’t let go of her hand, but she wasn’t going to be the one to interrupt this…moment…or whatever it was they were having. “Of course we are,” she said as confidently as she could.
Gus smiled. A full-blown smile this time. Not just a twitching of his lips or self-deprecating grin. Then he sobered. “Will you trust me and Tiny to find him and bring him back to Missouri?”
“Yes. But if you’re asking me to leave while you do that, the answer is no.”
He sighed. “I had to try.”
“You knew I’d say no?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“Yeah. From everything Woody has said about you, I had a feeling you would insist on being in the thick of things.”
It felt both good and weird to get confirmation her brother had talked about her to his teammates.
To this man. “I’m not stupid. I know I don’t have the skills you or my brother have.
But I’m not helpless either. Sometimes people are more comfortable talking to a woman than a man.
And no offense, but you are a little intimidating.
Maybe I can be an asset to you and Tiny. ”
She appreciated that Gus didn’t immediately dismiss her words. “Maybe. Let’s get something to eat, make sure you’re properly hydrated, and we can plan our next steps. I hope it won’t offend you if Tiny and I head back to Isabella’s and do our own knocking on doors.”
“Not at all. Maybe she came back in the last two days. She and Woody could’ve been off on some sort of vacation or something and now they’ve returned.” She didn’t really believe that, but she could hope.
Gus didn’t dismiss her thought, but he didn’t agree with her either.
Reese had to admit that he was being very diplomatic, and she appreciated it.
“Hopefully we can get some more information after being there…or my friend back in the States who’s doing what he can on his end will get back with me. Come on. Let’s go get some grub.”
He stood, still holding her hand and using it to tug her to her feet. Reese didn’t protest as he led them toward the door.
To be honest, she was relieved Gus was here.
Not only because she felt safe with him—which was a weird thing, since she hadn’t spent that much time in his presence; since he’d been a Delta with her brother, she cut herself some slack for being so trusting, so fast—but also because she had no idea what to do next to try to find Woody.
She was out of ideas, and since she didn’t speak Spanish, her options were limited. Having Gus and his friend here was a blessing. Her hope increased that they would be able to find Woody, and Isabella, and they’d all be okay.