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If only he was here now so she could tell him that she loved him one more time. If only she could tell him how much she respected him. If only she could tell her big brother that he’d been the best role model a girl could ask for. Tough. Honest. But alwayswith that hint of pride in his eyes when he spoke about her, even when he was giving her hell.
It was probably a strange notion to think she couldn’t afford to waste water on tears when they threatened. Moisture gathered in her eyes anyway. She blinked them away. Dehydration kept them to a minimum anyway.
Out of what felt like nowhere, Knox slipped into the makeshift camp as Lorna stretched. Someone followed closely behind Knox. The larger man’s frame blocking her view.
Based on the look on Knox’s face, she could venture a guess as to who he was bringing back. Amy took her friend’s hand and squeezed. At least one person would be happy to see the person Knox brought back with him.
Lorna’s eyes opened, she looked momentarily confused, and then her gaze shifted to Knox and his guest. She gasped. “Donnie.”
The woman scrambled out of the hammock so fast she almost tipped it over and dumped Amy onto the ground. Arms and legs splayed, Amy kept balance as Lorna practically dove at Donnie once she was free.
He caught her and held her tight. A lump formed in Amy’s throat. Maybe what they had was the real thing. In Amy’s opinion, Lorna could do better, butwho was she to judge, considering her own nonexistent dating life?
At this point in her life, career took center stage. Being here with her life hanging in the balance changed all that to one simple act…live to see another day.
“How did you…?” Lorna’s gaze bounced from Donnie to Knox and back.
“This dude showed up and knew who I was,” Donnie supplied, wiping mud from his face. “I didn’t even see him coming. He was suddenly there beside me, and then I was eating mud.”
Lorna shot a look at Knox, who replied, “I had to disarm him first. He didn’t know who I was and I didn’t have the patience to be stabbed, should he decide to fight first and ask questions later.”
His response seemed to pacify Lorna. Although, she didn’t look thrilled.
Too bad. She wasn’t in a position to judge the actions Knox took, which, by the way, seemed completely logical to Amy.
And another thing, for someone who’d been lost in the jungle longer than Amy, Donnie looked surprisingly hydrated and rested.
With the awkwardness of a fish on shore, trying to get back to the sea, Amy forced her way out of the hammock. She walked over to Donnie. “What the hell happened to you?”
Donnie shrugged but a look of guilt washed over his features. “I shouted for you to follow me, but when I finally stopped, you were nowhere to be found.”
“So, you didn’t see the pair of men with guns chasing me when you split off?” Amy asked with a little more heat in her voice than intended. There were plenty of sounds in the jungle to have muffled his voice but his explanation didn’t ring true. An excuse? He’d had time to practice. Was that what he planned to tell Lorna when he showed up at base camp without her best friend?
“I’m just happy both of you survived,” Lorna interjected before Donnie could muster another response.
He turned to Knox.
“Any chance you have any food?” he asked.
“We’ll be back to base camp by nightfall.” Knox checked his watch, annoyed. “We should pack up and head that way to take advantage of what little light we have.”
Growing up in Texas, Amy believed she’d seen it all when it came to weather. Starting off the day with eighty-five-degree temps before a storm rolled in dropping temps forty degrees in a matter of an hour or so? Check. Waking up to dark gray, rolling, ominous clouds that blew in every possible allergen from the west to end up sunbathing by noon? Yes.
Folks saidif you don’t like Texas weather, stick around five minutes…it’ll change.They had no clue how drastic weather could be.
The jungle could be filled with noises so loud she felt like she was in a crowded stadium with a popular rock band on stage, blaring music. And then there’d be nothing but the sounds of driving rain.
At this point, though, Amy wished for a hot shower and clean, dry clothes. A toothbrush would be the most incredible thing. Did she dare to hope they’d make it back in time to sleep in a real bed tonight? Hell, she’d take an air mattress at this point. Anything to keep her off the ground and away from the critters lurking there.
Then she caught Knox’s stare and realized things were going to get a whole lot worse before they got better.
“Pack up,”Knox said to everyone. He had suspicions about Donnie that he wasn’t ready to voice out loud.
Amy helped while Lorna dragged her feet, clinging to her boyfriend. Donnie peeled her hands off him a couple of times, which seemed odd for someone who’d almost died and was supposed to be in love. Wouldn’t he want to keep Lorna as close as possible? Keep a constant physical connection.
Knox had an overwhelming urge to protect Amy, to touch her. Dirty from the crown of her head to her toes, she’d curled up to him last night, but the last thing on his mind had been pushing her away. There were a few thoughts of getting even dirtier rolling around in the mud together. But they were quickly tempered by what else waited outside the mosquito net and on the ground.
This wasn’t the place for sex.
