Ultimate Kill (Book 1 Ultimate CORE Trilogy) (CORE Series) by Kristine Mason Page B

better question… How in the hell could he disable the devices before it was too late?

Chapter 5
     
    JAKE WIPED SWEAT from his brow and finished hanging the fishing poles and nets in the garage. He turned, then rushed back to his rented SUV. “I’ve got that.” He took the cooler from Naomi.  
    “It’s not heavy,” she said, her toned biceps shaking from the strain.  
    He understood her independence and need to take care of herself. In this instance, hell, from the moment she’d told him about her identity change and stalker, she no longer needed to prove her strength or rely on only herself.  
    Now that he knew the truth, he wanted her to unburden the weight she’d been carrying and lean on him. His boss might piss him off, but Ian ran a private investigation agency that had a nearly impeccable track record for solving cases. CORE could give him what he needed to solve the mystery behind Naomi’s stalker. As they’d sat on the floating dock at Harriett’s Bluff, fishing and shrimping, he’d been tempted to discuss this with her several times throughout the day. Try to turn her on to the idea of allowing him to investigate and ultimately stop her stalker from ever threatening her again.
    Yet each time he’d prepared himself to bring up the topic, she would flash him a smile and make him forget about everything but her. Or, she’d start talking and joking around like they used to do, as if being apart hadn’t mattered. Only it did matter. The hatred he harbored for the man who had caused their separation consumed him with resentment and the need for revenge. He wanted to rip the son of a bitch’s beating heart from his chest. Of course, he’d beat the piece of shit to a bloody pulp first and that would be after he’d destroyed—
    “Where are you?”
    Holding the cooler filled with their leftover lunch, along with a big bag of ice and the fish and shrimp they’d caught, he looked at her. “Sorry,” he said, tamping down his plans of vengeance and sending her a reassuring smile. “Where do you want the cooler? Back patio or kitchen?”
    She reached into the back end of the SUV and pulled out the wet towel that had been beneath the cooler. “Patio. That thing leaks,” she said, nodding to the cooler.  
    Using the garage entrance, he followed her inside, wound his way through the house, then out onto the patio. Sweat trickled down his back and he swore he could still taste the salt that had been in the air around the tidal marsh.  
    He turned when Naomi stepped onto the patio, then grinned when he noticed the beer bottles she carried. “Thanks,” he said when she offered him one. “I can’t believe how hot it is here.”
    She pressed the beer bottle against the skin exposed above her tight tank top, drawing his attention to her breasts. “In April it’s normally in the mid-seventies, but the temperatures have been crazy hot the past week. Be prepared, it’ll drop into the fifties tonight.”  
    She took a drink of her beer. He did the same, his focus still on her breasts. Hell, throughout the day, he’d been looking at them and her ass whenever he had the chance. He loved her body, had loved feeling her against him last night and ached to strip her naked and have a proper reunion.
    “I need a shower,” she said, turning toward the sliding door. “Since the fish are already cleaned and filleted, it won’t take long to cook them. We can eat in an hour or so. Unless you’re hungry now.”
    He was hungry. Not for dinner, but for her. Picturing her naked and standing beneath the shower spray, water sliding down her breasts, her flat stomach and curvy hips had him hard and ready.
    “I can wait,” he said, then chugged half his beer, telling himself not to rush anything. They’d had a great day. Caught a bunch of seafood, caught up on each other’s lives, created new memories. He needed to exercise patience. Since he had no intention of returning to the Rainbow Lodge, he had all night to