Page 9 of One Weekend in Rio de Janeiro

“I like having answers.”

“Do you always need answers to everything?”

“Yes. No.” She threw her arms up. “Does it matter?”

He chuckled. “No need to get flustered, Ms. Inquisitive.” After a brief hesitation, his dark eyes narrowed. “It is Ms., right? Or, am I wrong?”

“Now who’s being inquisitive?” she teased.

“Touché.”

“And it’s Ms. Halloran, Mr.—?”

“Donovan Briggs. My friends just call me D, though.”

“D? That’s creative.” Kate playfully scrunched her nose up at him, then at herself when she realized she was flirting. Flirting with the hot, wet, shirtless stranger in the middle of the jungle.

“Yeah, well, what do you expect from a bunch of former frogs?”

“Frogs?” she echoed, peeling her crossbody off and setting it down. She was soaked from head to toe and smelled like river water. Ugh. Any more flirting that happened tonight would most assuredly be one-sided. Donovan probably thought she looked like a drowned rat.

“Navy SEALs,” he clarified, dropping down on the ground.

“Are you a SEAL, too?”

“I was, yeah, until they recruited me over to the intelligence side of things. Now I work as a security analyst.”

Oh, wow. Kate sat down on the soft, leaf-strewn ground and looked over at the no doubt incredibly smart man beside her. Suddenly, she felt extremely small and ordinary.

“What about you?” he asked.

“Me?”

“What do you do?”

“Nothing as glamorous as you.” He waited for her to answer and she shifted, stretching her legs out in front of her. “I’m just a ranger at a national park.”

“Really?” He leaned closer. “What park?”

His curious tone and body language held more interest than she expected. “Great Smoky Mountains.”

“I love the Smoky Mountains. We drove through there a few times when I was younger. Your office view sure beats mine.”

His devastating smile sent her stomach somersaulting. “It is pretty stunning.”

“If I ever switch careers, I’ll be hitting you up for a job referral.”

She chuckled, more at ease than before. Actually, more at ease than…ever. Donovan had this strange way of making her comfortable. Maybe it was because he seemed to accept her just as she was. Or, maybe she’d bumped her head too hard when they crashed.

When her stomach threatened to growl, Kate opened her purse and checked through the soggy contents. She plucked out the complimentary packet of cookies from the airline and lifted them. “Hungry?”

“Famished,” he replied.

After opening the package, she offered him one, her attention dipping to admire the way his muscles flexed when he turned. No man should be allowed to look that good without a shirt on. Clearly, he worked out. Often.

“So, why were you going to Rio?” she asked, munching on her cookie.

“Work,” he replied vaguely. “What about you?”

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