“Think you’re up to making a sandwich and a pot of coffee?” he prodded.
A faint flare of color brushed her cheeks and a tiny spark of life came back into her pale green eyes.
“I believe I can do that without giving either of us food poisoning,” she answered, with her cute little nose up in the air and a haughty expression on her face.
He couldn’t help it; he had to smile. It only served to make a frown pull between those perfectly arched brows of hers.
“Life’s not a joke, you know,” she said in her Miss Prim voice that he already knew so very well.
“No one said it had to be all hard work, either.”
He transferred his attention back to the river, but even so he could feel her staring at him. Eventually she gave a small sniff and a few seconds later he heard her rummaging around in the kitchen. Not long after that, a small hand carrying a plate bearing a sandwich appeared in his peripheral vision.
“Thanks,” he said, taking it from her. He let his eyes drift over her face, checking to see if the strain of earlier had gone. A sense of relief filled him as she looked back at him steadily. “You okay now?”
She nodded and shifted her attention outside. “I’m not in the habit of kissing just anyone.”
“I know,” he confirmed.
He was childishly tempted to ask how the kiss they’d shared compared to Burton’s, but then pushed the thought from his mind. He didn’t want to think of Burton anywhere near Shanal. Not now, not ever.
“It won’t happen again,” she continued.
“If you say so,” he conceded.
“I mean it, Raif. It can’t happen again.”
There was a thread of panic in Shanal’s voice that gave him pause. What had her so scared?
“Shanal, you’re safe with me. I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do, I promise. But remember, we only get to live this life once. I don’t know about you, but I already have enough regrets on my conscience. I don’t plan to live the rest of my days with any more.”
He had a gutful of regret when it came to Laurel. He’d told her he had concerns about her still being too much of a novice to tackle that waterfall trip. Telling her had been part of what had led to the argument that had eventually seen them break up. He’d never have believed that it would ultimately lead to her death. Regret left a bitter echo in his heart. He didn’t want to add to that with Shanal.
Outside, it started to drizzle, then rain more heavily, making visibility on the river difficult. Since they weren’t on any timetable but their own, Raif decided to moor the boat along the bank, getting muddy and soaked to the skin as he jumped ashore to tie off the lines. He was chilled right down to his bones by the time he came back on board.
“Why don’t you look through the DVDs on the shelf under the TV and see if you can find us something to watch this afternoon,” he suggested. “I’m going to grab a quick shower and a change of clothes.”
By the time he came back to the main cabin, dressed in an old comfy pair of track pants and a sweatshirt Shanal had handed him from the bag of clothes he’d originally packed for her, she had a couple DVDs on the coffee table. He picked one up.
“You like sci-fi?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Huh, I would have picked you for something else.”
“Like what?” Shanal sounded irritated. “Chick flicks?”
He gestured to the Jane Austen boxed set on one side of the shelf. “More that kind of thing.”
She shrugged. “I like that, too, but I like this better.” She suddenly looked insecure. “Don’t you like sci-fi? We can choose something else if you’d rather.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m a huge Sigourney fan.”
“Really? I prefer the alien myself. Such a misunderstood bio-form.”
He laughed, plucked the DVD case from her hand and selected the first disc of the set to put in the player. To Raif’s surprise, he discovered that not only did Shanal love sci-fi movies, but she also had a very bloodthirsty streak. By the time they were onto their second movie in the trilogy he found himself adjusting a few of his preconceptions about her. Sure, she was incredibly intelligent, but she had a fun side that he’d never seen before. As the alien creature took out a few more good men, she laughed and cheered, all tension from earlier now gone.
He found he really liked her laughter. It wasn’t something he’d heard a lot of from her, but when it came it was a joyful gurgling sound that made him laugh right along with her. He found himself ridiculously desperate to hear her laugh some more. And when the movie got really tense and it looked as if all hope was lost for the hero, her dainty hand crept into Raif’s for comfort. Squeezing tighter and tighter as the tension rose.