Searching for Winslet (Fallport Rescue Operations #5)

Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Jett was no stranger to sleeping under the stars in the middle of nowhere on a cold and lonely night. He’d seen his share of dead bodies. Even had a couple of buddies die in his arms.

Those were the toughest.

And they haunted his dreams.

But this would be the first time he sat on a rock, roasting a hot dog over an open flame, next to an area roped off with crime scene tape where human remains had been found.

Life could be so much worse than this, something that was easy to remind himself of as his back ached with a constant dull pain that shimmied up his spine.

Through the sounds of the crackling fire, he heard the hum of an ATV on the access trail about a half mile away. He glanced at his watch. It was nearly eight in the evening, and he wasn’t expecting company outside of the stoic state trooper who didn’t seem to want to move from his post.

Not even for a crisp hot dog or some beans from a can.

It was better than the food he used to eat in the Army when he’d been on a mission, that was for damn sure.

His only job tonight was to make sure nothing got at the bones. That meant little to no sleep, something he was used to.

He stuck the hot dog on a bun and stared it, willing it to cool as his stomach growled like a grizzly. “Are you sure you don’t want one?” he called to the trooper.

“I’m good. Thanks,” the trooper said. “But it appears we might have company.” He pointed toward the flashing lights down the trail. “Any idea who that might be?”

“Not a clue.” He stuffed half the tasty treat into his mouth, chewing carefully. It was still fucking hot. “But there are a dozen occupied campsites on the first ridge and about the same down by the parking lot. Anything could have happened.” It was twenty paces from the site of the bones to the main trail. He finished his meal and watched as two people approached. Shielding his eyes with his hand, keeping the light from blinding him, he tried to make out the figures.

One male.

One female.

No way.

“Winslet? Is that you?” He dropped his hand to the side.

“Thought you might like a few comforts from home.” She adjusted a large backpack, gripping the straps with both hands.

“I told her she was nuts for coming up here tonight.” Chuck shook his head and laughed. “I need to get back to the main office. I’m out of here at eleven. Andy said he’ll be in early to check on you. Ronnie will be in the office at six, and Moose is on call.”

“Thanks, man.” Jett nodded. “But you can’t be leaving her out here all night.”

“Don’t speak as if I’m not standing right next to you.” She tilted her head and glared. “And I’m a big girl. I grew up in this neck of the woods and I’ve camped here more than you have.” She planted her hands on her hips. “I think this might be your first time.”

“She’s got you there.” Chuck laughed. “Besides, when this one gets an idea in her head, there is no talking her out of it. I learned that when she was my lab partner in chemistry.” He waved his hand. “Have a nice night. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”

“So, you and Chuck go way back, huh?” Jett reached out and lifted her pack off her back.

“He took me to the junior prom,” she said.

“Should I be jealous?” He stared at the backside of Chuck, who was still laughing.

“Ask her about the limo ride and then decide how jealous you really want to be.” Chuck glanced over his shoulder. “Still one of the best nights of my life, though every time Winslet comes back to town, my wife likes to remind me who I married. I enjoy that, so I milk it.”

“You’re lucky Renee and I actually like each other, because you can be a real asshole,” Winslet said.

“No. I’m just a normal guy with a twisted sense of humor. One of the many things Renee loves about me.” He waved the flashlight. “And why you dated me in the first place.” He disappeared around the bend.

“Well, that was interesting and informative.” Jett pressed his hand on the small of her back and led her through brush toward his small campfire. “I wasn’t planning on pitching the tiny tent. Actually, I didn’t even bring it from the cabin, and I can’t leave to go get it.”

“I’d rather stare at the stars and moon all night anyway. It’s why I brought a nice warm sleeping bag.” She leaned over the crime scene tape, tapped a small flashlight with her hand, and waved it around the hole. “I’m glad they didn’t disturb the ground too much. I want to see how the rest of the bones—if there are any—are laid out.”

“You’re not going to start working tonight, are you?”

“No.” She sat her cute butt on one of the rocks, lifted a stick, and poked at the fire. “I don’t have any equipment and once I get in the zone, it takes forever to get me out.”

“Good. Because I’d rather talk more about you and Chuck.” Jett considered himself a decent judge of character and Chuck seemed like a good man. The best.

Jett had met many of the men and women who worked at the ranger station. He enjoyed most. But he really liked Chuck. He was a bit of an oddball, but that was part of his charm.

“Chuck and his wife are two of the few people in this town who don’t constantly look at me and think about what my grandfather did or what a shit my father is. We all went to school together. Renee and I were friends. Still are.”

Jett set her pack near his things and joined her around the fire.

“Weird question.” Jett found himself both oddly jealous of Chuck and totally intrigued by the humor he shared with Winslet over their past. Over the weekend, he’d learned so much about her family life and history with two of her exes, but realized, he didn’t know enough about her at all.

He wanted to rectify that.

A thought that scared the shit out of him.

“How much time passed from when you dated Chuck and he got together with his wife?”

She tilted her head, and her lips formed a seductive smile. “I’m a little surprised you got hung up on that and not the limo.”

He chuckled. “Oh, we’ll get to that in a minute. Now answer my question, please.” He eased down to the ground and stretched out his legs. The hard rock did nothing for his back. It was going to be a long and painful night.

In more ways than one.

Thanks to a state trooper only thirty paces away.

“I dated Chuck for about eight months. It started in the middle of our junior year and ended by the middle of the summer. Nothing tragic happened. No big fight. No cheating on either one of our parts. I think we were just young and not ready for something that serious. But we did have a lot of fun when we were together. That man is one walking sarcastic comment after the other. However, that’s partly why I wanted to call it quits. That gets old. Renee loves him for it.” Winslet glanced to the sky. “I believe they started dating when they were in their last year of college. They went to the same school. Were good friends. Then one day, they were a couple. A year later, they were married. And honestly, they are perfect together.” She lowered her chin. “I will say this, though. Looking back, he was probably my most healthy relationship.”

“Now I’m jealous.”

She rolled her eyes.

“So, what happened in the limo? Did you lose your virginity to him or something?”

“Oh my God. What is it with you men and a woman’s virtue? It’s just sex.” She joined him on the ground.

He inched closer. “First time is always the one we remember the most.”

“Is that true for you?”

“Yes and no.” He winked. “The other night was pretty freaking memorable. Not to mention incredible. But I’m not letting you off the hook. I have to work with that man. He’s already got ideas in his head, since you made him drive you up here.”

“He’s got sex on the brain. Ask his wife.”

“I’m asking you about the limo.” He tapped his finger on her thigh. “Was that your first time?”

“I didn’t have sex with him in that stupid limo. If you must know, he got a blow job.”

Jett groaned. “I think that’s worse, and I almost wish I hadn’t pushed.”

“Does that mean we’re not going down the virginity road?” She folded her arms and glared. “Because I have to hear your story.”

“The likelihood that you will ever run into the first girl I ever had sex with is slim to none. Hell, I haven’t seen her since I left for West Point.”

“That sounds like a story.”

“Not a very good one,” he admitted.

“Who was she?”

“Kind of the first girl to break my heart.” Jett didn’t too often think about Piper. He’d barely known her, but he’d fallen hard for the idea of her. And he carried her picture around like a lovesick puppy for months. “Come on. It’s getting cold. Let’s open our sleeping bags.”

“Oh no, you don’t. I told you?—”

“I’ll tell you.” He took her by the hands. “But I’m freezing my ass off. How can it be hot during the day and freezing at night?”

“I brought you sweats and a long-sleeve shirt. I know I shouldn’t have rifled through your drawers, but I thought you might be more comfortable sleeping in that than this uniform.” She ran her hand across the center of his chest.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about her taking that initiative. He didn’t have anything to hide from her, but that was a big invasion of his privacy. He’d broken up with girls in the past for less.

But oddly, he wasn’t too fazed by her actions.

“Thank you.” He lifted her hand and kissed her palm. “Maybe we should zip our sleeping bags together.”

She jerked her head. “Not with spying eyes over there.”

“For body heat.” He chuckled.

“That’s what they all say.”

It took about ten minutes to unroll their sleeping bags and change into warm clothing. Lucky for him, she took him up on his ingenious idea. Although, all that was going to do was torture him for the rest of the night. But it might help him stay awake. Something he needed to do.

She snuggled in next to him, resting her head on his shoulder, while he stared at the night sky. It was so damn peaceful. It comforted his aching soul.

Dying and being brought back to life was something he didn’t remember happening, but it had changed him fundamentally. While he’d always been grateful for his life, his family, and everything else that had come his way, he’d never truly valued it until that day.

Every breath he took was new and exciting.

Every morning he blinked open his eyes was a gift.

One he wasn’t about to piss away.

“I’m listening, or do we have to play twenty questions to get it out of you,” she said.

He ran his fingers through her long, silky hair.

“Joining the military or going to West Point hadn’t been a lifelong dream of mine.”

“Then how did you end up there?”

“I’m a minus 1 handicap in golf.”

She jerked to a sitting position, both hands pressed hard against his chest. “That is a shocking revelation.”

“Why?”

She palmed his face.

He’d always grown facial hair fast and hard. He was well on his way to a full beard.

“I don’t know. You don’t seem the country club type.”

“But I grew up on one and I grew up with a golf club in my hand. However, when I was a little boy, I wanted to be on the soccer team. Sadly, I kind of sucked at the sport. However, golf was something that I did for fun in the summer. I loved going with my dad. And by the time I was ten, my mom would drop me off at the course and I’d stay there with my friends until it got dark. I never thought anything of how prestigious the course was I grew up on. It was just where me and my buddies hung out. Although, I did understand that there was a dress code and rules and all that.” He tugged her back to his chest, circling his arms around her body. She fit perfectly.

“Sounds like a privileged life.”

“It was,” he admitted. “By the time I was a sophomore in high school, the coach told my father I could go to any division one college I wanted to. That I could legit get a scholarship. But then something weird happened. My dad ran into an old buddy, who happened to be a professor at West Point. When they showed interested, it piqued my curiosity. I went and visited, and I was all in.”

“This is fascinating, but what does it have to do with your first time having sex?”

“I was a bit of a late bloomer, and I wasn’t much interested in having a girlfriend most of my teenage years. My mom at one point was sitting around waiting for me to come out.”

Winslet covered her mouth and giggled. “I’m sorry, but you are so far from gay. Not that there is anything wrong with that.”

“Nope. There’s not. Anyway. It was the summer before I left for West Point, and I met this chick. Her name was Piper, and she was smoking hot. She worked the pool grill at the country club. It was taboo for her to date the members. I flirted with her. Hard. But she was like, nope. No way. However, I finally got her to agree. We went out a couple of times, but I was weeks away from leaving and I really didn’t want to go to West Point a virgin. That felt like not only the kiss of death, but I thought where would I ever find a girl, much less the time.”

“Oh my God. That’s the most pathetic thing I’ve ever heard. Please tell me you didn’t use the line about going off to some battle zone.”

“No. But we’re not allowed to leave West Point that first year. And I really liked Piper. I told her I’d write and she could come visit. That we’d figure it out. I mean, it was her first time too. And it was so awkward and clunky for both of us.”

“I hope you got a second chance to prove it gets better.”

“Nope. She started avoiding me. Mind you, it was only ten days before I left. But she kept coming up with excuses.” He shifted so he could see Winslet’s beautiful face. “I wrote her every chance I got, and she wrote me only one letter, which I received around Christmas.”

“What did it say?”

“Basically that she wished she’d never been with me. That she was sorry, but it was a mistake and she had to tell me, and then she begged me to stop writing because she was seeing someone else.”

“Damn, you know how to pick them,” she whispered. “What did you do?”

“What do you think Mr. Pragmatic who doesn’t show a lot of emotion did?”

“Dove into your studies, golf, and lived your life.”

“Pretty much.” He took her mouth in a hot, wild kiss. It crackled like the flames of the fire reaching for the moon hanging low in the night sky.

She broke it off long before he was ready. “Do you regret being with her?”

“I don’t do regrets,” he whispered. “So, no. I don’t. I mean, there are things in my life I could have done better. I could have been a better husband. A better boyfriend. But I don’t regret anything. If I did, or if I wished my life were different, I wouldn’t be here under this magnificent blanket of stars with a beautiful woman in my arms.”

“First. Wow. What a line.” She smiled. “And second. I wish I had that attitude about my life because sometimes I can’t help but have regrets.”

“My grandmother, who is one of the most amazing women I’ve ever known, always told me that when we keep even one foot firmly rooted in the past or in our mistakes, we close ourselves off from the future and all the possibilities. She taught me that disappointments in life will never go away and that I needed to learn to embrace them. That with every one thing that doesn’t go according to plan, something magical around the corner is about to happen. I have to say, she’s been mostly right about the philosophy.”

“She sounds like a great human.”

“The best.” He slipped his hand under her shirt, sliding it up her bare skin and cupping her breast over her lacy bra.

“I’m not going to have sex with you,” she managed as her chest heaved with a deep, raspy breath.

“I’m not asking you to.” He fanned his thumb over her nipple. “All you have to do is enjoy pleasure. Kind of like Chuck did in that limo ride.” He winked.

“I never said other things didn’t happen in that limo. All I said was we didn’t have intercourse. And for the record, I never slept with Chuck.”

“Good to know, because I might have to beat the shit out of him if you had.” He unhooked her bra.

“This is such a bad idea.”

“As long as you can remain quiet, it’s the best idea I’ve ever had.” He lifted her shirt and lowered his head, sucking her taut nipple into his mouth.

He lost all control when it came to Winslet, and she was right. This was about the dumbest thing he’d ever done.

But he wasn’t about to stop.

Nor would he regret giving her pleasure.

She’d had enough hard knocks in life, something he also understood. Only his attitude gave him the ability to push past things differently. He knew his past relationships with women still affected him at the core. He knew without a doubt that his sister was right about him on all counts.

He had a savior complex.

He had this weird need to honor, defend, and protect. When he saw injustices in the world, especially where women were involved, he couldn’t keep his nose out of it. That was only made worse when he was attracted to that woman, and he cared.

Like with Winslet.

His sister also told him that his heart had been wounded right out of the gate and because of his inability to truly allow himself to feel that pain deep in his soul, he’d never be able to fully give himself to a woman. A fact he’d finally faced after Becky had left him.

But Winslet made him want to feel everything.

He’d already told her things about himself he’d never really shared with anyone other than his sister. Talk about vulnerable. Winslet already held the power to crush him.

And somehow, he didn’t care.

She was worth the risk.

Except, she wasn’t going to stay.

Another thing Evelynn was right about.

He went for the kind of woman who wasn’t totally available. The ones who either had so much baggage they couldn’t see past their own problems or weren’t willing to freely give themselves to him anyway.

He was a lost cause.

He switched to the other breast, enjoying her fingers in his hair as she massaged his scalp, encouraging the experience.

Tugging at the drawstring of her sweats, he eased his hand inside her panties. Her legs spread, giving him full access.

She moaned.

Now that, he was going to have to stifle.

He lifted his head and kissed her hard. His tongue swirled around hers in a search and destroy mission. He swallowed every moan as he inserted two fingers and his thumb rubbed against her nub.

She reached for him, but he batted her hand away. She tried again, this time cupping him and it was apparent she wasn’t going to let him go.

“No,” he managed.

She blinked. Staring at him with passion in her wild eyes.

“Yes.” She tugged at his sweatpants, her hand slipping inside and her fingers grazing over his length.

He should stop this. But he couldn’t—or wouldn’t—he wasn’t sure which one. It didn’t matter. It was too late. He lifted his head. He couldn’t even see the state trooper.

Which hopefully meant he couldn’t see them either.

But they were inside a sleeping bag, which is where they would remain.

And he would cover her mouth if he had to.

Because she was a little bit noisy.

Which he liked.

Just not in this moment.

He rolled her pants over her hips, finding that sweet spot once again. He felt a sense of desperation for her body to rock with pleasure. To feel the heat pour out on his fingers. He honestly didn’t need to be inside her to feel satisfied. Hell, he didn’t even need to climax for that to happen.

All he cared about was giving her pleasure. Making her feel like a woman. Desired. Wanted. Cared for. As if she was all that mattered.

And right now, that was true.

He pushed her to her back, finding her nipple with his mouth, sucking on it hard, while his fingers danced inside her body.

Her hips rolled with the pressure of his hand. She gripped him. Gently at first, but as the pleasure in her body came close to being tipped over the edge, the pressure of her hand intensified, as did the stroking.

It drove him mad.

He needed her. Needed to be inside her.

Nestling between her legs, he thrusted deep, capturing her soft moans in his mouth as he kissed her sweet lips.

Her legs wrapped around his body like a cocoon. Her movements matched his own with feverish desire. She shuddered, digging her nails into his shoulders and arching her back.

His release came seconds later.

He continued to kiss her, slowly. Gently. Before nuzzling his face in her neck.

Her fingernails ran up and down his back as she let out a long sigh. “I don’t want you to think this is why I came here tonight,” she whispered.

“I don’t. Not really anyway.” He pressed his lips to her cheek and rolled to the side, pulling her close. “And even if it was the only reason, I’m not complaining.”

“Of course not. You’re a guy.”

He chuckled. “Why did you come here?”

“I thought you might want company.” She rested her chin on his chest. “And I didn’t want to be alone.”

He ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “Did something happen? Because if I didn’t pick up on the cue that you were upset, I’m sorry.”

“You can be a really sweet man.” She palmed his cheek. “When the sun rises, and the town learns there were remains found up here, everyone is going to be wondering if it’s my grandfather or maybe Hannah Wilks. I think part of me didn’t want to face that. And the other part wants to dig into my job and find the truth, putting an end to it for good.”

He pulled her as close to him as possible. He should have thought of that. God, he could be so inconsiderate at times. He pressed his lips against her temple. “Whatever you need from me, I’m here.”

She sighed, snuggling closer.

“Get some sleep. And if you wake up and I’m not in this sleeping bag, don’t stress. It’s because I’m technically working.”

“Oh boy. Ranger Jett did a bad thing.”

“I could never regret being with you for a single second.” No matter what happened, Winslet couldn’t be seen as a mistake.

Not even when it ended.

And it would end. He could feel how she had one foot out the door. It didn’t matter that he knew she liked him. Might even care about him.

Her wall and wounds were just too big.