Born to Be Wild (2 page)

“Really,” she repeated, her tone sharper than intended.

“Well, that certainly explains why I had to scramble to get someone to replace me in the middle of a trip—a very complex, expensive, prepaid trip I might add—because you refused to deal with anyone but me.”

“I had no choice. You know the donor specifically requested you to run the trip he’s funding. Dream A
Little Dream Foundation relies solely on private donations to fund the granting of wishes made by handicapped and terminally ill children. Occasionally a donation is made for a specific wish, which is the case this time. You have to understand how important it is that every aspect of each wish we decide to fulfill be thoroughly checked.”

Zach stretched out his long legs and crossed his arms. “This was all explained to my assistant. I know she provided you with everything you requested. What exactly is the problem?”

“My research has raised some serious questions, and I thought it was important to give you the chance to discuss them before I present my report to the board this afternoon.”

“And if I hadn’t shown up?” His tone seemed sincere enough, but his lazy sprawl suggested he wasn’t overly concerned.

“I can’t speak for the board, but I imagine they would have postponed this particular wish request until we could contact the donor and get his approval for another outfitter.”

Zach looked confident. Too confident. “I don’t think you’re going to have much luck contacting the donor anytime soon.”

Dara sighed. He knew about Jarrett. She hadn’t been sure, but it didn’t really surprise her. Though they didn’t see each other often, Jarrett McCullough, her brother, Dane, and Zach, were still good friends.

As children they’d been known as the Three Musketeers of Madison County. Dara’s constant bid for and
continual humiliating failure to gain acceptance into the group as the fourth musketeer is what led Zach to brand her with the nickname Dart. Short for D’Artagnan. Short, because that’s what she’d been. Short, scrawny, and for the entire fifteen years they’d lived in Madison County, generally considered by the trio to be a major pain in the butt.

“How did you find out?” she asked. “Did he tell you?”

“Actually, no. I didn’t know anything about it until Beaudine contacted me in Chile about this meeting.”

“I guess I don’t have to tell you why he requested anonymity.” Dara knew that up until his wedding a month ago, Jarrett had run a courier service that specialized in handling sensitive information. Usually dealing with thwarting various terrorist activities. His wife, Rae, had been one of his top couriers. “I know he’s only consulting now,” she went on. “But I guess with Rae and Jarrett out of the country on their honeymoon, they can’t be too careful. No one knows where they are, not even Dane.”

Zach shrugged. “Me either.”

“So how did you find—?”

Zach’s raised hand stopped her. “Beaudine has contacts that would scare the President. I didn’t ask how. But I didn’t question it either.”

The name Beaudine Delacroix had come up occasionally when Dane forced her to listen to the wild re-counting of his and Jarrett’s annual break from sanity which Zach planned for them every summer. She’d never met her, but from everything she’d heard, Dara concluded
the woman was nothing short of amazing. Sort of a Cajun Mrs. Doubtfire.

“I did try to contact Jarrett myself,” Zach said. “By then even Beaudine couldn’t get an exact location on them.” He raked one hand through his hair, making it look even wilder than it had before, something she hadn’t thought possible.

Her gaze dropped back to his, and the dark intensity she found there was completely at odds with his I-couldn’t-give-a-damn attitude.

“Are you really willing to let these kids wait for their camping trip until Jarrett and Rae surface?” He settled his arms back across his chest and crossed his ankles. “I’m pretty booked up, but I’ve got the manpower and can probably rearrange things enough to get this in within a month or so.”

Dara wasn’t fooled now. His relaxed posture was simply a calculated move to get her to drop her guard. Zach might be a crazy man, but one look in his eyes proved he was far from stupid.

She took a steadying breath. She had to get him to see this from her point of view. “Zach,” she began, “surely you understand why we can’t have Great Escape run this trip?”

To her increased annoyance, she realized his attention had wandered—to her blouse. Specifically the part that was plastered to her chest. Her body reacted in an alarmingly instant and very visible manner.

She leaned forward on folded arms, not caring that she was dripping coffee on her sleeves and her desktop, steadfastly ignoring the knowing twinkle in his eyes as his attention shifted back to her face.

Lord, but it was getting harder and harder to keep her train of thought on the same path for more than two minutes.

“Zach,” she began again, determined to end this swiftly. “Let’s face it. You’re not a typical outfitter.”

His grin was as wild as his hair. “Yeah, I know.”

Dara sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. The man was incorrigible. “I wasn’t exactly complimenting you. You’re a thrill-seeker. Your company caters to people who think intentionally courting death is fun. Your idea of a good time is skydiving into active volcanoes and hang gliding off of glaciers, for crying out loud.”

“Don’t forget diving in shark-infested waters,” he added with sincerity. The padded leather creaked as he leaned forward. “You keeping tabs on me, Dart?” Another lazy grin curved his lips. “I didn’t think you cared.”

Talk about shark-infested waters.
I won’t let him get to me
, she repeated silently like a mantra.

Of course, it would be a whole lot easier if he didn’t sit there looking so damn … healthy. And if that deep voice of his didn’t make her feel so incredibly … aware. And just when she’d get him pegged as nothing more than an outrageous flirt, that sharp edge would appear in his eyes, making her wonder just what sort of thoughts were really lurking behind them.

She gave herself a mental shake, and forced herself to remember the first time she’d let him goad her into acting rashly. She’d been six when Zach had dared her to climb to the top of the monkey bars. He’d waited until she was balanced on the top rung to comment on what a
pretty dress she had on, and that he couldn’t recall her ever wearing a dress before.

Of course, it was Dara who got sent to the principal’s office for decking Zach in the eye. She could still recall the devilish gleam winking out of the other one as she was escorted from the playground. She was looking at the adult replica of that gleam right now.

“No,” she said firmly, “I haven’t been keeping tabs on you. But Dane forces me to listen to a blow by blow description of the insanity you drag him on every summer.”

“You weren’t exactly the tame sort, if I recall,” he said. “Weren’t you the one who used to dare me to climb old Mrs. Prubody’s tree and toss rocks at her window? And what about the time you conned Dane, Jarrett, and me into papering the houses of the two head cheerleaders after you were cut from the junior squad?” The gleam in his eyes briefly erupted into a devilish twinkle as he added, “And what was the reason again?” He snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah, something about a catfight you had with a cheerleader from our rival high school, wasn’t it?”

She worked hard not to squirm as memories she’d purposely ignored flooded back into her brain. “First of all, she deserved more than getting her hair pulled,” Dara retorted, unable to curb her tongue. “And you weren’t much of a champion. You took her to the homecoming dance if I recall.” She clamped her mouth shut when his grin widened. Then after a deep, calming breath, she said, “But that was a long time ago. We were kids. I’ve grown up.”

The twinkle disappeared. “So,” he said too quietly, “based on the assumption that I’m an immature, irresponsible lunatic, you want me to back out of this?”

She shivered. And any hope she had that he’d assume it was simply a result of the cold coffee soaking her blouse was removed by the deepening curve of his mouth. His smile didn’t reach his eyes, though. The combination was downright disconcerting.

“It isn’t just an assumption,” she stated, determined to regain the control she’d somehow lost the moment he’d sat down. “I did some preliminary investigating, and I don’t think your company is suitable for the job.” She held up her hand to forestall his imminent rebuttal. “Zach, come on. Most kids think they’re going to live forever.”

“We sure as hell did.”

“That’s just my point. These kids have known almost right from the start just how precious life is, and they struggle every day just to maintain their grasp on it. You, on the other hand, still think you are immortal. You’re like …” She lifted her hand, then flattened it palm down on her desk. “You’re like Peter Pan with an American Gladiator complex.” She leaned forward. “Do you seriously think you’re the man to chaperon four children with very special needs on a mountain excursion?”

“To hear you tell it, I can’t take anything seriously. So why ask?” He stood with surprising speed and braced his hands on her desk. “You never had any intention of letting me run this trip. This whole thing is really just a formality, isn’t it,
Ms. Colbourne
?”

His teasing smile was long gone, his unshaven jaw
rock-hard, lending an air of ruggedness that only enhanced his sex appeal. She hated herself for noticing.

“You’re just following procedure, right?” he went on. “I came halfway around the globe because you needed my signature on a formal refusal form, which will allow you to line up some other board-approved outfitter the second you locate McCullough. I wouldn’t be surprised if the new guy’s appointment is right after mine.”

His intensity was palpable, almost frightening. Having all that energy and vitality harnessed and focused solely on her was quite overwhelming, and it took her a few seconds to find an appropriate response.

“There is no other outfitter,” she said when she finally found her voice.
Not yet, anyway
. “I wouldn’t do that.” His snort brought more than a frown to her lips, but she swallowed it at the last possible second. She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “But the truth is, I don’t think you should run this trip, and, yes, I would appreciate it if you would formally decline.”

He leaned farther over her desk, his voice dark and ominously low. “If you really believe that I’d actually put those kids in danger, then maybe it is better to wait for Jarrett to come back and okay a switch.” His demeanor was hard and tough and completely foreign to her perception of him.

He straightened. “Can I ask you something?” His tone was deceptively gentle.

“What?” she asked warily.

“Jarrett and Dane stay in fairly close contact, so I imagine you’ve seen Jarrett occasionally over the years or keep up with what he’s doing through Dane, right?”

Her brows furrowed in confusion. “Right.”

“You know Dane would trust Jarrett with his life?”

“Yes, but—”

“So would I. And the feeling is mutual.”

“I don’t see what—”

“Do you trust Jarrett, Dara?”

His tone was insistent, provoking. “Of course,” she answered automatically, “next to Dane, he’s the most dependable person I know.” The inference that Zach wasn’t was clear, and she knew he hadn’t missed it.

“Do you really think he’d name me to this position if he thought I couldn’t handle it?”

Dara released a deep breath. “I’ve thought about that, Zach. But I don’t think Jarrett has a full understanding of the sort of obstacles these kids face. I know he trusts you, and he probably knew you’d help him out on this, but—”

“No buts, Dara. I’m willing to do this, I
want
to do this. Not just for Jarrett, but because it’s a damn good cause and I’m a damn good outfitter. Whatever you think about me personally doesn’t matter. What matters is getting these kids the trip they wished for, right?”

Sensing he was leading her into a trap, but unable to see it, she nodded slowly. “Right. But you need my approval to get the board’s approval, and you don’t have it.”

The sober expression on his face broke slowly into a wicked smile. “Yet.”

One word, so softly spoken, and the air between them vibrated. With challenge, she told herself. As it always had been between them; Zach challenging her, prodding
her until she lost her temper only to find out he’d intentionally staged it to happen at the very worst time—for her.

She pulled up another memory—recalling the time he’d humiliated her in front of Mr. Jackson’s biology class by daring her to kiss a frog—which she’d had to take him up on—then showing the rest of the class that the poor thing was dead. The frog had croaked, he’d announced loudly, rather than become a prince for skinny little Dart. Of course, Mr. Jackson had walked in at the exact moment she’d dumped a beakerful of formaldehyde down Zach’s shirt.

But this time dredging up old memories didn’t work, the tension between them was not as easily relegated to the past.

“What exactly are you proposing?” she asked.

He leaned a jean-clad hip on her desk, and picked up her crystal globe paperweight, bouncing it from palm to palm as if it were blown glass. “What I propose is that I plan a trip for the kids. Then, to ensure it’s safe and completely meets the foundation’s standards, I will take you out for a trial run so you can personally endorse the setup. My company will absorb the cost of the trial run.”

He placed the paperweight gently back on the desk and, bracing his weight on one arm, leaned closer to her. Dara swore she could hear the trapdoor clang shut behind her.

“And, if you don’t fully approve,” he went on, the gentle tone at complete odds with the victorious gleam in his eyes, “I will fund another trip with the outfitter of your choice. And when Jarrett returns, I’ll have him okay his donation for another wish on your list. Fair deal?”

It was beyond fair. It was the perfect solution. No matter how it turned out, the foundation—and more importantly, the kids—prospered. It was a win-win situation. There was absolutely no reason for her to say no.