Jake passed the plastic bag to Diane. “Our contribution to dinner.”
Diane peeked in the sack. “Why, thank you, honey. I’ll get a pan and start these heatin’.”
As Paige settled in the lawn chair Pat set up for her, she caught a movement in the shadows of her peripheral vision. Jumpy from the past couple days of insanity, she jerked her head toward the movement, searching the fading daylight near their camper for whatever had caught her attention.
A small black cat crept out from under the trailer hitch and inched nearer the campfire. Paige pressed a hand over her stumbling heart and exhaled with relief. A cat. It was just a cat. Not terrorists or assassins with automatic weapons.
Still, as her pulse eased back to a normal speed, she scooted her lawn chair closer to Jake’s.
Pat passed her and Jake each an extra-long-handled fork and nodded to a platter of hot dogs on top of a nearby cooler. “Help yourself. The roasting is as much fun as the eating.”
With a rumble of her stomach, Paige followed Jake’s lead, and soon the smoky scent of their supper filled the air. The aroma brought the black cat out from the shadows to skirt the edge of the campsite, as well. He sniffed the air and eyed the cooking hot dogs with interest.
“Is that your cat?” Paige asked Pat, pointing.
Pat glanced up from the campfire. “Naw. He’s a stray. He’s been around here before, begging for scraps. And since Diane, the soft-heart, feeds him, we’re a regular stop on his evening rounds now. She calls him Nate and had some convoluted explanation of how she came up with the name. Something about the fact that he has no tail, and she thought he was a girl at first and…” Pat waved a hand of dismissal. “Whatever.”
No tail? A sympathetic pang speared her heart, and Paige tore off the tip of her hot dog and tossed it toward the cat. “Here ya go, Nate. Come on, kitty.”
Nate looked wistfully at the meat, then blinked warily at the three humans huddled around the fire. Finally he trotted forward, gulped down the bite of hot dog, then scurried back to the shadows under the trailer hitch. Paige’s heart broke for the skinny, maimed stray.
“Okay, veggies are heating,” Diane announced as she came back out of their RV.
“We met Nate,” Paige said as Diane took a seat beside her.
The woman smiled. “He’s a sweet cat, but rather skittish. Doesn’t quite know what to make of people…or if he can trust people not to hurt him.”
Jake elbowed her in the ribs. “Hey, stop staring at the cat and watch your dog. It’s on fire.”
Paige gasped and pulled her charred wiener from the flames. Jake helped her blow out the fire, and they all chuckled over her mishap.
“Rookie,” Jake teased with a warmth in his eyes that washed over her like a pleasant summer breeze.
She and Jake passed an enjoyable evening, chatting with the Appelmans, making s’mores and drinking iced tea.
After a couple of hours in front of the glowing campfire, Paige could wait no longer to use the restroom. She stood and glanced around the dark, wooded campground, uncertain where the facilities were. “Diane, which direction is the restroom?”
“It’s through the trees, that way.” The older woman aimed a finger over her shoulder. “Tell you what, I’ll go with you.”
Jake stood, a troubled look on his face. “No, I’ll take her.”
Pat and Diane gave him curious, amused looks, and Paige chuckled awkwardly. “Um…sweetheart, I think I can go to the bathroom by myself.”
He cleared his throat and leveled a stern stare at her. “Sweetie, maybe I need to use the facilities, too.”
The Appelmans grinned, and Paige gave Jake a teasingly haughty look. “In that case, you can come with.”
They thanked the Appelmans for sharing their dinner, their fire and their conversation and said good-nights as they left. Once they were out of earshot, swallowed by the darkness of the night, Paige leaned closer to Jake and muttered, “Do you really have to go, or was that an excuse to get away from our hosts? ’Cause I thought they were nice. I had fun tonight…despite the bugs.”
Jake draped an arm around her shoulders as they walked. The gesture spun a mix of pleasure and security through her. She hadn’t anticipated how dark the walk through the trees to the community bathhouse would be, and foreign sounds—chirps, croaks and buzzing—filled the evening air.
“They seemed nice enough.” Jake twitched a grin, visible only as a flash of white teeth in the thin moonlight that seeped through the trees. “Told ya you’d like camping.”
She returned a mock scowl. “I said I had fun roasting hot dogs and chatting with the Appelmans. The jury is still out on camping.”
He pulled on her shoulder, guiding her around a stump she hadn’t seen until the last second. Clearly, his night vision was better than hers. Paige nestled closer, wrapping her arm around his waist. “Then why—”
“I came with you because it’s my job to keep you safe.”
His statement hung in the air for a moment as her heartbeat stumbled. She glanced around the black woods, wondering what threats—wild animals?—Jake knew about but wasn’t telling her. “From what?”
“After the past two days, you have to ask?”
Despite the sultry summer temperature, a chill skittered down her spine. “You mean… But I thought we were camping out here, because it was a safe hideout! If you think—”
“Don’t panic. I don’t necessarily think there’s a bogeyman waiting in the bathroom to grab you. But we have to be alert. They could track us here. I just want to be careful.”
When she shivered, he rubbed his hand down her arm and gave her a quick squeeze.
“Look, we’re probably safe here for now, but …” They passed under a security light as they neared the bathhouse, and he paused, turning to her. With a hand on each of her shoulders and his mahogany eyes drilling into her, he said, “I want you to promise me you won’t go anywhere without me. Not to the bathhouse, not for walks with Diane, not anywhere. Got it?”
“You’re going to come with me every time I have to pee? When I shower?”
His pupils grew slightly, and a muscle in his jaw ticked. The idea of him joining her in the shower sent a rush of heat to her belly, and the desire that had been growing between them coiled tighter.
His nostrils flared as he took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “I want to check things out before you go into a building blind. We just don’t know when or where Trench Coat’s cohorts might show up.”
The gravity of his warning burrowed deep inside her, scaring her more than the wild beasts she’d imagined moments ago. She’d take an encounter with a raccoon or even a coyote over a gun-wielding terrorist any day.
When she remained silent, grappling with the knowledge that even in this remote campground they were vulnerable to attack, Jake shook her slightly. “Do you understand?”
“I…yes.” Her voice cracked, and she swallowed hard to moisten her suddenly dry throat.
“Promise me.”
She nodded stiffly. “I promise.”
“Okay.” He guided her closer to the door of the ladies’ bathroom. “You wait here while I have a look inside.”
“What if there are other women in there? This is a community bathhouse, after all.”
He glanced toward the door. “I know how to be discreet.”
She arched an eyebrow and leaned back against the cinder-block wall of the bathhouse to wait.
Jake stepped just inside the bathhouse door and cocked his head as if listening, then disappeared inside briefly.
While she waited, she scanned the dark woods. She’d never known how completely black it got at night outside the city, away from street lights and security lamps and car headlights. A stir of motion to her left sent her pulse scampering.
She pressed her back farther up against the rough concrete wall. Where was Jake, and why was it taking so long to check a few bathroom stalls?
Her mouth going a bit drier, she str
ained to see through the murky night. She heard a twig snap.
“Hello?”
No answer. Then the blur of motion separated from the dark woods, moving closer.
Nate, the black cat.
Paige exhaled sharply and shook her head at the cat. “Jeepers, Nate. You know how to scare a girl. That’s twice tonight!”
He sat down several feet from her and blinked as if bored.
“Did you like your hot dog? Were you able to mooch more dinner off the other campers?”
“Who are you talking to?”
Paige jolted at the sound of Jake’s voice behind her and whirled around. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
He shrugged and tipped his head. “You should pay closer attention to your surroundings so no one can sneak up on you.” He glanced past her and repeated, “Who were you talking to?”
She waved her hand toward the spot where Nate sat. “Uh, the cat from earlier was here. I guess you scared him off.”
He hitched his head toward the bathroom. “All clear. You can go in.”
Paige resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He had her best interests at heart, even if his measures seemed like overkill.
When they’d finished at the bathhouse, they picked their way back through the dark campground to the tent-camper.
When Jake flipped on the small light in the camper, Paige shook her head. “I never thought I took much for granted, but even having electricity in this glorified tent is…a blessing.”
“Nothing but the best for my girl.” Jake gave her an ironic smile, and a funny flutter stirred in her chest. She couldn’t be sure if it was his “my girl” comment or the teasing edge to his voice that had her ruffled.
She was trying to be a good sport about camping, even though everything about the experience was foreign to her. Her family vacationed in luxury hotels in historic parts of Europe or exotic ports of call. But if Jake thought this camper, this campground, by virtue of its obscurity, was the safest place to hide until they figured out how to solve the mess they were in, then she’d cooperate fully, not complain.
She trusted Jake. But…
She paused, watching Jake climb onto one of the two beds situated on either side of the camper.
What if the terrorists did track them here? Then what would they do? The flimsy door lock and largely fabric walls of their rented home were far from secure if the bullets started flying and the wedding crashers wanted to get in and slit their throats in the middle of the night.
“Jake…”
Lying on his back with his hands stacked behind his head, he angled his face toward her. “Yeah?”
“What’s our contingency plan?”
“What do you mean?”
“If we’re found here. Then what?”
He sighed tiredly. “We…get the hell out of Dodge and do something else. I know this arrangement isn’t your usual cup of tea, but I promise you we’re safe here…for now.”
“For now. But what happens when they do figure out where we are? You said yourself these guys aren’t just gonna go away.”
He grunted. “If that happens, I’ll figure something out. We’ve got a couple alternatives, but I prefer to keep things fluid. Play it by ear. Not get boxed in with a limited mind-set, but keep my options open.”
Paige’s gut clenched. “Play it by ear? Jake, our lives are at stake! And the security of our country, if Brent’s to be believed. We need a concrete plan.”
Jake scowled and turned to stare up at the tented ceiling over his berth. “Trust me, okay? This is my area of expertise. While you were earning your master’s degree in marketing and helping the family business earn more millions, I was sleeping in foxholes and inserting my SEAL team behind enemy lines.”
Paige tensed. He sounded…resentful. Judgmental.
“I’m not doubting your abilities, Jake. That’s not my point. I just want to know we have a backup plan if—”
“I’ve got your back, Paige. I’m gonna keep you safe.” His tone was calmer now. Warmer. “I promise.”
His reassurances helped. Some. But she thrived on planning. Needed organization and structure to feel…safe. She blinked, pondering that realization.
She needed order, goals and a blueprint for action in order to feel secure. Why?
Her family had always loved and supported her. Her job had always fulfilled her professionally. She’d never wanted for anything in her life.
So why did she need structure and contingencies to feel secure?
She toed off her shoes and flipped the light off. After crawling under the sheet of her bed, a mirror image of the one across the camper where Jake slept, she closed her eyes and mulled that question.
She heard the rustle of cloth across the camper and heard a telltale swish and muted thump—the sound of jeans being stripped off and dumped on the camper floor.
She tried not to think about Jake, sleeping no more than ten feet away in his underwear.
Or in the buff. Was he naked?
An enticing sensation shimmered over her, coiling low in her belly. She fisted the sheet in her hands and gnawed her bottom lip. What was she going to do about her undeniable attraction to Jake? As if she needed any clearer message that he was all wrong for her and a sexual fling now would be reckless, his attitude toward her education, the family’s money, the success of Bancroft Industries confirmed the differences between them.
That distance between where she stood and his opinion of her stung more than it should.
Paige stared into the complete blackness, listening to the lullaby of night sounds outside. But her mind was restless, and she couldn’t sleep. She glanced toward Jake’s bed, even though she could see nothing in the inky darkness. “Jake?”
“Hmm?” he rumbled groggily.
“You think I’m spoiled, don’t you?”
He remained silent for so long, she thought he might have drifted off to sleep and wouldn’t answer. Or his silence was an affirmation of her suspicion. Or—
“I’ve never said you were spoiled.”
She sighed. “You didn’t have to. I can tell.”
“Well, you’re wrong.”
“Am I? When my family’s money comes up, you tend to act so…” She searched for the right word.
“It’s not the money,” he said before she could finish her thought. “Well, maybe a little. I guess I’m wary of that kind of wealth. And maybe just a little jealous. But—”
His bed creaked as he stirred, and she waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, she prodded, “I take it your family didn’t have much money when you were growing up? Is that it?”
Another long silence followed, and then, “No, it was the family I didn’t have. I, uh…grew up in foster homes. Six by the time I left high school to join the navy.”
Paige’s heart clenched. “Oh, Jake…”
“So when you talk about how close you are to your sisters, or how your parents must be worried about you, or—I guess I’m a little envious that you have so many people that care about you, people who’ll stand by you no matter what. I’ve never really had that.”
“What about the SEALs? I always heard the rigors of special-forces training and warfare bonded the members of special-forces teams like family.”
He heaved a heavy sigh. “Yeah, that’s what I used to think, too.” Pause. “Until they kicked me out of the family.”
“Kicked you out?”
“I messed up my knee real bad during a roadside bomb attack. You can’t be a SEAL with a bum knee, so I got my walking papers.”
“Just like that? Couldn’t they reassign you to a desk job or noncombat—”
“I didn’t want to be a desk jockey!”
The pain in his tone reverberated in the darkness, and the pressure in her chest twisted harder. “I’m sorry. I…”
“The SEALs had felt like a family to me. More than any foster family ever did. I always knew I was an outsider, taken into a foster home. Every home was temporary. I le
arned not to grow dependent on anyone in a foster home, because…I’d be moved on soon enough.”
Paige heard clearly what Jake didn’t say. It vibrated in the thick silence of the dark camper. He’d learned not to give his love or allow himself to form attachments to his foster families. He’d been hurt when he opened his heart, when he’d sought love and permanence. Pain clawed her, laying her heart open to the bitter wounds he’d suffered at such a young age.
“When I was a SEAL, I thought I’d found the place where I belonged. I trusted the other guys in my unit with my life, and they trusted me with theirs. We did have something like a family bond. But…” He huffed, sounding frustrated. “When the navy discharged me…”
Her throat was tight, clogged with emotion. “It felt like a betrayal?”
“Something like that.”
“Don’t you keep in touch with the guys form your SEAL team?”
Once again he stayed silent for long moments before answering. “I can’t.”
“Of course you can! Pick up the phone. Send an email. Write a let—”
“They’re dead.”
Paige gasped. Her stomach lurched.
“Most of my team was killed in that roadside bombing. Besides me, only two other guys lived. Tommy was killed a few weeks later in Baghdad, and Mark…” He hesitated. “He made it back stateside like I did, also booted from the navy because of his injuries.”
Paige held her breath, fearing what would come next.
“He was killed by a drunk driver a few months ago.”
Paige squeezed her eyes shut, aching for all of Jake’s losses. “That’s awful, Jake. I’m s—”
“Hell, why whitewash it? He was the drunk driver. He drowned himself in the bottle when he got home from Iraq and was wasted when he got behind the wheel. The freaking idiot!” Frustration and misery colored his tone. Jake bit out an expletive. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I’ve never—”
She swallowed hard, searching for her voice. “I’m glad you did. I think…maybe it was time you did tell someone. Keeping it cooped up inside—”
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