Page 17 of Promise of a New Beginning
“No. It won’t hold me over. Now I’ll be like this all day.”
She loved the way the muscles in his arms twitched when he was nervous, and the way he held her possessively, as if he couldn’t stand the idea of her walking away.
“Well, I can’t exactly help you with that now, can I?” she teased.
Jack began pacing again.
“Why are you so twitchy?” she asked.
“I’m not twitchy,” he barked.
“Horny?” she teased.
He stopped pacing and stared at her.
“I guess two years is a really long time,” she said.
“I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t know what I want. No. I do know what I want, but…” He lifted his eyebrows flirtatiously.
“Stop.” She laughed. Inside she was jumping up and down, silently cheering,Yes! Oh, yes!She glanced back at the camp and noticed that everyone’s backpacks were sealed up tight and they were milling around, probably waiting for her and Jack so they could get started on their activities for the day. None of them were looking their way, though, so she doubted they’d seen them kiss.
“We have to go,” Jack said.
“Jack, I know you have a job to do here, and I don’t want to get in your way.”
“You can’t get in my way,” he said with a cold tone.
She felt her face fall.
“I’m sorry. See? I’m frustrated and I’m going to be a jerk to you. I know I am. I don’t remember how not to be.” He touched her arm, then dropped his hand. “I gotta stop touching you.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and then pulled them out quickly.
“Jack.” She could see him working himself up into a frenzy. As an attorney, she’d seen it with her clients a million times. When they were pulled out of the attitudes they wore like shields, the feelings they’d hidden for so long wreaked havoc with their emotions and sent them into the same frenetic state.
“I’m sorry if—” he began.
“Jack.”
“I don’t mean to—”
“Jack!” she said firmly.
He opened his mouth to speak, and she touched his cheek, forcing him to stop trying to talk and focus on her.
“You’re not going to be a jerk to me because I won’t let you.” Startled at her own vehemence, she wondered why she’d been so weak with Connor when she could be so strong for Jack.
He stared down at her with a serious face. “We’ll talk?”
“I’m counting on it.”And so is my body.
Chapter Eleven
THEY BEGAN THE morning with a three-mile hike along the side of the mountain. Jack had talked for the first mile and a half about the importance of finding the right spot for building a shelter. He described what to look for in adverse weather conditions, showed them how to choose a location that appeared free of animal dens, and taught them the dangers of not being aware of their environments, warning them to look for branches in danger of falling and rotten tree trunks. When he spoke, his eyes were drawn to Savannah. She looked even more gorgeous than she had earlier that morning. Her cheeks were flushed from the steep incline they’d ascended, and her hair had gotten mussed as she ducked under branches. Jack was relieved that the guilt that had gnawed at him hadn’t returned.
Jack led them back down the mountain flanked by Aiden and Pratt. Pratt had on another dark T-shirt and the same black tuque he’d worn since he arrived. Lou walked on Aiden’s other side, while the women chatted behind them. He’d been counting down the hours until Savannah would be in his arms again, and as consuming as that thought was, every time he looked at Pratt he felt a need to get through to him. His brooding eyes reminded Jack so much of his younger brother Sage that he couldn’t leave him to deal with his trouble on his own.
Based on his experience with his own brothers, Jack was pretty sure there was no way that Pratt would talk about whatever was bothering him. He hoped that he might find a roundabout way to eke it out of him. He hated to see such a young man so angry all the time. It was one thing to have lost the woman you loved, but quite a different thing to just be angry at the world. He was mulling over the right approach when Aiden broke the silence.
“When I grow up, I’m gonna be a survivor man, too,” Aiden said.
