They paddled leisurely for another fifteen minutes until they finally came upon a location with an easy pull-out spot but that was also up away from the riverbank in case it rained. Once on dry land, Corrie tossed her life jacket to the ground and squeezed the water out of her hair. Every part of her was soaked. Including her ego.
“Jon, would you mind tossing me my bag?” she asked as Jon and Memo unpacked their things. She turned around to face the boat and then immediately froze, her mouth dropping at the sight of Ford on the other side, lifting his waterlogged shirt off his body.
Andoh... my... fucking... God. Ford wasn’tbuiltfor adventures. Fordwasthe adventure.
Corrie had been with lots of attractive guys. But they were always more of theOh, good, he looks like his profile pickind of guys. The ones who didn’t disappoint when they walked into the bar or restaurant for the date. But she’d never been with a guy who’d caused her to stare. Or drool.
Which was exactly what Ford was doing to her right now.
She couldn’t pull her eyes away. Instead, they shifted from his shoulders to his pecs, then to his biceps, followed by his abs.Each area well defined. Smooth, with a little smattering of hair on his chest. Toned and muscular, but not too bulky. He clearly spent time in the gym, but not all his time.
Why? Why did she have to be attracted to him? Of all people.
“Um, Dr. Mejía?” Jon said, finally tearing her attention away from Ford’s physique. “I don’t... I don’t see your bag. In fact, there are only three dry bags and the equipment and food bags.”
“What?!”
She ran over to the raft and started sorting through the packs.No, no, no!Her bag was gone, and with it, the tent that had been strapped to it.
“It’s got to be somewhere,” Ford said, slinging the wet shirt over his shoulder with aslapas it made contact with his skin. Couldn’t he put it back on? Did he have to torture her at this exact moment?
Corrie’s eyes narrowed at Ford. This was his fault. “Well, it’s not. I told you to secure the bags.”
“You’re going to blamemefor this? I saved your life!”
Corrie scoffed. “Again, I didn’t need your help.”
Ford stared blankly at her. “You really can’t accept it, can you? Accept that sometimes you need help from others?”
“Well, in case you haven’t noticed, in this instance you have done the opposite of help me. Now I don’t have any clothesora tent for tonight.”
“Like you think any of the three of us would actually let you sleep without a tent.” He rolled his eyes. He then reached for his own bag, yanked off the tent strapped to the side, and tossed it at Corrie. “You can have mine. I’ll sleep by the fire. At least that will give you one less thing to complain about.”
Complain?She opened her mouth to protest, but he stormedoff, taking with him the rest of the equipment. Jon and Memo stood silent, clearly not knowing how to respond. But, frankly, as she looked at the tent in her hands, neither did Corrie.
Sure, she was pissed that her bag was gone, though luckily most of her belongings were still at the main camp. But... hehadrescued her, whether she’d wanted him to or not. And hedidhand over his tent. Why was she being so hard-nosed? Why was she letting him get to her?
They set up the camp, and Jon, Memo, and Corrie pitched their tents as Ford started a fire. The small individual tents didn’t have much room, but at least they were easy to put together. Jon and Memo had resumed their pre-rapids conversation about the World Series.
“Here,” Ford said, standing over her as she crouched next to her tent, tacking down the rainfly. In his hand was a wad of fabric.
“What’s that?”
“A long-sleeved T-shirt and some boxers. I don’t have much but thought you might want to change out of those clothes for the night.”
She hesitated for a moment, with the urge to decline on the tip of her tongue. But, much to her surprise—and his—she took the clothes. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” He didn’t wait any longer before heading back to the fire.
The evening was calm, much calmer than the day had been. Corrie and Ford let Jon and Memo do all the talking as they sat and ate their dinner in silence. Ford had been smart enough, at least, to bring a flask. They passed that around, allowing Corrie to take the edge off. After Jon and Memo went to sleep, Corrie and Ford sat by the fire in continued silence, their eyes neverconnecting. What was there to say, really? Practically every time they opened their mouths they got into an argument. That was the real problem. Corrie wasn’t talked out. She was argued out.
Despite the lack of conversation and eye contact, however, Corrie’s body was on high alert, reacting to every one of Ford’s subtle movements. The flex of muscles in his forearms. The crack of his neck when he stretched. The pop of his lips when he took a nip from the flask. He handed over the flask without words, and she brought the small copper container to her mouth, soaking in the heavy rye scent. Would she ever be able to enjoy rye again without associating it with him?
She sighed to herself. Dammit. She loved rye now.
A rumbling sound came from behind them, likely from a paca or some other nocturnal animal, tearing their attention to the forest.Well, this is going to make for a fun night.Hopefully there weren’t any actual jaguars in this part of the jungle. Sightings were rare in the Lacandon Jungle, but the giant ferns and wild elephant-ear plants surrounding them made the perfect habitat for them to stalk their camp overnight.
They both turned back to face the fire, catching each other’s gazes for the briefest of moments. The flames were reflected in his glasses, but beyond them, a sadness hid behind his eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, to tell him this was silly, but he quickly tore his gaze away from her and resumed his fire entrancement. The croaks from the frogs, the babble from the river nearby, and the hoots and calls from the other forest creatures couldn’t compete with the deafening silence between them. Yesterday was all but a distant memory at this point.
