“I’m going with you.”
“Not going to happen,” he said in a scratchy voice.
The soft touch of her fingertips against his skin set off a fire inside him. He wanted her, would have been all over her, but he had promised. She’d set down the rules, and he intended to follow them. Even if it killed him, and he was starting to suspect it would.
She lifted her head and treated him to a lingering kiss before dropping back down again. “Then you really better sleep because tomorrow you’ll have a fight on your hands.”
The playful side of her...he loved this part. “Is that a threat?”
She winked and flipped over again, facing away from him. “You’ll find out in a few hours.”
Chapter Seven
The monster thunderstorm moved out, but the rain continued to fall in an annoying drizzle the next morning. The sky turned a hazy gray as the temperature held steady and the humidity rose. Dampness hung on the air and highlighted the smells of the forest. Fresh evergreen and the earthy scent of dirt and grass.
The scene felt familiar and, except for feeling sticky in her clothing, comfortable to Hope. She thrived in this environment. She also had packed the right gear. Sitting on the log turned into a makeshift seat, she wore a rain jacket and kept the hood up, ignoring the pings of raindrops against her face.
She would have stayed inside, where it was safer and certainly drier, and waited for the official breakfast hour to begin, but she had to deal with Joel. More like it, she had to deal with him being gone.
“There he is. Finally.” Cam stood over her, staring into the mass of greenery off to the right of the cabins. “He’s headed back in.”
She could hear the relief in Cam’s voice. The same feeling flooded through her. Joel had taken off, without a word to either of them, and headed out to sniper territory. In the world of dumb ideas, that one ranked pretty high up there.
“I should have known he’d skulk off.” She blew out a long breath as the anxiety pinging around in her belly slowed. She stretched her legs out in front of her. “He’s good at that.”
“Not that I know anything about what happened between you two, because I don’t.” Cam sat down next to her and mimicked her position. “But he’s not out in Annapolis partying with other women. I’ve never even see him checking out the ladies or making moves, and he’s had opportunities.”
That grumbly sensation came rushing back. “I bet.”
“I’m just saying he attracts attention now and then, not that I’d ever admit that in front of him because I’m pretty invested in telling him how he lacks game.”
She tried not to smile at that, at all of it. “Sure.”
“At least now I know why he keeps the monk’s existence.”
That part made her beat back a dose of skepticism. Even when they were together she’d see women check him out and look for the chance to make a move. The fit body and hot smile combined with those dark looks and that bit of naughtiness in his eyes. Many women took a second look. He never noticed, that she could tell, but she’d assumed once he was free of their relationship he would. Just one more example of Joel reacting the opposite of how she thought he would.
“In some ways he’s really complex—this mass of contradictions and frustrations—and in another he’s transparent.” Like the part where he ran scared from emotional entanglements. She was far too familiar with that side of him.
“His dad messed him up.” Cam shook his head. “I never really saw how much before.”
Her gaze snapped away from the man walking toward her and back to Cam. “He told you about his upbringing?”
“The end-of the-world fears imposed on him. The foster homes. Being separated from his sisters and never truly reconnecting with them again.” Cam whistled. “Sometimes I’m amazed he can function, that he’s as normal as he is. Don’t tell him I admitted that either.”
Joel’s openness with Cam stunned her. Joel never hid his background or shied away from using his survival skills, but the idea of him talking it out with Cam was a surprise. She liked that Joel had someone close enough, and now she knew Cam wasn’t just some random work friend.
But he’d used the magic word. The same one Joel loved to throw around. “That’s the problem.”
Cam frowned. “You lost me.”
Through the dripping of the rain and soaking of the ground, Joel broke through the tree line. His footsteps hesitated for a second, and then he made a beeline for them.
She lowered her voice. “He thinks he can never be normal.”
“Then he needs a good kick in the—”