got stamina, unlike some of you boneheads.” Montana pushed his cowboy hat down over his eyes. “Seriously, could you hold it down?”
“I’ve been thinking.”
His buddies all groaned.
“No, really.” Quentin frowned. “Just because we took care of the assassin-for-hire who’d been gunning for our buddy Sawyer, it doesn’t mean that dirty dog is dead.”
“What are you talking about?” Duff asked.
“Someone wanted Rand Houston, aka Sawyer’s father, out of the way and was willing to use Sawyer as bait to get him to Cancun in order to get a clear shot at him. We got his hired gun, but the man who hired him is still on the loose.”
“Your point?” Duff prompted.
“Who’s going after him?” Quentin persisted.
“I don’t know,” Sawyer said. “But we have to report back to Stennis as soon as we get back. Which won’t be much longer. We should see land soon.”
Quentin leaned over Becca to stare out the window. Just as Sawyer said, land was within sight.
“Do you mind?” Becca said, her brows hiked. “If you’re that interested in the scenery below, I’d be happy to swap seats with you.”
Slowly leaning back in his seat, Quentin gave her one of his best smiles. His mother always said he could charm the chickens out of the trees with that smile. “Instead of agreeing to swap seats, why don’t you agree to have dinner with me when we land?”
“I told you, I’m not interested.” She turned her shoulders toward the window, effectively cutting him off.
“Okay, I get it. You don’t want to go out with me for dinner. How about lunch?”
She drew in a slow, steadying breath and let it out. “No.”
“Coffee?”
“No.”
Undaunted, Quentin grinned. “You’re making it really hard for me to get to know you.”
“Not my problem. That one’s all on you.”
“Tell you what,” Quentin said. “Before you reject me, give me one kiss. If the chemistry isn’t there, I won’t pursue you anymore.”
“You’ll leave me completely alone?” she asked.
Quentin nodded and held up his hand. “I promise.”
“Fine. One kiss.” She leaned toward him.
He faced her, puckering.
Becca reached out and turned his cheek. “On the cheek.”
“How are you supposed to gauge the chemistry with a kiss on the cheek?” he protested.
“Not my problem.” When she swooped in to land her kiss, Quentin turned at the last minute and caught her lips with his.
Her eyes widened, her breath hitched, but she didn’t back away.
Quentin cupped the back of her neck and deepened the kiss, pressing her closer.
She gasped, her lips parting for a second. Long enough for Quentin to slip his tongue past her teeth for a taste of her. Mmm. Rum and coconuts from the drink she’d had earlier. So sweet and amazing, he almost groaned. When he lifted his head, he smiled down at her. “Was that so bad?” he asked.
Her drooping eyelids popped wide and she slapped him hard on the cheek she had intended on kissing.
Quentin could swear the plane shook with the force of the blow.
“What the hell?” Duff shouted, sitting up.
The plane shook and shuttered.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve lost power to the engine and will be making an emergency landing,” the captain said over the loud speaker. “Please check your seatbelts and hold on.”
It took Quentin a full second to realize the slap he’d deservedly received had not impacted the plane. “What happened?” he asked, tightening his belt.
“Felt like we were hit,” Sawyer said.
Quentin pressed a hand to his stinging cheek. Oh, he’d been hit all right. But the plane? “By what?”
“I don’t know,” Duff said. “But you better hunker down. It’s gonna be a rough landing.”
With the plane shaking like an old truck on a gravel road, Quentin doubted the landing would be an easy one.
A feminine hand slipped into his and he held on to it.
“Just for the record,” Becca said. “You deserved that slap.”
If he’d thought the dire situation would encourage her to apologize, he was sorely disappointed. “It was worth it. You taste so good. If I die in this crash, I will have died a happy man.”
“Jerk,” she whispered, but didn’t let go of his hand as the plane pitched, dipped and plunged toward the ground at a terrifying speed. “For the record, if I make it out of this alive, I’m still going after the man who killed my father.”
“I believe you,” Quentin said. “If I can get more time off from my unit, I’ll go with you.”
“I don’t need an amateur getting in my way.”
“I’m not an amateur, I’m a SEAL.”
“Yeah and you’re used to kicking ass and shooting anything that moves. My kind of work takes finesse, something you are clearly lacking.”
“Ouch,” Quentin said.
“Loverboy, I believe you’ve been put in your place.” Duff chuckled. “Give it up. She’s not into you.”
Quentin snorted. “This frogman won’t give up without a fight.”
“Yeah?” Montana said from the back. “Seems we’re going down with a fight, now.”
And he was right. It seemed as if the ground outside the window rushed up to meet them. Make that the water rushed up to meet them.
The pilot brought the plane in on a marsh, the only gap between tall cypress trees. The belly of the aircraft slid across the smooth surface like a hovercraft until it hit a berm of land, barely jutting a foot into the air.
The plane jolted hard on impact; the tail lifted and then crashed down with a big splash.
Throwing aside her seatbelt, the flight attendant ran for the emergency exit and struggled to open the exterior door.
Quentin released his seatbelt and hurried to help. Together they managed to open the door, the steps falling into the water.
“There
