LITMIR.BIZ

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      By the time the plane came to a halt, Pitbull was convinced he’d rattled away every tooth in his mouth. But they were alive, the plane was intact and no fire ensued. He let go of the breath he’d been holding and leaned back in his seat.

      “Wow, Marly,” Buck said from the rear. “That was amazing.”

      Marly sat for a moment, staring at the departing herds, her lips pressed tightly together. Then she nodded, as if pulling herself back to the present, and peeled her fingers from the yoke. She turned with a tight smile and faced the men in the back. “Well, you wanted a safari. I didn’t see any reason to wait.” She held up her hand. “Don’t worry. I won’t charge you extra for the exciting landing.”

      Harm shook his head. “What happened?”

      “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” She pushed out of her seat and waded through the team to the door. Once she’d lowered the steps, she hurried to the ground and around to the engine compartment.

      The team piled out, leaving Pitbull to exit the aircraft last.

      He fought the urge to drop to his knees and kiss the ground. If his legs were a little wobbly, he couldn’t help it. Though Marly had done an excellent job landing the plane among a herd of zebras, she could just as easily have crashed and killed every last one of them.

      The water buffalo and zebras stopped running and went back to grazing, as though it were an everyday occurrence to be disturbed by landing airplanes.

      Pitbull trailed behind the others as they followed Marly.

      “Need a hand?” T-Mac asked.

      Marly lifted the lid to the engine compartment. “Know anything about airplanes?”

      T-Mac shrugged. “No, but I’m handy with a variety of engines and computer issues.”

      “You’re welcome to look over my shoulder.” Marly opened the luggage compartment and started tossing backpacks and duffel bags to the ground. “I have a ladder in here somewhere.” Once she’d dumped everything else out of the way, she said, “There it is.” She yanked a small ladder out and stood it beside the plane. “Unlike all of you, I’m not six feet tall.” She climbed up and leaned over the engine.

      “I’ve had engines quit in my car before due to fuel pump issues,” T-Mac offered.

      “The fuel pump was replaced during the last annual maintenance on this plane,” Marly said. “But that doesn’t mean it didn’t go bad since then.” She looked down at Pitbull. “There’s a tool bag behind the back seat inside the plane. Could you get it for me?”

      Pitbull nodded and hurried to comply. When he returned, Marly and T-Mac had their heads together, staring into the engine.

      A flush of heat washed over Pitbull. He fought the urge to insinuate himself between the two. Hell, they were within kissing distance. Instead, Pitbull cleared his throat and shoved the tool kit between Marly and T-Mac. “Perhaps this will help.”

      T-Mac leaned back.

      Marly didn’t take the bag. Instead, she stared into the engine. “Could you hand me a crescent wrench, please?”

      Pitbull bit back a retort, unzipped the bag and gave her what she asked for.

      She reached into the engine with the wrench and jerked back her hand. “Damn. You’d think it would have cooled down by now.”

      “Here, let me see.” T-Mac took her arm and inspected the inside of her wrist.

      “I’ll be all right.” Marly tugged her hand free and bent over the engine again. A few minutes later, she pulled out a part, shaking her head. “Like you said, it’s the fuel pump. Looks like it burned up.” She handed him the part and leaned over the engine. “Thankfully, it’s the only thing burned up. A new part and this plane will be in the air again.” She straightened and grimaced. “It’ll be a rough takeoff, but I’ve been in worse places.”

      “Speaking of being in worse places.” Harm stepped up beside Pitbull. “How are we getting out of here?”

      “I put in a call to the ATC. He said he’d send out a rescue crew.” Marly closed the engine compartment and started to step down from the ladder.

      Pitbull reached out and took her hand to steady her. When she laid hers in his, he felt the tingle of electricity race up his arm and spread across his chest. He didn’t have time to analyze the feeling before she slipped on the last rung of the latter and pitched forward, slamming into his chest.

      Pitbull went down, landing hard on his back, but cushioning Marly’s fall. She landed on his chest, her hands on the ground on either side of his arms.

      “Sorry,” she said and scrambled to get off him. In the process, she kneed him in the groin.

      Pain shot through him, wiping out the heat of the electricity her touch had generated. Pitbull doubled up, swallowing hard on the groan rising up his throat.

      “I’m sorry,” Marly repeated. As she straightened and brushed the dirt off her hands, her cheeks flamed red. She held out her hand to Pitbull.

      “I’m all right,” he said through clenched teeth, waving away her efforts. For a long moment, he lay still, willing the pain to go away.

      “Well, damn.” Marly knelt beside him and started to reach for the parts still pulsing with pain. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

      He let go of his package and grabbed her wrist to keep her from touching him down there. Hell, if she didn’t leave his parts alone, it wouldn’t be long before he embarrassed himself in an entirely different way, pain be damned.

      Buck laughed out loud. “Can’t believe you let a girl clock your nads, dude.” He nodded to Big Jake. “You get one side, I’ll get the other.”

      “I’ll get up when I’m ready,” Pitbull insisted.

      “You’re ready,” Big Jake announced. With one of his buddies on either side of him, Pitbull was brought to his feet. Not that he was quite ready. He did his best to stand up straight, thankful the pain faded with each breath.

      Marly stared across the grassy plains, the color still high in her cheeks. “Shouldn’t be too long. The ATC would have called someone close to our location. We never know what we’re going to get.” She entered the plane and walked from front to rear.

      “Well, we might as well enjoy being this up close and personal with the African natives.” Diesel walked past the tip of a wing and stared out over the savanna. “I don’t think I’ve actually seen a water buffalo or zebra from this close.”

      “You’re not as close as you’ll be on the safari.” Marly pulled a rag out of her back pocket and wiped the grease off her fingers.

      “May I?” Pitbull held out his hand for the rag.

      Marly’s brows drew together, and she ran her gaze over him as she handed him the towel.

      His lips quirked upward. “Don’t be so suspicious.” He leaned toward her and wiped a smudge of grease from her jaw. “You missed a spot.”

      Her cheeks blossomed with color. “Thank you.” She swiped the rag from his hands and stuffed it back into her pocket before turning to the others. “We’re not too far from the resort. If we’re lucky, we won’t have to wait more than an hour before someone shows up to take us there.”

      “An hour?” Buck asked.

      Marly shrugged. “You never know who or how they will arrive. I’m assuming in a ground vehicle.”

      “I’d give my left nut for a whirly bird,” Pitbull muttered. “We wouldn’t be in this situation if we’d started out in a helicopter.”

      Marly rounded on Pitbull, eyes blazing, and jabbed her finger into Pitbull’s chest. “If we’d been in a helicopter and the

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