“I mean, thesexwas incredible...” He flashed that sexy smile. “But I was referring to everything else. Thank you for making me feel better... for not leaving me to stew in my mind by myself.”
“Anytime.”
“Really?Anytime?”
Uh-oh. That simple one-word question held a lot of meaning. Ford wasn’t simply asking her if he could give her a callwhenever he was down. No, his inflection signaled he was asking if there was something more to their situation. Something more than what was happening in the jungle.
As if he was curious about what might happen once they left.
Shit. Ford was developing feelings, too.
“Yep!” she said, leaning to kiss his forehead and shimmying out of his grasp. “Except for right now because I should get going before it gets too late.”
Like a Tasmanian devil, Corrie tore through the tent, Ford sitting on the bed all the while, silently laughing to himself as he also got ready, though with much less chaos. With a flick of her wrists, she twisted her hair into a high, messy bun, then squatted to lace her boots.
“You know you can admit it,” Ford said, zipping his pants next to her.
“Admit what?” she asked, cocking her head to the side as she looked at him.
“Admit that you like me. You don’t need to run off like that.”
“I told you... I don’t want anyone to see me—”
As she stood from her crouched position, Ford pulled her into his arms and planted a kiss on her lips. And in an instant, Corrie’s body turned into goo. She let him take her. Take all of her. Giving in to his kiss.
She melted into his arms, completely lacking any ability to pull away. She didn’t need to say the words—her actions told him everything he needed to know. She liked him. A lot. If each passing minute didn’t increase the odds that they’d get caught, she would have pushed him back on that bed and torn off the clothes she’d spent so much time searching for.
Their lips pulled apart, and he stared at her with a smarmy grin.
“I hate you,” she said, her lips pursed into a smile.
“I know you do.” He planted another quick kiss on her lips and sat back on the edge of the bed to put on his shoes. “You’d better get going before someone sees you,” he said, giving her a light tap on the ass.
Corrie couldn’t help but smile. But as she turned to leave, a rapping came from the outside of the tent.
“Ford? Ford, are you awake?”
Ford and Corrie froze at the sound of Ethan’s voice. They glanced at each other, assessing the situation. Both had on clothes. And it wasn’tsuperobvious what Corrie was doing there. So she shrugged, giving him unspoken approval to answer.
“Yeah, come on in, Ethan,” Ford called out.
Corrie braced herself for the inevitable confusion on Ethan’s face. Three, two, one...
“Hey...” he said, wrinkling his brow at the sight of the two of them together so early in the morning and halting in place. “What’s going on?”
Ford finished tying his boot and popped up from the bed. “Corrie came by to discuss today’s plan.”
“Never took you for much of a morning person,” Ethan said to her. The skepticism in Ethan’s voice couldn’t be missed.
“I’d like to finish this dig before Christmas, that’s all,” Corrie retorted. If there was one thing that couldn’t be questioned, it was Corrie’s sass.
“What is it, Ethan?” Ford cut in, clearly trying to draw attention from Corrie’s presence in his tent in the wee morning hour.
Ethan’s eyes lingered on Corrie for another second, clearly not buying their act, but a moment later he turned his attention back toward Ford. “We’ve got a problem.”
“What sort of problem?”
“You might want to come with me.” He didn’t wait before exiting the tent, leaving Corrie and Ford to exchange glances. Even though he’d only come for Ford, they both followed.
