Page 28 of His Hawaiian Heart
I didn’t even bother to attempt to come up with some clever response. “The name, and I’m not even sure I pronounced that correctly.”
She shook her head but she didn’t appear upset. If anything, she seemed curious or perhaps that adjective just came to mind because I’d watched her in her own element for hours now. I straightened from the crouch I’d maintained while watching the caterpillar and groaned. Every joint from my waist down was protesting the fact I’d not moved in quite some time. Once I was standing, I moved across to the rock Samantha had chosen as herchair while she’d written what I thought must be data about the discovery in her notebook.
“Stiff?”
I arched my eyebrow and watched a flush move up her neck to settle across her cheeks, highlighting the freckles peppered across them as well as the bridge of her nose. I knew she was fighting to keep her gaze on my face and not let it drop a couple of feet south. It wasn’t a look I was used to observing when with a woman, but if I’d not learned anything else today, I’d learned Samantha was unlike any woman I’d ever known.
Though I could think of so many ways to answer that question, I chose the one I thought she’d least expect to hear. “I don’t see how you can’t be.”
Surprise lit her eyes, followed by amusement. “I think the jury is still out on that. I’m used to bending, kneeling, and sitting for long periods without moving. But I’m pretty sure I’m going to feel a bit stiff tomorrow after spreading my legs so wide all day.”
Okay, I was definitely being tested here. I’d tried to spare her any embarrassment, but a man could only be expected to do so much, however, I still wanted to get points for doing so. “I can understand that if you’re not used to riding, especially going bareback. That requires an entirely different kind of control in order not to slip out.”
If I’d expected a gold star, I was sadly disappointed. My reward wasn’t even a smile. Nope, I got a snort and then another even though Samantha slapped her hand over her mouth to keep them contained. Shaking my head, I dropped down on the rock beside her, not bothering to attempt to wipe off the leaves, sticks, and dirt from its surface because she hadn’t seen it necessary to do so.
When she finally got herself under control, she turned to me. “Sorry, but you are just too easy.”
“Easy?” I repeated with a tone of surprise in my voice because I could honestly say never before had that attribute been directed at me. “I’m afraid I’m going to need more data, Doctor, as I’ve been informed I’m a man who is rather opposite of easy. I’m often seen as quite hard…”
If I’d thought I’d heard Samantha laugh before, those instances had merely been a prelude to what I was now hearing. Her glee was sudden and loud enough to cause the bird above us to stop mid-chirp and to have McNut lift his head and turn it in our direction. She was bent forward, her arms wrapped around her waist as she physically shook with amusement. I couldn’t do anything except wait and listen and, well, and smile.
“Sorry,” she managed a few minutes later.
“Are you sure you’re done? I don’t want you to choke on this.” I held up the bottle of water I’d pulled from the backpack during her laughing fit.
She let out a small laugh and I saw she had actual tears on her cheeks. Without thought, I brushed my thumb over her flesh to wipe first one and then another away.
“Thank you,” she said when I was satisfied there’d be no more and those had come from humor and not sadness.
“You’re welcome, baby.” I twisted the cap off the bottle but hesitated to hand it over. “Seriously though, can you drink without being set off again?”
She smiled and shrugged. “That depends.”
“On?” I prompted when she didn’t appear ready to offer more.
“On if you can stop saying words like ‘stiff,’ ‘hard,’ ‘control,’ and ‘slipping out’.”
I grinned until I actually heard that last word. “I didn’t say, ‘out,’ I said ‘off’. Meaning off the horse?”
She shook her head. “You might have wanted to say that, but you definitely said, ‘out’.”
Had I? Well, hell, no wonder she’d declared me easy. I took a swig from the bottle.
“Hey! That’s mine!”
This woman was driving me batty and I liked it. “Baby, if we can swap spit, we can share a drink.” I handed her the bottle, loving the fact her cheeks flushed again. As I watched her drink, I thought about her list of words, and considered another. “How about ‘baby’? Should I stop saying that?”
Her throat contracted as she swallowed the water, and she was slow to lower the bottle from her lips which curled into the prettiest smile I’d ever been graced with. “No, that’s one word that I don’t believe I’ll ever want you to stop using with me.”
Pleasure that had nothing to do with any sexual release shot through me. I leaned forward, slipped my hand behind her to cup her head and bent down to press my forehead to hers. “I’m very glad to hear that, baby.”
“That’s him!”
The exclamation brought me back to the camp. Though I was too far away to see the pages being viewed, I’d been stunned to discover Sam was not only intelligent on a level far surpassing mine, she was an extremely skilled artist.
“These are truly amazing.”
I had to agree with Katrina as she looked at the notebook being passed around by the scientists. Of course, she meant the drawings Sam had made while I meant Sam herself.
