Page 23 of Target Acquired
She couldn’t stop the smile that curved her lips. “Come on, we’ll head back to the car.”
“You can keep going, can’t you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“How far?”
“Cole—”
“How far, Kenzie?”
“I usually do between thirteen and fourteen miles on my days off.”
He blinked. “Why?”
She shrugged. “Why not?”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re keeping something from me. What is it?”
“Oh, for crying out loud.” She chuckled. “I’m training for a triathlon, okay?”
“A triathlon? And you didn’t think to tell me you could run a hundred miles without stopping for a breath or a drink of water?”
“A hundred is a bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think?”
He laughed. Another big laugh that was rare for him. And he’d done it three times this morning. Interesting.
He walked over to the nearest park bench and lowered himself onto it, wiping the sweat from his face with the hem of his shirt.
And continued his obnoxious chuckling.
“Cole? You okay?”
When he finally caught his breath, he looked up. “You got me.”
“I wasn’t trying to get—” She clamped her lips together, then let a small, reluctant laugh escape. “Okay, maybe a little.”
“Well, it’s a good thing we’ve been running in circles and are near the car because I’d never make it back if I had to do six more miles.”
She wasn’t sure she believed that. “I’m sorry. I should have been straight with you. I’ve been working up to the longer distances for a while now.” She grinned at him and headed toward the car, which was only about a quarter of a mile away. He made it without any trouble, and she raised a brow at him as they exited the walkway to head to his 4Runner. “You could have gone a lot farther.”
“What’s next? The swim or the bike ride?”
She laughed. “The swim. But not today.”
“What now? Food?”
She started to answer when his phone buzzed.
He glanced at the screen. “Well, so much for the day off. I’ve got a call.”
COLE LOOKED AT HER. “You mind the ride to headquarters? We go right past there and it will allow me to ride with the team.”
“Of course I don’t mind. Let’s go.” She climbed into the passenger seat, and Cole slipped behind the wheel, putting his phone on Bluetooth.
“Some day off, huh?”
“I’m used to it, just like everyone else.”