“I’m sure,” Zina said firmly. “Iwantyou to sleep.”
She was surprised at the depth of feeling that rose up within her.Yes, he should sleep. He should let us take care of him.
She blinked.Was that – finally – my antelope coming back?
The little flash of instinct had been the strongest impression she’d had of it for some time now. Not being able to sense it didn’t worry her – she was used enough to the effects of the serum by now – but it was ahugerelief to have it back. Maybe now she wouldn’t feel the need to obfuscate so much with Trent. After so long undercover, the habit of secrecy just wasn’t easy to break, even with someone she trusted.
“Okay,” Trent said, after only a moment longer of hesitation. “To be honest, I could probably use the rest. I don’t want to get sloppy, after all. I’ll go have a shower, we can make a quick something to eat, and then I’ll take a rest. But you be sure to wake me up the moment you get even an inkling something’s not right, yeah?”
Zina nodded. “Okay. It’s a deal.”
She glanced over her shoulder as Trent disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. A moment later and she heard the shower spray start up, and Zina bit her lip, tryingnotto imagine him in there, all naked and wet, slowly running a bar of soap over his shoulders, his pecs, his –
Okay! Distraction time!
Jumping up, Zina grabbed the cooler they’d bought and packed with food, pulling out bread, margarine, cheese, sliced ham, and various vegetables.
I’ll make us a salad and a ham sandwich! That’ll take my mind off things.
Zina focused just as hard as she could on putting together dinner for them, chopping the vegetables in a way that was onlyslightlymanic, and buttering the bread in a notcompletelyfrantic way.
She’d gotten so absorbed in it all that she didn’t realize Trent had emerged from the shower again until she jumped at the sound of his voice behind her.
“Wow. Looks great. And I sure could eat.”
Zina whipped around, still holding the butter knife.
“Oh – well, it’s nothing fancy, but it’ll get us through until tomorrow morning. Take a seat and I’ll bring it over.”
Zina turned back to her creation, hoping Trent would think she just wasn’t that great of a cook and didn’t care about presentation as the reason for the state of the unevenly sliced carrot, the virtually destroyed lettuce, and the cucumbers that looked like they’d been run through a shredder. At least the sandwiches looked okay – bread, after all, hid a multitude of sins.
Arranging them as nicely as she could on some party plates, Zina turned back to Trent.
“Okay!” she said, holding the plates out. “Dinner is –”
She cut herself off mid-sentence, as she realized that Trent, though he was sitting propped up against the headboard of the bed, was also completely and utterly fast asleep.
She blinked.
“Uh, hello? Trent?” she said softly – but he didn’t even stir the slightest bit. His arms were resting limp by his sides, his head tilted back, eyes completely closed. As she stared at him, the tiniest of snores emerged from his slightly open mouth.
Oh. Well. I guess this is all for me, then.
Inexplicably, Zina felt a wave of… of…tendernesswelling up inside her as she looked at Trent’s sleeping face.
What? No – that can’t be right.
She shook her head. She didn’t have time for that kind of nonsense. She was here on amission.And she’d never felt anything like that before in her life, for anyone or anything.
Except, of course, the eggs she’d saved.
Swallowing, Zina sat down and shovedwaytoo much ham sandwich into her mouth, chewing with ferocity.
The eggs were a different case – they weredefenseless,and they’d been in Hargreaves’s clutches. Trent, as he’d amply demonstrated, was completely capable of taking care of himself. And he was a fully grown – in fact, somewhatover-grown – man.
Zina pushed the thought from her mind. She’d deal with all this confusion once the eggs were safely dropped off at the sanctuary. Until then, her feelings had to take a backseat.
She must have beenveryhungry, because she wolfed down both sandwiches and washed it all down with a carton of iced coffee all the salad she’d made before she’d even noticed – and she still felt slightly hungry even then.
