Inside the tent, Camellia was moving around doing whatever women did. He reviewed her question. Had it been hard? Yeah,ithad been hard all night, and he’d barely slept. And he liked her more every minute he spent with her, and he’d told her he had no interest in getting involved, and that was the only reason she’d trusted him.
She trusted him.
And she had a stalker ex that made trusting difficult. He wasnotgoing to betray that.
She’d only agreed to come with him because he’d assured her sex was the last thing on his mind. If she woke up with a log poking her in the thigh, he figured she’d hightail it home and leave him on his own.
And he just wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her.
So, he did the only thing he could think of that was guaranteed not to send her into retreat. He made coffee, sat in his stubby camp chair to watch it brew, and kept his thoughts to himself.
Camellia emerged from the tent just as the percolator got to bubbling a light caramel color. She’d zipped up her jacket and pulled up its hood. “Five more minutes,” she said with a nod at the coffeepot. “Here.”
She handed him a jumbo-sized granola bar and an orange.
“Breakfast of champions,” he said. “Thanks.”
“Hm.” She sat in her chair and began peeling her fruit.
He opened his granola bar and figured he didn’t have to talk and risk screwing this up as long as he was eating, so he took his time and chewed slowly.
She said, “There were clues in that passage from your mom’s journal. The day she found Sage’s shack. I went back through it and made some notes.”
Her voice was a little lower than usual, he thought, and the cadence of her words didn’t have their usual lilt or underlying smile. “When did you have time to do that?”
“I stayed up a while. When I got up to pee.”
“How did I not—?” And suddenly his blood went cold. “Did I do something out of line? I swear, if I did, I wasn’t awake. It wasn’t on purpose.”
She was just looking at him, expressionless, unblinking.
“Hell,” he said. “Camellia, I’m?—”
“You didn’t lay a finger on me, Wolf. Relax. Your honor is intact.” Then she hitched her chin and said, “Coffee’s done.”
“I got it.” He turned off the burner and reached for the two tin cups that matched the pot.
“Might as well fill the travel mugs,” Camellia said. “We can get an early start.”
Yeah, she was pissed. And he had no idea why. He filled their travel mugs, put on the caps, and handed hers over. “You’re good at this detective stuff,” he said. “I didn’t notice any clues in the journal.”
She didn’t say anything, just tilted her head to acknowledge she’d heard him and set off walking.
CHAPTER NINE
Camellia
Camellia took the lead, and she knew her pace was too fast to sustain, but she was walking off some frustration. A couple of times lately, she’d felt something, seen something in Wolf’s eyes when they met hers, and then that kiss…
And yet last night, he’d acted like a fourth-grader who thought girls had cooties. He’d been stiff and guarded. Even when she’d snuggled up to let him know it was okay.
Jerk.
Fine. She didn’t need his validation.
She hadn’t needed his rejection either, though.
Whatever.
