“Please, Jack. There’s no way I’m ending this hike early and letting you fly me out of here. So you might as well let me help you. I’ll do everything you say, I swear. But also, I insist.”
He purses his lips, eyes narrowing. I hold my breath as his boots take slow, crunching steps nearer.
“How are your head and your cheek?” His voice comes out softer while his soothing gaze flutters over my face.
I swallow the knot in my throat, my neck tilted up to peer into his eyes. “They’re fine,” I fib, not willing to admit the truth. But his scrutinizing gaze is like a hook, hauling a confession out of me. “But I could probably do with more pain medicine,” I add.
Another grunt rumbles out of his chest. He breaks eye contact, staring off into the distance for a few seconds before returning his glare to me.
“You do everything I say. We might need to take alternate routes every now and again. I’m not confronting these guys and risking putting you in danger. I’m sure they’ll follow us out, and I’ll make sure I have backup when we get to the North Rim. Youstay close to me, no matter what.” He declares, jaw muscles pulsing.
I have no problem with that.
“Yes, sir.” I roll my lips in, looking up at him from beneath my lashes and failing to hide the evidence of a rogue smile. His eyes do a heavy-lidded glance to the side as he shakes his head. I’m sure there are all sorts ofwhat have I gotten myself intostatements tumbling about in his sexy head right now, while I grin like the Cheshire Cat. This is all turning out to be delightfully adventurous.
He fishes more pain pills out of his backpack, watching me swallow them before nodding his head toward my tent. “Let me see this thing you’re smuggling.”
“Jack!” I gasp, catching the tiniest hint of a smirk at the corner of his lips. “Are you teasing me right now? Does the stoic Jack Blackstone know how to make a joke?”
“Blackstone?” One brow arches, looking entirely too seductive.
“You haven’t told me your last name, so I’m trying some out. Am I close?”
“Not even a little.” He pats me on the shoulder, leaving me pouting while he hangs his hat on the critter pole and climbs into my tent with his backpack.
“Uh, what are you doing?”
“Do you want an audience while showing me the goods?” he poses, that smirk looking a little more defined now, and that darn curl of hair luring me in. He thinks he can unsettle me, but I invented this game. It takes a whole lot more to make this girl blush. I might actually die and go to heaven if I can make his cheeks assume a rosy hue, though.
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” I tease.
He releases a cough, the slightest crimson tinge creeping up his neck.
The sight is better than any trophy.
“Can you just show it to me, please, so I can put it in my bag?”
“Well, you almost set me up for a perfectthat’s what she said, but then you had to go ruin it with specifics at the end.” I sigh, climbing inside and suddenly grateful that I took the time to apply fresh deodorant earlier.
The air is still torturously stuffy with the tent all zipped up. Jack sits with his legs bent in front of him, hands hooked in front of his knees, looking like a hunched-over giant in my one-person tent. His eyes roam over every item that emerges from Marigold, but he remains silent, letting his gaze do a whole lot of talking. I can sense his judgment when I pull out an abundance of socks and a satin sleep mask. He’s like a TSA agent making me unpack my contraband.
Once Marigold is finally empty, I reach my hand in for the artifact.
Jack’s gaze blisters under a lowered brow. “You had this just stuffed under all your things?”
“Well, excuse me for not knowing Marigold had the equivalent of a Birkin bag stuffed in her tush. This is giving K-drama energy, and I’ll have you know, the male lead is supposed to have softened up a little at this point.”
“We’re still talking about the same thing, right? I didn’t black out while you started yapping about a new topic?”
“Wait, I know what this is,” I say, pointing at him. “You’re hangry. You chose to brood while I ate, but your lunch bag is still out there. The squirrels are probably having a feast right now.” I fold my arms, squinting with a hard smile.
He purses his lips, jaw jutting to the side. “Dammit,” he mutters before fumbling his large body past mine to crawl out of the tent. I hear him cursing at the squirrels and shooing them away before he stomps back inside, bringing his storm cloudalong with him. It takes three tries for him to get the zipper closed, and I clamp my lips together, taking measured breaths to stifle a snort and prevent it from erupting into a very unladylike guffaw.
Jack ignores me, wolfing down a granola bar and nearly putting me in a catatonic state as I watch his jaw muscles work while he chews. This shouldn’t be attractive, but for whatever reason, it absolutely is.
He finishes, unbothered by my blatant staring, and wipes his hands on his cargo pants.
“Now, are you happy?” he demands.
