“Please tell me he’s going with another group.”
“I’m sorry but I can’t, we’re stuck with him for as long as he wants.”
Nicole looked over at the man who was talking to Seth, waving his arms around to make whatever point he was trying to make. His clothes were clearly new and if the amount of gear he’d brought meant anything, it meant that he had no idea what he was doing in the back country. He’d brought half the hardware department with him, a sure sign of a novice. Not only would they have to watch their backs when he was around, but they’d probably have to show him how to survive out in the back country.
Jared couldn’t believe he’d agreed to this, but he’d really had no choice when Seth had suggested it. Now he’d be spending weeks away from civilization, sleeping on the ground and eating dehydrated food at every meal. He’d avoided the back country like the plague when he’d been growing up, unlike Seth who’d found solace in the silence, he’d found it almost frightening to be so far from civilization. His father had never known, simply believed Jared when he told him he’d been out hunting or fishing, never imagining for a moment that a son of his would be afraid of the wilderness.
To add to his agitation, Gina had been especially difficult on the trip from Juneau, her mouth never seemed to stop moving. She jumped from one idea to the next in her quest to find a way to bring the project down, her enthusiasm almost scary in its intensity. He’d thought that she would be useful, but instead he had begun to worry that she was going to blow the entire plan with her over the top enthusiasm. After he’d cautioned her for the third time not to do anything without running it by him first, she’d finally shut up, clearly in a snit because he’d shut her down.
When he’d finally dropped her off at the house, she’d raised a fuss about the bedroom she’d been given, insisting that as his girlfriend she should have his room. Finally, just to keep the peace, the people who had been staying in his old room had moved out, letting Gina have her way. She instantly became apologetic, but he could see that she wasn’t sorry in the least. She’d felt she deserved the room and done what she had to get her way. Jared had seen her behave that way before, but had never realized just how tasteless it was until he watched her in action.
The minute this was over, he was going to dump her, no wife of his would ever behave the way she had that afternoon. When he finally drove away from the house it was with relief, Gina might cause a problem while she was on her own, but no matter what she did if she could find him something to work with, it would be worth it. He refused to feel bad that he was using her, after all the reason she was willing to help him was because she was using him too, he was her ticket to permanent social stability.
Now Sam had just informed him that he’d be hauling his own gear and given him a lecture about the importance of being on time as if he was a child. It had never occurred to him that there wouldn’t be anyone to help him with his gear, but he had no choice but to play by Sam’s rules, so he picked up the first of his bags and loaded it onto the four-wheeler he’d been given. That was when it occurred to him that he’d also have to set up his own camp and possibly even cook his own meals.
Feeling less and less optimistic about this arrangement, he continued to load the mountain of equipment he’d brought with him, wondering if he really needed it all, but sure that he’d leave something vital behind if he tried to lessen his load right then. By the time he was done loading everyone was watching him, clearly ready to leave and not happy that he was holding them up. That was when he saw the woman from the wedding reception standing in the group, he hadn’t seen her when he pulled up, he would have remembered since she’d been haunting his dreams.
When their eyes met across the parking lot, he detected not only hostility but interest, a mixed message that he wasn’t sure how to interpret. He was surprised at the jolt of desire that raced through him at the sight of her in jeans and a tee-shirt, but he also clearly remembered what she’d looked like the night he’d met her. Her cocktail dress cut to accentuate her ample curves, he’d wanted to run his hands over the shiny fabric and explore the flesh underneath. Now he wanted to do the same thing with the tight jeans she wore, jeans clearly designed to make those curves all that much more tantalizing.
Frustrated with this unwanted desire, he gave Nicole a dirty look and got on his four-wheeler promising himself that he’d stay as far away from her as possible. Jared was uncomfortable with his reaction to the woman, his body beyond his control, wanting something he knew was out of the question. If he’d been a different man with different aspirations, he might have considered exploring his attraction to Nicole, but she was not the woman for him. He couldn’t afford to have any kind of relationship with an unsuitable woman, not matter how much she stirred his blood. He wanted to be governor and appearances were everything.
Chapter 4
Nicole was happy to let Jared Montgomery take a spot at the front of the group where he clearly thought he belonged. They’d only been on the trail for a few hours, but he seemed to think that he was in charge, giving everyone orders until Sam had put him in his place. He’d been silent after that, clearly fuming at the treatment he was getting. His behavior had done nothing to change her mind about the man who was clearly nothing more than a spoiled little rich boy, accustomed to getting his way and throwing a fit when he didn’t.
By the time they stopped for lunch and a rest before the final leg of their journey, he’d annoyed everyone to the point that he was forced to sit alone and eat his lunch. For a brief second, she felt sorry for him, but then she remembered how he’d treated everyone and the feeling disappeared. It was going to be a long trip for Jared, and she had the distinct feeling that he wasn’t going to have much time for mischief, but she had every intention of keeping a close eye on the man.
Her instinct still told her that he wasn’t a good person, that he was a user and an abuser, one of those people who took what he wanted no matter who it hurt. When they finally stopped for the night in the little Yup’ik village, he had the grace not to offend the villagers who had opened their homes for them, their affection for Sam and Julie as strong as ever. Nicole was happy to see her friends and soon forgot about Jared who followed Sam to the men’s lodge and disappeared for the rest of the night.
They left the village early the next morning, Sam was determined to make it to base camp that day and begin setting up. Summer in Alaska was a short season and they had a lot of work to do before the first snow fall in September. The team Julie and Sam had gathered was well equipped for the job they needed to do and within a few hours they’d set up a large base camp, a central location that they all could use for the next two weeks.
They were arguing about who would take the first turn to cook dinner when Jared came wandering up. “When is my tent going to be put up?” He asked the group.
They all looked at each other, then burst into laughter, then stifled it as quickly as they could when they saw the look on Jared’s face. “Everyone is responsible for their own tents and beds, I thought I made that clear before we left. There’s no one here to take care of you Jared.” Sam explained patiently, clearly already as tired of Jared as everyone else.
Jared looked at Sam as if he didn’t understand and then sat his pile of gear. “But I don’t know how to set up a tent.” He said as if that excused him from having to do it.
“Then you better find someone willing to help you.” Sam said without the least bit of sympathy then turned and walked away.
Before Nicole could stop herself, she said, “I’ll help you.” Then shut her mouth with a snap wondering what had possessed her to offer to help the vile man.
Jared sighed with relief, he’d been envisioning sleeping out in the open that night. He pointed to his pile of gear on the ground a few feet from camp, “The tent is in there somewhere.” He said then sat down in the camp chair he’d set up earlier when everyone had been working.
“Well when you find it come get me.” Nicole
said, already sorry that she’d offered to help. Clearly, Jared didn’t understand the meaning of the word help.
Jared watched her walk away wondering what had happened, she’d offered to help him set up his tent then walked away. Then he realized what he’d just done, instead of getting the tent himself, he’d ordered her to do it, but in his world, that was the way things were done. Sighing, he got up out of the chair and began to sort through the gear, he had a lot to learn if he was going to make his plan work, and he had to make it work, had to find something to bring Seth and his wild scheme to a halt.
By the time Nicole crawled into her tent that night, she was so tired it was all she could do to change into her pajamas. Jared had been a less than willing student, so used to having things done for him, it took them nearly an hour to set up his little tent and bedding. Then he’d demanded that she bring him his dinner, remarking that he was just too tired to get it for himself. She’d almost thought that it was a joke until she looked at his face, then she’d walked off without a word, too frustrated and disgusted by the man to even set him straight.
She’d ignored him over dinner, relieved when another group member showed him how to light his stove and cook his meal, then went straight to bed disgusted with the man’s incompetence. After a good night’s sleep, she woke early ready to start her first day of field work with Sam and Julie, the only thing putting a damper on her excitement was the fact that Jared would be their shadow.
He’d be following them to some of the worst places in the area, the places where the tailings from the mine had made the soil inhospitable to anything green, the places where the trees had been cut down leaving the land barren and scarred. These were the places that Sam and Julie would be concentrating on, the places that Seth wanted his brother to see. It would be their only task this summer to catalogue and tag as many animals as they could, eventually melding their results with the rest of the researchers to see just how badly the ecosystem was damaged.
Over the winter they’d come up with a plan to reintroduce species that had been wiped out while strengthening the species that had managed to survive. Of course, Jared had no understanding of what they were trying to accomplish, he was a businessman and a politician of the kind who cared little about the damage man had done in pursuit of money. She had little faith that he would see any benefit in what they were doing, in fact had already been openly hostile to the entire venture.
Nicole was carrying a cup of coffee to her tent when Jared came crawling out of his tent a huge scowl on his face. He took one look at her and barked, “Get me a cup of coffee.”
She stopped in her tracks and looked at him, her mouth hanging open. It had been a long time since anyone had talked to her like that and there was no way that she was going to let Jared Montgomery get away with it. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she walked a few steps over to where he was sitting in his camp chair.
“Were you talking to me?” She asked calmly.
“Do you see anyone else around?” He snarled at her.
Nicole took another deep breath, “No and there’s a reason for that Mr. Montgomery. We all have work to do and not one of us has taking care of you on their list. If you want a cup of coffee I suggest that you get up and go to the kitchen, if you’re lucky you might find some there. Let me make something very clear to you, I’m not here to take care of you. I helped you set up your tent last night because I felt sorry for you.”
She’d turned to leave but Jared was on his feet and following her. “Do you have any idea who I am? I’ll have you fired for talking to me that way, you little…” Thankfully his last word was cut off by Sam interrupting.
“Is there a problem, Jared?” He asked, ice in his voice.
“Your little research assistant needs to learn who her betters are.” Jared said, then took a deep breath to continue, but Sam held up his hand.
“Since we can’t seem to come to an understanding I guess I need to make your position with this expedition quite clear. You are here as a favor to Seth, and only as a favor to Seth. I don’t really want you here, frankly I don’t trust you. As far as status, it may come as a surprise to you, but your name and money mean nothing out here, in fact Nicole is more valuable to this team than you could ever be. Maybe you should be getting her coffee.”
Nicole had never seen Sam that mad and she was glad that his anger wasn’t aimed at her, even Jared seemed to understand that he’d crossed the line. He looked from one to the other, clearly thinking about saying something else, but instead stomped off in the direction of the kitchen mumbling curses under his breath, Seth’s name thrown in every once and a while.
Sam and Nicole watched him leave, then turned to go to their tents both hoping that they’d had their last tangle with Seth’s brother who had turned out to be a royal pain in the butt.
“I’m sorry about that Nicole. Money has a way of making people into assholes.”
“Not everyone Sam.” She replied, glad that he’d come to her rescue before she’d done or said something she’d later regret. “You and Seth aren’t like that.”
“Well that’s because we’re perfect.” Sam said, puffing up.
Nicole laughed glad to let her anger go. “Very funny, somehow I think Julie might disagree with that. Shall we go ask her?”
“Umm, no I don’t think so.” Sam said, then laughed. “Come on let’s go break camp and get on the trail.”
After a long day on the trail, they finally reached their first survey area, a piece of land that had been poisoned from the first gold mine the Montgomery’s had opened almost a hundred years ago. In this case water from the spring runoff had filtered down though the tailings from the mine and contaminated not only the ground water but the streams that ran down the mountain to the ocean. The trees were stunted and there was little ground cover, and what there was looked sickly and brown.
By the time camp was set up everyone was too exhausted to do more than eat and crawl into their tents. Jared managed to get his tent up with little help, which was a good thing because Nicole was clearly still upset with him, and the truth was that he was still smarting from the dressing down Sam had given him that morning. He was becoming more and more sorry that he’d come on this trip, Sam had made it quite clear that he didn’t trust him, Nicole was openly hostile, and although he hadn’t had any kind of a confrontation with Julie, she clearly didn’t care for him either.
It was probably a waste of his time to hang around with them, but it was all that he had. Plus, there was also the little matter of his pride, he wasn’t about to let them think that he couldn’t cope out here. It was becoming clear to him that Seth had sent him out here to fail, that he probably thought that it would be too hard for Jared, who’d spent little time outdoors in his life. So, he was stuck, if for no other reason than to show his brother that he wasn’t the only one who was tough.
The next morning, when he stumbled out of his tent trying to get his sore, stiff muscles to loosen up, he discovered that he’d been left behind in camp. He made his way slowly to the kitchen hoping that there was enough coffee left for at least on cup, then relieved to find just enough, was liberal with the sugar. The morning fire had turned to nothing more than ash, but there was just enough heat to entice him to sit down. He’d have to make himself some breakfast and maybe some more coffee, but right then it was all he could do to drink that first cup.
Jared made a point of staying in good physical condition, not because he liked to workout, but simply because it was important to him to look good. After his father’s death last year, it had become even more important to him because of the health benefits, he had no plans to come to the same end as his father. But the last two days had shown him just how soft he was, and if he planned to keep up this summer he’d have to get himself in better shape.
As soon as he finished, sore muscles or not, he set out on a hike. Seth had warned him to stay out of their way, but since they’d left before he got up that morning, he had no ide
a where they were. So, he picked a trail and headed out of camp, thinking he’d hike out a few miles then go back to camp. He hadn’t gone far when he saw Nicole on the trail ahead of him, wanting to watch her without being noticed, he ducked under the branches of a tree.
She was staring intently at something on the ground and hadn’t noticed him, so he had all the time he wanted to watch her. Dressed in her usual jeans and tee-shirt, he wondered what it was about her that attracted him so much, she really was nothing like the women that he dated. It wasn’t just that she was curvy, or the fact that she was African American, it was something else, something that went deeper than the way she looked.
Thinking back on the few encounters they’d had over the last few days, he realized that what had him fascinated about Nicole was her feisty personality. Although it had shocked him when she’d stood up to him, watching her now, he realized it had thrilled him a bit as well. No woman had ever dared to stand up to him, had even voiced her opinion, but Nicole wasn’t like that and it was a shock to realize that he liked that.
Unable to help himself, he came out of his hiding spot and started down the trail towards her. She must have heard him coming because when he got a few hundred yards from her, she held up her hand. “Stay right there.” She barked at him. “I’ve found what I believe is a fox hole, but I need to find evidence, feces, hair, or something like that.”
“Is that what you do all day — play with poop?” He asked, his first instinct to belittle her, although he wasn’t sure why, she just seemed to bring out the worst in him.
Nicole didn’t have time for Jared’s bad attitude. “In case you hadn’t noticed I’m trying to work here.”
“Sorry, I just wanted to see what you were doing.” Jared said, drawing the word sorry out so that it sounded sarcastic instead of sincere.
“Well, now that you have maybe you should go back the way you came. I can’t have you tromping around here contaminating my site.”
Have My Twins : BWWM Romance (Brothers From Money Book 16) Page 4