Page 60 of Enticing Her Love

“I’ll always have your back, Steele. Even when you’re furious with me for throwing out your crackers and coffee.”

“You don’t mess with a woman’s snacks or caffeine.”

“So I’ve learned.” This time when their gazes met, there was a hum of a different kind. One of trust and friendship. He was glad that had remained. As they watched the clips and chatted about their trip, he was just as taken with her on-the-fly reporting as he’d been in the rainforest. “That right there is your calling.”

“Risking my life every second with my ornery boss slash cameraman?”

He’d prefer it that way. They made a great team, and it was a lot more enjoyable watching her in action without any preparation. “If that’s what it takes to get you to report like that? Hell yes.”

“You see that much of a difference?”

“Don’t you?”

“I don’t know. I’m my own worst critic. I was in a heightened state of anxiety and excitement. I feel like I did a good job, but I also kind of look like I’m on speed.”

“No, you don’t.” He laughed. “You were unscripted. You look excited and interested with a reasonable amount of fear, which makes it authentic.”

She looked at him for a long moment, her gaze warm and reminiscent. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

Yeah, well, you mean a lot to me. “I’m just being honest.”

They continued watching. When they came to the clip with the tamarin monkeys, she gasped and smacked his leg. “Did you see that? Stop the video!”

He paused it, forcing himself to keep a straight face. “What?”

“Go back.” She frantically motioned with her hand for him to hurry as he rewound the video. “Stop! Right there!” She pointed to a big cat sleeping on a branch a good distance behind her. “Is that a jaguar? That’s a jaguar. Ohmygod. We could’ve been killed!”

He chuckled. “It’s an ocelot, and it’s sleeping.”

“Did you know it was there? Did you see it when you were filming?”

“Yes.”

She smacked his leg again, looking appalled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I knew you’d freak out, and that would’ve put us in danger.”

“We were in danger.”

“Ocelots don’t usually attack humans, and the fact that it was there meant its biggest threats, which are larger wild cats like jaguars and pumas, weren’t nearby.”

She shook her head, gaping at him. “You must have nerves of steel. You never gave me any indication that it was there.” Her brows knitted. “What else didn’t you tell me about?”

“Nothing that wouldn’t have put us in danger if you’d freaked out.”

“That means there was more,” she said angrily.

“Would it have been better if a wild cat had come after us or a snake had dropped out of a tree on you?”

“No. Could that have…? Never mind.” She shook her head and held her hand up. “Don’t tell me.”

“I’m sorry I kept a few things from you, but I was trying to keep us alive.”

“I know. I get it.” Her expression softened. “It just drives home a point I’ve been thinking about.”

“What point is that?”

“You’ve traveled all over the world and you’ve done crazy, dangerous things. It’ll probably sound stupid to you.”