Page 25 of Scent of Evil
“No one other than my sister.” She grimaced. “I’m divorced.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s for the best considering he was a cheater.” She frowned, waving a hand. “My personal life isn’t important.”
“Our personal experiences have molded us into the people we are. Besides, it’s his loss to be so stupid.” He stood and handed her his poncho. “Use this as a pillow.”
“Thanks.” She was touched by his generosity. And his wise words. “You have a big family, huh?”
“Yep. Eight siblings.” He grinned. “I’m third youngest. In order my siblings are Maya, Chase, Jessica, Shane, Alexis who is married to Griff, my twin brother, Joel, me, then Trevor and Kendra. We lost our parents six years ago and have grown close as we’ve turned our efforts toward SAR missions.”
“Wow, that’s a lot.” She couldn’t begin to imagine it. Her stomach rumbled loud enough for him to hear.
He dug out a protein bar. “We can split this one for tonight and save the other for the morning.”
She glanced at Ginny, torn by indecision. “I’d rather give Ginny my half.”
“I have one saved for her,” Justin assured her. “I don’t know that giving her one now will help much. I don’t want her to get sick again.”
“Okay.” She accepted the half he offered, their fingers brushing lightly. Again, she was struck by a strange attraction. Raine decided the weird feeling was a combination of being sore, tired, and hungry.
The morsel didn’t last long, but she didn’t complain. She balled up the poncho, glad to have it for a pillow. When she shivered, Justin stood again and headed toward the saddle bags.
“Do you have the kitchen sink in there?” she teased in a low voice. Ginny appeared to be sleeping, and she didn’t want to disturb her.
“Not exactly.” His teeth flashed in a grin as he held up two thick pads. It took her a moment to recognize them as the pads beneath their saddles.
She crossed over to where he stood. He set one down and draped the blanket around her shoulders, tugging it close. “This should help.”
“It does.” She stared up into his dark eyes, wishing she could see him more clearly. She’d given up on men after her divorce and disastrous attempt to date, deciding they weren’t worth the hassle.
So why was she suddenly fantasizing about kissing Justin?
He drew her close, brushing a chaste kiss against her cheek. “Try not to worry. I’ll let Griff know where we are, and I’m sure one of my siblings, likely Trevor and Archie, will be heading out to meet us in the morning.”
“I’m not worried.” Okay, that was sort of a lie, but somehow, with Justin holding her, she didn’t feel the least bit afraid. “I trust you and your family.”
He held her gaze for a long moment. She leaned closer, mesmerized by his mouth, until Ginny murmured something in her sleep.
The moment was broken, so she stepped back, holding the blanket tightly as she returned to sit by her niece. She needed to stop being foolish. Kissing Justin was pointless. Once they’d gotten safely back to civilization, she likely wouldn’t see Justin Sullivan again.
And she tried to ignore how the thought made her sad.
* * *
Justin lecturedhimself for even thinking of kissing Raine. When Stone slid away from Ginny to get to his feet, he belatedly realized his K9 needed to get busy.
“This way,” he whispered. Stone stretched, then followed him into the woods. As he waited for Stone to sniff around for the perfect spot to do his thing, he gathered more wood for the fire.
His stomach growled with hunger, and he wished he’d packed some of Anna’s home-baked sweet potato dog treats. They were made from real sweet potatoes, which made them perfectly edible for people too.
But he hadn’t. Nor had he packed a tent or any of the other items he’d normally have for an overnight stay in the forest. The good news was that he had brought the sat phone along, although in truth, he’d only packed it because he’d planned to search the mountainside for more debris related to his parents’ plane crash.
So much for being prepared for anything, he thought grimly.
There hadn’t been time to get more gear, though, not after the way Decker had kidnapped Ginny. Given the same set of circumstances, he knew he’d instantly head out without the extra gear again.
When Stone had finished doing his thing, he accompanied the dog back to camp. As his K9 stretched out next to Ginny, he took up a position on the dog’s other side.
