Off the Map (Winter Rescue #2) Read Free

pack. “I bring an offering of goodwill. There was a pizza too, but I ended up giving it to the minivan mom. She looked like she could use it more.”
    Behind her, Scott harrumphed .
    “Of course, she might have just been pretending to be grateful that I fed her frightened and ravenous children, but you know how forceful I am when I put my mind to it. It’s a good thing I didn’t try to offer them the beer.”
    “Thanks, Carrie.” Max took the drinks and her jacket. His guilty flush had been replaced with a genuine smile, doing much to bolster her decision to rampage in here. See? Not everyone thought she was a harbinger of doom. Some people actually liked having her around. “You didn’t have to bring anything.”
    “I know. But I wanted to.”
    Scott made another snuffling sound that was more horse than man, but she didn’t deign to acknowledge it. The living room in which they stood was clear proof of how wrong he was. The tiny space boasted an octagonal felt-topped table that was wedged between the couch and a brightly decorated twig of a Christmas tree—not a grand house by any stretch of the imagination, but the recent addition of holiday cheer and various Sofia the First toys for his five-year-old daughter made it feel like a real home. She’d helped that happen, and she wouldn’t apologize for it.
    “So.” She rubbed her hands and nodded toward the table. If Scott had his way, they’d stand here with full pistons firing all night, which, though tempting, wouldn’t be as much fun for Max and Ace. “Are we ready to deal? What’s the buy-in tonight?”
    Ace launched himself over the back of an armchair and settled in. Despite the grey hair, he was a surprisingly agile man. They all were. That was what happened when the majority of your free time was devoted to tramping out in the snow to retrieve missing persons. You became nimble and muscular and impervious to the cold.
    Had she mentioned how much she loved these guys?
    “If it’s all the same to you, we thought we’d play for pennies tonight instead of quarters.” Max looked slightly apologetic. “Five dollar buy-in? Ten cent maximum?”
    “Sure thing.” She rummaged in her purse and pulled out her wallet, extracting a five from among the bills. She looked up just in time to catch Scott glowering at the wad of money. Oh, Lord. What now? “Is something wrong?”
    “You probably hate playing for pennies,” he said.
    “Um. No. I like playing, period.”
    “But five dollars is such an insignificant amount of money. Way below your usual standards.”
    “Oh, for the love of all that is good and holy—it’s poker night. Ace isn’t wearing pants. I think we’ve long since passed anyone’s usual standards.”
    “I have shorts on,” Ace protested. They both ignored him.
    “Pizza, beer, wads of cash to lose…” Scott trailed off suggestively. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to buy my friends off.”
    “ Your friends?”
    He spread his arms wide, a gesture of masculinity and arrogance she wanted to high-kick into oblivion. “I’ve known these guys for over a decade. How long have you been a part of our Search and Rescue team? Ten months? Eleven? What are you even doing here, Carrie?”
    Max and Ace sucked in a collective breath at the direct confrontation, and she felt the sharp pang of it herself, of cupid’s arrow gone awry, but she didn’t let it slow her down. To show him how much his words hurt would only give him power over her, and she was determined not to do that.
    Because it was inevitable, this tide of their relationship, a force she’d been stupid to think she could hold back in the first place. Never mind that she’d come out tonight with the best of intentions, hoping to find a way to move forward without losing her place in their SAR group. No matter that she’d rehearsed twenty pleasant speeches ahead of time, determined to keep the peace. She and Scott could be anywhere, at any time, in