“Only a few seconds. You seemed like you could use a hand,” he said.
“Well, here…help me tie this down.”
They circled the van, tossing the rope back and forth and looping it through the rack to secure the load.
“Why are you the one doing all this?” he asked.
“The driver got annoyed when I told him he’d smashed my chips, so he said he’d like to see ifIcould do a better job, and what was I supposed to do? Can’t decline a challenge.”
Rafa snickered. Of course. “And the chips?”
“Did you happen to see how many times I dropped the bags? I’m fairly certain they’re nothing but dust at this point. But it’s the principle that counts,” she said, pointing toward the sky with a cute and unintentionally sexy smile.
She finished securing the bags, then looked around, apparently searching for a way to dismount. “Here,” he said, reaching his hand up to hers. “I’ve got you.”
She ticked her head to the side with another smile. “Are youmaking fun of me?” She scooted toward the edge of the van and placed her hands on Rafa’s shoulders.
“Of course not,” he said, reaching his hands to her waist. “Just don’t…let…go.” His exaggerated grunts could barely hold in his laughter as he easily lifted her down from the van, her own snickering unable to be controlled. Her boots hit the ground as she buried her laughter in his chest, and Rafa looked down at her, her sapphire eyes staring back at him from behind her yellow-framed glasses. “Morning, Pringles.”
“Hi,” she said in an almost whisper as her cheeks turned a brighter shade of red.
“Hi.” It came out like the words of a person in a drunken stupor, but how else could Rafa explain the emotions overcoming him? Lost in the sapphire sea of her gaze, forgetting all the things he told himself about staying away from her.
The space between their bodies closed a fraction of an inch, sending a heat wave over his skin and pulling him out of his fog. He released his hold on her like she was a hot potato…which, come to think of it, wasn’t a bad assessment. But he hadn’t yet popped the top of this hot little can of Pringles. He still had a chance to stop before he did something he couldn’t take back.
“So, uh…what’s the plan today?” he asked, clearing his throat and taking a few steps back. “I got the memo under my door saying to be packed and ready by nine a.m.”
She smoothed her clothing out, then responded, “We’re heading into the rainforest to an eco-resort called Florestacasa. It will be our new base camp for a few weeks.”
Hmm…eco-resortandbase campdidn’t exactly sound compatible. It also wasn’t on the itinerary as of last night. No, the schedule Anissa had handed out had them staying at the Hoteldos Sonhos for another three nights before their first trek into the rainforest.
How was he supposed to keep the team off the trail if he didn’t know where they’d be going?
“Funny, but I didn’t imagine I’d be glamping on this expedition,” he said.
“I use the termresortrather loosely. Imagine rustic cabins on stilts.”
“Cabins don’t exactly sound like we’re going to be roughing it.”
“We’re only moving the jumping-off point. Once we have a better sense of where we’re going, we’ll be in the rainforest.”
“Any particular reason we’re starting somewhere new?”
“I…I, uh, stayed up late doing research last night and think we need to start closer to Serra da Mocidade. And I found a resort that’s a few hours’ boat ride downriver on the Rio Branco from Caracaraí that’s got plenty of availability due to the impending rainy season, so they cut me a deal.”
Serra da Mocidade? Shit. How had she figured that out?
Rafa was going to be sick.
“I thought we were heading west? That’s what Quinn said last night,” he said.
Despite having tuned it out a few minutes earlier, his father’s warning had been loud and clear. Rafa hadn’t thought he had anything to worry about. Not with the original route Quinn had told him about over drinks.
“We are,” she said, as she started to walk back toward the hotel. “But my…research is pointing us more northwest toward Serra da Mocidade, so we’re changing course a bit.”
Rafa trailed behind her, trying to keep up. No, no, no, this wasn’t supposed to happen.
Rafa needed to fix this, and he needed to fix it fast.
