“You would have to—”
“Not that this is any of your business, but…” She raised a hand and closed her eyes for three long seconds. “Between my IUD and the cold, I haven’tmenstruatedin months.”
“Good.” He nodded once. “Then that’s done.”
After that, they ate in silence, eyes on their bowls. Focused on nothing but filling their bellies.
Except it wasn’t just that and he knew it. The food was good in a way that fed his starved soul, too. Which was possibly the crux of his whole issue with this woman. Coop, who’d never had a mom and never been too sad about it, wasn’t a man to wish for anything. Ever. He had what he had and worked hard to get what he wanted. Which was mostly peace and quiet.
But here, across from a woman who was the antithesis of everything he’d ever known, who’d fed him food that burst with flavor and worked as hard as any soldier he’d ever fought beside, he let himself wish—for just a second or two—that he could be the man who made her laugh.
Chapter 15
Day 1—302 Miles to Volkov Station—21 Days of Food Remaining
The door flew open and Ford stomped inside. “Time to go.”
“Yes. Right. Okay.” Groggy from lack of sleep, Angel pulled on another pair of socks, planted her feet on the floor, and tested them. Would she even be able to ski with her crap knee?
Yeah. If there was one thing being in that ice tunnel had shown her, it was that she’d walk, ski, crawl, or whatever the hell else she needed to do in order to get through this.
Ford was different somehow. She couldn’t say exactly what it was, but there was something younger-looking about him. Even tense as he was, he seemed more approachable. Had exhaustion rounded off his edges? Or maybe the five o’clock shadow on his perpetually clean-shaven face made him look more human. The dark blond hairs glinted along his square-cut jaw, looking rough as sandpaper.
Drowsy from exhaustion, she stood and hobbled a few steps closer to him before she realized that she couldn’t just stroke his face out of the blue, despite their physical closeness earlier.
Jesus, woman. Snap out of it. And whatever you do, don’t touch the wildlife.
Except he wasn’t an animal, was he? He was a bit of a weirdo, for sure, but weren’t they all, in their own individual ways? Especially at Pole. The place attracted some pretty odd characters.
As she’d finished getting their food together, she’d spent way too much time thinking of the way this man had looked when she’d asked about his mama teaching him manners.
No, he’d said. Which meant what? Had his mother not been there for him? Had she not taught him to saypleaseandthank you? Or the possibility she kept coming back to—had there been no mother at all in Dr. Ford Cooper’s life?
And why, oh why, did that make her want to hug him when nothing the man did saidtake me in your arms. He was pretty much the definition of standoffish. And yet…
“Here.” He held out a couple protein bars and her face heated when their gazes met, as if he could read her thoughts. “Eat.”
She opened her mouth to tell him she’d just eaten and she wasn’t hungry and maybe he could cool the bossy thing. Thinking better of it, she grabbed them and put them in her pocket. No point protesting when he was right.
Hewasthe boss now after all.
“You okay?”
Surprised that he’d ask this—or even wonder it—she thought about her reply. “Scared, I guess.”
He nodded. “Your nose better?”
She touched it lightly. Not broken, she didn’t think, though it was still a little sore. With her coat on, she slipped mittens over her inner gloves, stepped into her pants, and drew a ski mask over her head. “Are you? Scared, I mean.”
He stopped chewing his protein bar, looked to the side for a second, as expressionless as a robot searching its motherboard for some elusive data, then shocked the hell out of her by saying, “Yes.” It came out in a voice she’d never heard him use before. It was a toss-up as to whether the admission sent more fear running through her or relief that she wasn’t the only one. “But we’ll be fine,” he added, back to himself again.
She sucked in a deep breath, comforted. If he said they’d be fine, then they would be—
And then he ruined it. “I mean, there’s a chance we’ll make it.”
“A chance.” She glared at him, then compressed her lips into a semblance of a smile. “Great. Good. That’s… Thanks.” She pulled her ski mask over her face to keep from adding something snarky. He was just being honest.
With a breath in, she followed him outside and looked up at the massive, bright-red snow plow, waiting for them on the ice. “So this is our ride, huh?”
