Page 2 of Promise of a New Beginning
She glanced at Jack, and their eyes caught. Her smile faded; her green eyes narrowed. She was taller, curvier, and even more beautiful than he’d realized when he’d run into her at the airport.
Jack clenched his jaw. He cleared his throat and looked away, then continued.
“I’m Jack Remington, and I live on this land.” His eyes drifted toward Savannah and he paused, then looked away and began again. “I served eight years as a Special Forces officer with the United States Army. I can get you in and out of here alive if you listen and work together. Let’s keep the land clean and the attitudes friendly.”
His eyes swept over Savannah in one quick breath—a breath that carried hope rather than the breath that had carried the pain of loss when he’d left his home earlier that morning. She was tall and slim with auburn hair and a killer body.Too darn pretty.It took all his focus not to stare, and out of his peripheral vision, he watched her brush dirt from her jeans. He allowed his eyes to follow her hands as they stroked her lean thighs, and when she glanced up, he dropped his eyes to the ground.Cowgirl boots?He shifted his gaze back to the rest of the group, silently chiding himself for looking at her in the first place. How on earth was he going to keep himself from looking at that gorgeous woman?I must be losing my mind.
“Let’s get your bags. Then we’re going to hike up the mountain to base camp. If you need to go to the bathroom, the forest is your toilet.” He ran his eyes across the group, stopping short of Savannah to avoid getting lost in her again.
“Cool,” Aiden said.
“I think so.” Jack smiled at the wide-eyed boy. “I assume you all met on the plane? Got to know one another?”
“Yes, we introduced ourselves.” Lou pushed a wayward dreadlock from his shoulder. “Well, most of us, anyway.” He shot a look at Pratt.
Pratt stood with his hands in his jeans pockets, looking away from the group.Great. Another prick.Even as the words ran through his mind, he knew he shouldn’t be too quick to judge. Some people would consider Jack a jerk, too, and they’d be right. Some broken men were jerks, and that’s just the way it was. He made a mental note to try to talk to Pratt, but for now, he had to nip this crap in the bud.
He narrowed his gaze and spoke in his favorite cold voice—the one he usually reserved for beautiful women. He didn’t have time for them any more than he had time for a kid with a bad attitude.
“See those woods behind me?” He turned sideways, as if clearing a path for Pratt’s eyes to follow—which they didn’t. “There are bears, snakes, poisonous plants, and all sorts of scary stuff out there. You may find yourself in need of someone’s help, and if you’re a di—unkind—to the group, no one’s going to rescue you.” He crossed his arms. “I suggest you introduce yourself.”
Elizabeth and Lou exchanged a guarded glance. Then they each put a hand on Aiden’s shoulder.
Jack hadn’t caught his poor choice of words quickly enough. He knew he was being harsh, but bad attitudes caused accidents, and there was no room for accidents in his camp.
Pratt clenched his jaw and held Jack’s stare. His tall, lanky body was no match for six-four, two-hundred-thirty-pound Jack Remington, but the hurt and anger in Pratt’s eyes looked familiar, and Jack knew he wasn’t contemplating anything physical. A spear of guilt ran through him. There was no turning back now. He’d taken a hard line, and backing down would leave him in a position of lesser authority.
Savannah touched Pratt’s shoulder. She narrowed her beautiful green eyes and set them on Jack. Her smile remained on her lips, but behind the facade, he saw a challenge. His pulse sped up.
“Why don’t we just call him John for now?” she suggested in a firm, nonnegotiable tone.
What the heck are you doing and why?As he pondered her motives, he couldn’t help but notice the way her jeans clung to her lean legs and curved over her hips, then dipped in at the waist. And the blasted tank top she wore was now spotted with perspiration and clinging to her chest.
Look away. Look. Away.
His eyes would not listen to his mind, and he stared right back. “This is my show and I run it my way. He’s part of the team or he’s out,” Jack said.
Savannah took a step forward and pulled her shoulders back. “What are you going to do? Fly us all back to the airport and return our money?”
He met the challenge in her eyes with his own heated stare. “Yes.”
SAVANNAH’S CHEST CONSTRICTED, and a fist tightened in her stomach as jerky Jack Remington stared her down with his black-as-night eyes. He looked like Chris Hemsworth and acted like Alec Baldwin. A wild combination of sweet and bad boy that sent a flutter of sensual excitement through her. She was not going to look away. She’d gone up against meaner wolves than him in the courtroom. She crossed her arms and planted her legs like her brother Rex might do. She’d mastered the Braden stance for the courtroom and on the rare occasion of going head-to-head with some lowlife on the subway. She could do it just as well as her brothers, even if her legs were feeling a tad rubbery at the moment.
Remington didn’t budge. His face was a stone mask of clenched muscles and strength. Savannah felt the worried gaze of the others upon her. She was just about to give in when Pratt stepped forward.
“Pratt, okay? I’m Pratt Smith. Twenty-eight, an artist, and I’m here to…heck…I don’t know. Do something different for a few days. Now can we get on with it?” He looked away from the group.
Jack’s stare had not wavered from Savannah’s, and she knew that if she was the first to look away, just like in court, he’d win. She remained steadfast, though it was difficult not to allow her eyes to drift to the muscles that bulged in his arms.
Pratt picked up his backpack and headed for the woods. Jack grabbed Pratt’s arm and held tight, finally disengaging from his eye lock with Savannah.
“No one hits that trail ahead of me,” Jack said.
Savannah fumed. It was one thing to gain control of a situation and another to be a jerk all the time. Obviously, Pratt was going through something emotional. Why couldn’t ice-hearted Jack see that? Jack wasn’t her problem to fix, and by the sound of him, he needed a lot of fixing.I’m here to fix myself. That’s enough of a challenge.
“We have safety instructions to go over, itineraries, and guidelines. Settle down, and let’s get started.” For the next hour, Jack explained the danger of the mountains—including everything from wild animals and poisonous plants to treacherous cliffs and harsh weather. “You will each carry your gear and your tents. If you can’t carry them, you won’t have them to use. If you don’t like the food, then you’ll drop a few pounds while you’re here. Memorize the laws of three. A person can live only three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food. Got that?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Now, for the rules. Rule number one: Never put anything in your mouth without clearing it with me first. Rule number two…”
As he explained the guidelines, trail safety, trail hygiene, and other details Savannah was sure were important, she couldn’t concentrate. She couldn’t help but scrutinize their leader. He spoke with a deep, commanding voice—one that made her wonder what it might sound like in a dark bedroom. No matter who or what he looked at, whether it was one of the others in the group or a plant he was pointing out, his gaze was so intense that it made Savannah shiver. Attached to his belt was a long leather sheath with a black knife handle sticking out of the top.Danger.That’s what came to mind when Savannah looked at Jack Remington. Even as she drank in every inch of his rock-hard body, he never shifted his eyes in her direction. In fact, he hadn’t looked at her since the one quick inspection he’d given her when she’d first come around the plane. Savannah was used to men taking a second glance at her. At five nine, she was hard to miss, but to not even garner a second glance? That rubbed her in all the wrong ways.
