On a purely intellectual basis, she didn’t think it was a good idea to kiss in the office. People could walk in, it was disrespectful to the workplace. There were other reasons, Maya was sure, but wow, was it hard to think of them. Or be the least bit indignant. Not when his skin was so warm and his lips were so tempting.

She parted her lips without even thinking about it. He swept his tongue inside. They tangled and teased. She thought about shifting closer, about pressing her body against his. She thought about the desk and how the height seemed just so perfect for what would naturally happen next.

She put her hands on his shoulders, then slid her palms up and down his arms. More warmth, she thought dreamily. Muscles and man all for the taking.

Desire burned hot and bright deep inside of her. It radiated out, spiraling through her with every stroke of his tongue. When he moved his hands from her waist to her rear, she knew she was lost. Totally and completely lost. On the heels of that admission came the thought that she had no idea where they might find a condom.

He squeezed the curves of her butt. She arched against him and her belly pressed against his erection. The proof of his arousal made her shudder. Del had always been her greatest weakness, she thought. The man thrilled her.

He moved his hands up her sides, toward her breasts. Anticipation hummed through her. Somewhere in the distance her phone chirped insistently.

She ignored the noise, only to realize that it wasn’t any of her normal ringtones. Nor was it her text notification sound. A second chirping joined the first. She drew back.

“What is that?” Del asked.

Without him kissing her, she could think. “The emergency notification system,” she said as she lunged for her cell. “We have a message.”

“The what?”

Maya ignored the question and grabbed her phone. The message flashed.

Missing child. Report to the HERO offices asap.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him along as she headed for her office to grab her bag. “Mayor Marsha made us both sign up for emergency notifications, remember? We’re volunteer searchers.”

Del looked at his phone. “A kid? Where do we go?”

“It’s not far.”

* * *

THE HELP EMERGENCY Response Operations or HERO offices were as close as Maya promised. Del and Maya arrived along with several other people. They parked at the far end of the lot, then hurried toward the main building.

Inside they found what could have passed for a war room. There were large computer screens showing different parts of the area surrounding the town along with huge maps on the wall. Kipling Gilmore, a tall, blond-haired man, stood in the center of the activity. He was calm and obviously in charge.

“We have a missing girl,” he was saying. “Shep?”

A muscled man with dark red hair and piercing green eyes stood next to Kipling. Jesse Shepard, Del thought, remembering meeting him at The Man Cave a week or so ago. He had joined the search-and-rescue program less than a month ago.

Shep read from a tablet. “Alyssa Paige, age eleven.” He gave them her height and weight. “She and her family were out for a picnic, so she’s not dressed to be out for the night, people. She also doesn’t have food or water with her and she has limited wilderness experience.”

Near the windows, a woman in her thirties began to cry. The man at her side put an arm around her. Next to them, a boy maybe thirteen or fourteen, wiped away tears. He looked scared and guilty. Del would guess Alyssa was his sister, and he had been the one with her when she’d been lost.

“I’ll send the info about where she was last seen to your tablets,” Shep continued. “Jacob’s told us as much as he can.”

The teen flinched as his name was spoken and everyone turned to look at him. Del instinctively started toward the boy.

As he approached, he heard Kipling speaking on his cell phone. “Yeah, Cassidy went to get her horses. She won’t be back for a couple of days.”

Del looked at Shep. “Can you give me a minute?” he asked, nodding at the teen.

“Sure,” Shep said.

Del turned to Jacob. “Hey,” he said in a low voice.

Jacob hung his head. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“No one thinks you did anything wrong,” Del assured him.

“They do. My parents tell me I’m not responsible enough.” Jacob looked at him. “She’s my sister. I love her.”

“I know you do. Look, I’m the oldest of five brothers. Believe me, I know what it’s like. You’re told to watch them and you do, but they’re as fast as squirrels. You turn around for a second, and bam, one of them is in trouble. Only you get the blame.”

Jacob sniffed, then nodded. “I know.” The boy’s dark eyes were red from tears. “I was texting with a friend.”

“Sure. It’s boring out there, right?”

“Yeah. Alyssa said she saw a baby bunny. She wanted to pet it. I told her to leave it alone, and when I looked up again, she was gone.”

Tears filled his eyes again. “I called her name and ran after her, but I couldn’t find her.”

“How long were you looking?”

“About an hour.”

“By your phone or it felt like an hour?”

Jacob flushed. “It felt like an hour.”

“Great.” He put his hand on the teen’s shoulder. “You did great. Let me give the information to Shep, and then we’ll go find your sister.”