Sweet Revenge by Christy Reece Page A

he turned to the door. “Try not to get lost.”
    There were so many things on the tip of her tongue, and though she knew he was only trying to get a rise from her, it was infuriating not to respond. She stepped out onto the porch and promptly forgot her anger. A wonderland of whiteness awaited.
    She’d been so involved with what was going on inside the cabin, she hadn’t bothered to look outside. Just in the short amount of time she’d been here, it had snowed at least four inches. Everything was coated in fluffy whiteness … her Jeep was completely covered.
    “Looks like it’ll have to be a short tour. Snow’s coming faster than I thought it would.” He had been standing beside her, but now he went down the steps and held out his hand. “It’s slippery.”
    Jamie looked at the big hand in front of her and swallowed hard. Stupid, but somehow she felt, as she put her hand in his, that they were making some sort of pact or a special connection.
    Even through the gloves, she could feel the warmth and the strength of him as his hand closed around hers. The look in his eyes was one she had never seen before. Solemn, almost gentle, but still so damn secretive.
    What secrets lay behind that mysterious dark green gaze? And would she ever know them?
    She was actually doing better than he’d thought she would. As soon as she’d gotten out of her Jeep this morning, he’d made a necessary adjustment in her training program. Hell, she’d looked like the mildest of breezes would whisk her away.
    His plan had been to spend no more than a couple of months teaching her self-defense. And during that time, he’d delve as deeply as he could to uncover any information she was keeping to herself about Reddington. While the latter agenda was still a go, the self-defense training would have to wait. It was going to take at least a couple of weeks of good meals and sleep before she’d be capable of what he was going to put her through.
    And knowing what he knew about her, she wasn’t going to like the delay one little bit.
    Sprawled in a chair a few feet from the treadmill, Dylan watched as Jamie kept up a brisk pace on the treadmill. A glowing sheen of perspiration on her face told him the workout was probably a little more exertion than she’d had in a while. He’d stop her in a few minutes. Some muscle soreness was inevitable, but he didn’t want her so uncomfortable that it would cause her pain. She had a hell of a lot ahead of her … no point in overdoing it on the first day.
    Training in between ops was a normal course of events for all LCR operatives. And helping to train each other went with the territory. Most times he enjoyed the challenge of helping someone meet the next level of fitness or skill.
    “What was your fitness routine back home?”
    She replied breathlessly, “When I lived in Louisiana, I belonged to a gym. I haven’t had a regular fitness routine in a while.”
    Yeah, he’d figured that. After what she’d been through, he was surprised her fitness level was as good as it was. Wouldn’t take more than a month or so before she’d be ready for more intensive training.
    “Okay, that’s enough. Let’s check your pulse rate. I need to do some things outside the cabin before the blizzard hits.”
    “Blizzard?”
    “Yeah. Was just supposed to be a winter storm, but looks like it’s going to be a heavier one than they expected.”
    “So that means …”
    He got to his feet and went to stand in front of her. “It means you’re stuck here for at least a week. So if you were thinking of changing your mind, it’s too late now.”
    She pressed the Stop button on the treadmill with a hard, telling punch. With that delicate, stubborn chin at an all-time high, she snapped, “I wasn’t, and I won’t.”
    “Give me your arm.”
    Her hand shot out, barely missing his face. Dylan didn’t mention the near miss as he checked her pulse. He frowned at the rate. “You pulse is higher than I thought it