Born to Be Wild (11 page)

She never saw the kiss coming. It was hard and fast and sent her heart soaring straight up with the kite. He broke it off before she could even begin to respond.

She blushed again when he reached over and placed her thumb back on the string which was peeling off the spool at a rapid rate.

She shoved the string roll at him. When he lifted his hands away, she said, “You told me you could concentrate on two things at once.”

“I thought I already was.” He grinned, but took over manning the kite.

After making sure he was settled back in a prone position, with his eyes on the kite, she relaxed herself. “You really are impossible.”

“Actually, I’m very easy.”

Dara snorted. “Talk, Brogan. Tell me about the trip.”

He dropped a light kiss on her cheek. “Look, ma,” he whispered, “no hands.”

When she didn’t say a word, Zach started laughing, and Dara joined him.

“Okay, point made. Give me the damn kite. But no more funny stuff. Friends, remember? You promised me a picnic and business. The former was lovely, thank you. Now, sell me on this trip.”

“Hey, I thought they were pretty friendly kisses, didn’t you?” Zach pulled his legs away just in time to avoid her well-aimed kick. “Okay, okay. Well, I’d like to leave next Friday,” he said casually, tucking his hands behind his head. “I hope that won’t be a problem.”

Two days later Dara propped the phone between her chin and shoulder, counting the fourth ring. “Please Dane, be home.”

“Colbourne.”

“I’ve got five days to become a camping expert. You’re in charge.”

“Well, hello to you too.” Dane’s tone was serious as usual, but she heard the teasing quality that he reserved just for her. “A camping expert, huh? Who are we trying to impress?”

Dara really hadn’t been looking forward to this part of the conversation, but knew it was better to just get it out of the way. “Impress isn’t really the right word. More like reduce the chance of humiliation.”

“Okay, you’ve got me intrigued. But if you know the
guy well enough to camp out with him, why haven’t I heard about him?”

“We’re thirty, Dane. Do you let me check out all your ladies before you spend the night with them?”

“This from the sister who just last month was telling me that I needed to get a life or get laid?”

“And have you?” she asked too sweetly.

“You think I’d tell you if I had? Ten minutes with you and a few childhood stories later, the poor woman would be running for the hills.”

“Just what I thought,” she replied knowingly. “Really, Dane, you work harder than I do. You really could use—”

“You’re stonewalling, Colbourne,” he broke in. “Who’s the guy? Is it someone I know?”

Dara sighed. “Do I have to?”

“You want my help or not?”

“Zach Brogan.”

Dead silence greeted her announcement.

“Dane?” She’d expected wild laughter or more likely, considering her brother had grown entirely too sober lately, a few well-intended jibes. “You still there? Don’t make me say it again, it was hard enough the first time.”

“Brogan?” he said finally. “You and Zach? Well, I guess I’ve finally lived to see it all. Talk about your final ironies.”

“You’re planning on calling Jarrett,” she said. “I can hear the wheels turning. Well, don’t. First off, McCullough will find out soon enough since it was his brilliant idea that got us together in the first place.”

“Jarrett played matchmaker? Now I know I’ve entered a parallel universe. He’d be the last person on earth
to meddle. Maybe this whole marriage thing went to his head.”

“Dane, stop. It’s not what you think.”

“You and Brogan alone together on a mountaintop for anything longer than five minutes and it’s exactly what I think. Are you sure about this?” he asked, his strident tone mellowing a bit. “It’s not really like you.”

She let that last comment pass. “We’re going on business, Dane. Zach is planning a trip for the foundation that requires my approval.”

“So there will be others with you?”

She paused, then answered honestly, knowing there was no point in hedging, since he’d just drag it out of her anyway. That was the downside of having a twin who was also an investigator. “No. But,” she hurried to add when he tried to break in, “we’ll have separate tents and everything. We’re simply colleagues. He knows how I feel and—”

“How
do
you feel? Honestly. I mean, you guys haven’t spoken since you were kids, and there was certainly no great affection between you then. As a matter of fact, isn’t one of his teeth capped because of you?”

Dara wasn’t ready to explain—even if she could—what her relationship was with Zach. “As for the tooth, he started it, so he deserved what he got. As to your other question, I don’t know. Honestly.” She knew she shouldn’t ask, but she couldn’t help herself. “And what did you mean, about us not being able to be alone without … you know. We’re both adults.”

“I guess I just know how he is with women. He’s the kind of guy who could walk into the men’s room and still find himself instantly surrounded by women. I just don’t
want you to mistake his … attentions for something they’re not.”

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this.” Dara laughed. “Don’t you think I understand the difference between idle flirtation and … you know, something more serious?” It was precisely because she wasn’t sure at all if she could tell the difference when it came to Zach, that she turned the tables back on Dane. “And he’s your best friend, for goodness’ sake—”

“And you’re my sister. Come on, Dara. I know you date, but I could have given you the same advice you gave me.”

“And if I took it, Zach Brogan would probably fill part of that advice quite admirably.” She smiled at the strangled sound he made. “I can handle it, okay?”

There was a deep sigh on the other end of the phone.

“Dane?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I know you’re an adult, and I know you can take care of yourself. But I also know how immersed you’ve become in your work. You give everything to those kids.”

“Look who’s talking. I love my work, you know that.”

“I do, and don’t get me wrong, that’s a wonderful thing. But dating one of the foundation’s stuffy lawyers or that insecure guy from accounting—”

“Phil’s not insecure,” she broke in, “he’s just shy.”

“And safe.”

Dara paused, at a loss for a comeback. “Well, one thing Zach Brogan isn’t, is safe. So you should be thrilled.”

Dane sighed. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. But
ever since Daniel died, you haven’t been the same. You’re quieter, more serious. Which isn’t bad, but that’s more like me than like you.”

“Can you blame me, Dane?”

“You know I admire the hell out of you, facing what you did and how you’ve turned it into such a positive thing. It’s just that when it comes to your own happiness, you tend to go for guys who don’t, I don’t know, challenge you. The sort of guys you wouldn’t be in danger of falling for.”

Dara didn’t know what to say. As close as she and Dane were, he’d never spoken to her so candidly. And never about this. She felt her throat constrict and her eyes burn. He went on before she could respond.

“I guess I just think someone out there should be working at least half as hard as you do for those kids, making
your
dreams come true. And while I still think Phil from accounting isn’t the right guy, neither is Zach Brogan.”

Dara’s heart swelled a bit at his tender words in her defense. He wasn’t one for overt displays of emotion, quite the opposite. More often it was gruff displays of overprotectiveness. “I called for camping tips,” she teased gently, “not advice for the lovelorn. Which I’m not, by the way. I’ve lost two men I loved very much. You of all people have to know that the very last person I’d fall for is a man who takes the sort of risks Zach does. We’ve agreed the past is past, and I think he’d make a nice friend—” She broke off when Dane uttered a few choice words under his breath. “I mean it, Dane. I realize this sounds impossible, all things considered, but I think
he’s a nice guy. A helpless flirt and a maniac with a death wish, but underneath, a nice guy.”

“Dara,” Dane warned.

“I can handle it, big-brother-by-all-of-one-minute. Now, do I have your help or not?”

He sighed. “Okay, I’ll help. I’ve got to conduct a few interviews out at TRACON this afternoon. How about we meet in Tysons Corner around eight, okay?”

“Deal. And Dane?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I love you too. Just don’t go getting yourself hurt. I’d hate like hell to have to kill my best friend.”

Only Dara would pack for a fun weekend trip like she expected to traverse a war zone. Zach’s gaze scanned over the equipment-laden truck bed as he backed into an open spot between two oak trees at the base of the mountain.

She’d been waiting at the curb, all decked out in her new hiking shorts and boots, standing in the middle of a pile of camping gear that any scout leader would sell his merit badges for, and shot him that I-dare-you look. He’d been a goner before he’d put the emergency brake on.

Hell, if he were honest, he’d probably been a goner since the first time she’d socked him back when they were six. He’d just been too young and stupid to know true love when it stared him right in the eyes. Of course, he could only see out of one of them at the time.

“Why are we stopping here?” she asked now, almost three hours later.

He glanced over at her as he put the truck in neutral and set the brake. “Because this is where the trail begins.” He pointed to the old service road that zigzagged its way up the hill in front of them, disappearing into the trees before the third switchback.

He watched her scan the trail.

“If you’re worried about the truck, don’t be. This is private property.”

“Private property?” She looked back at him, then waved him silent. “Never mind.” Sighing as she unhooked her seat belt, she said, “Another example of how different we are, I guess. The kind of people I know are the sort that might own a small sailboat and a time-share condo in Ocean City. Your friends own mountains and hot-air balloons.”

He shifted and let his arm rest on the back of the seat, tucking his fingers into a loose fist to keep from touching her. “This is a problem? What our friends do or don’t own?”

She turned her attention back to the trail. “Not really, at least, not in and of itself. But it does go a way toward defining why we’d be better off as friends.” Before he could comment, she laughed. “Besides, thanks to you, I guess I could now say I have friends with access to hot-air balloons and mountains. Makes for good conversation at cocktail parties.”

Zach released his own seat belt. He wondered what she’d say if he told her he wasn’t much for the cocktail party circuit. But he didn’t think it was wise to give her more ammunition at the moment. She probably thought he was a party animal anyway.

Only time spent together would make her understand,
show her who he really was beneath all those labels she was busy hanging on him to keep her distance, to ignore what was happening between them.

And he couldn’t remember looking forward to spending time alone with another person as much as he had this weekend with her. Even his annual jaunts with her brother and Jarrett didn’t give him this sense of anticipation, of expectation. Nothing had ever felt like this.

But the idea of being just a friend to her simply wouldn’t jibe in his head. The thought of being near her without touching her, of laughing with her but never kissing her. He simply couldn’t imagine it.

“Well, I guess we’d better get our packs set up.” Zach opened his door, suddenly desperate for some fresh air and a little more space between them. Her voice stopped him with his hand still on the door handle.

“What do you mean, get our packs? I thought we’d take the truck up. I mean, I know the kids are going to ride up in their buggies on the real trip.”

“Because they can’t walk. We can. Isn’t that why you bought the hiking boots?”

“The hiking boots were for hiking, not mountain climbing. You know, as in leave the campsite for a jaunt in the woods?”

“That’s not all there is to camping.” He slid out of the truck and started digging in the heap of gear for their packs.

She got out and spoke to him from the opposite side of the truck bed. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t camping the part where you pitch tents and make a campfire? Who said anything about having to tote the campsite up a mountain on your back?”

Zach looked up. She was serious. He tried not to laugh. “First off, this barely qualifies as a mountain. Everest it’s not. And secondly, just how did you think this stuff was going to get up there when we do this trip for real? Did you think the kids would take it on the buggies? There will barely be enough room to strap on their own stuff.”

He watched her flush in embarrassment and anger. It made him want to vault the back of the truck in a single bound and take her in his arms until all that heat was channeled into an entirely different sort of passion. Until he made her understand how intrinsic that passion was to her entire self, until he convinced her that burying it didn’t make it go away.

“I guess I thought your guys would take everything up ahead of time and we would hike up for fun. You know, for the kids’ sake.” Her voice dropped to a low grumble as she added, “Dane told me I was wrong about that part, but would I listen? Noooo.”

Zach had been pulling his bedroll out from under her tent which—even rolled up—looked as if it would sleep at least eight. Her mumbled words stopped him cold. He looked up at her. “You went to Dane for help on this trip?”

She glared at him, then shrugged. “I’ve never done this sort of thing before,” she said, obviously uncomfortable now, but determined not to back down. He felt a tug near his heart.

“And you asked Dane for some tips so you … what? So you wouldn’t be embarrassed?”

“Which you can see worked very well.” She sighed.
“Go ahead, laugh. I should have known better than to try and impre—”

Zach’s smile spread to a wide grin when she broke off and began digging furiously in the back of the truck for who only knew what.