Page 40 of Falling for the Enemy

“Uh, I’ll be helping to nudge Norm out of your lab. Just think—no more whining and complaining.”

“Hadn’t thought of that.” She paused. “Nope, that’s a lie. Nonna would have withheld dessert from me for that one. It would be a relief to have him out of the lab.”

I picked some kindling off the pile next to me and tossed it into the pit. The flames had a temporary burst of energy before settling languidly back over the wood pile.

“So, the big punishment you fretted about in your childhood was having dessert withheld? Not getting grounded or spanked or sent to bed without supper. Just no after-dinner brownie?”

Ava stretched out her legs to get her feet closer to the heat. “Hey, don’t underestimate the mystical powers of one of Nonna’s brownies.”

“My parents didn’t spank or send us to bed without dinner, but I spent more than a few weekends being confined to the house.”

Ava shook her head once. “Never took you for a rambunctious type, Sinclair. I sure am learning a lot about you out here.”

I looked at her, and it happened again, that crash-and-hold gaze. “I’m learning a lot about myself, too, Lo.”

This time she wasn’t anxious to pull her gaze from mine. We stared at each other in a silence that felt filled with electricity until the spell was broken by Norm swinging open the outhouse door.

Ava looked away first and leaned back to call to Norman. “Everything all right? Do you need help getting back to your cot?”

“I’m fine.” Norm sounded less miserable. It seemed he’d gotten a big weight off his shoulders, and even though it was a metaphorical weight, it seemed to relieve some of the pain in his ankle. He was moving better.

Norman made it back to the shelter.

Ava turned back around. “I feel bad for him. I feel guilty for always rolling my eyes when he was complaining. All this time he was sitting in a science lab, not wanting anything to do with science. He was just there because he thought that was what his dad would have wanted. I guess as disastrous as this trip has been, at least one good thing came of it.”

I stretched my legs out, too. They didn’t look nearly as good as hers in the glow of the fire. “I don’t think this trip was a complete disaster. I mean there were some good days of research and this is”—I circled my gaze around once—“wasa beautiful place to camp. We got to ride down a river in a raft. I mean, that part almost ended with you and Norm being eaten by crocodiles, but before and after that part, it was pretty cool. We helped Buster find his mom. Who knows what his fate would have been if we hadn’t been stuck here after the storm.” I looked at her again. The magnetic pull was there, but Ava avoided direct eye contact, so I made a bold move and took hold of her hand. She didn’t pull it away, which I considered a win. She finally looked at me. Another win. “And I think we’ve grown less contentious. I’m glad about that … Ava. I didn’t realize how much I would miss not being your friend.”

She pulled her amazing green gaze down to our clasped hands. “Jack,” she said softly.

I so badly wanted to kiss her, but I kept my boldness in check this time. I was a little rusty on the whole romance thing because the signals I was getting were all over the damn place. That was Ava. She was so complicated and hard to read. My own feelings were complicated, too. I had no idea why I’d taken an instant dislike to the woman. She was incredible in every sense of the word, and everything I’d heard about her backed up that assessment. Had my attitude toward her been a defense mechanism? Had I been fighting off the inevitable—my feelings for Ava Lovely?

Ava shook her head. “It’s our situation,” she said suddenly and pulled away her hand. “We’ll get back home, back to the university, and you’ll remember that I irritate you. You’ll scowl and grumble things under your breath as I pass you in the hallway. It’s only because we’re out here in the middle of a lump of mud with powdered food and mosquitoes that seem a lot hungrier now.” She smacked the side of her neck. “It’s just the circumstances,” she repeated, and I got the feeling she was telling herself that more than me.

“What if you’re wrong, Lo?”

Our gazes met and locked again. “It’s impossible,” she said quietly and got up from the log.

I stayed behind, staring into the fire and listening to her footsteps walking away.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

AVA

Sunlight seeped into the hut. The world outside the ripped canvas flap was quiet, even serene. I half expected to walk out to that glorious remote tropical island of Jack’s Hollywood dreams. I knew that wouldn’t be the case, but it was fun to imagine for a moment. One thing was certain, it was much nicer waking to a peaceful rainforest with chittering birds and a fragrant breeze than a brutal storm intent on lashing everything in its path. I pulled on my clothes and boots and stepped into the sunlight. The hot, humid weather had replaced the coolness left behind by the storm. Now I was sure I’d miss that coolness.

I walked straight to the river, so I could give Harold an assessment. The water still raced along violently between its banks, but it had receded at least a foot. Another foot and a slowing of the current, and we would be able to wade across. I’d been working on a plan to get Norm across. He wasn’t a swimmer, so it was paramount that Jack and I stay with him the entire way. His bad ankle made that a necessity, too. Norm could drop his arms around our shoulders and then we could walk cautiously, three across, through the water.

I smelled instant coffee coming from the mess tent. I’d spent the first hour in my cot last night trying to decipher what washappening between Jack and me. I couldn’t deny that I’d felt something lately when we were together, but I was also certain about my theory. It was our strange, unfortunate circumstances. We’d been thrown together in a moment of adversity, and we found that working together was better than constantly bickering. It wouldn’t hold once we were back at the university. Jack would quickly forget what’d happened, and he’d just as quickly remember that he found me a nuisance. And I’d be waiting for his scowls and his complaints. It would be much easier than waiting for him to be kind and instead getting an angry lecture. I refused to get swept in by his temporary charm.

Jack leaned out of the mess tent in shorts and a clean white T-shirt … and his good looks. “Coffee’s ready, if you’re interested,” he said.

I took a deep breath and headed toward the mess tent. “I’d say one more day with that river.”

Jack poured coffee into a tin cup. “That would be my guess, too. I already let Harold know.”

“Oh, then I guess you didn’t need my input.” I wanted to kick myself the second I said it. “Never mind. That came out wrong. I’m glad you let him know.”

Jack sat down at the table with the cups of coffee. “One more day in this tropical paradise.”

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