Chapter 13
I feel like I’ve been dancing.
Not the fun kind. The avoidance dance.
It takes serious work to avoid looking at the man. After hours of doing this, I’m wiped.
All the brooding stares he’s thrown my way have worn holes in me.
“Every time I look up, he’s watching me,” I mutter in Belle’s direction.
“He’s an excellent guard dog.”
“He’s something.”
Another woman walks into the tent.
“Hello.” I wave her forward and offer her water and a snack. We talk for a few minutes. My broken Spanish has limited conversational range.
How are you?
Is your family safe?
Do you need food, water, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste… The basics.
My mathematical brain doesn’t like languages. Ask me to remember a sixteen-digit code, sure. Ask me to conjugate a verb in Spanish… maybe. With prayers.
“Gracias!” calls the small woman, as she wanders off with her supplies into the falling afternoon light.
I lean out of the tent and look toward the mountain that will soon cast the entire town in shadow.
Not that we haven’t had a shadow the shape of a grouch looming over us all day. Add that to the thunderclouds around his head, I’m surprised we didn’t need flashlights.
Belle raps her knuckles on her clipboard. “I have to admit, this day is going much better than I thought. Not a single person has been reported missing. The rescue crews have cleared almost all the buildings, too.”
I share her relief. “Everyone I spoke to is just curious about what we do.”
“Me too! It could have been so much worse. I’m really glad that things are working out.” She smiles for a few seconds, then scrunches her face. “Now, about the next issue. Where are we sleeping tonight?”
My good mood also flops. Leaning against the table, I fight to keep my hand by my side. My neck is tingling. I suspect I know the reason why.
Keeping my voice low, I say, “I don’t think we should stay in tents. It’s too risky. We have mosquito netting for the back of the truck, and the four of us could take turns sitting guard.”
She looks aghast. “Pembrook and Byran sitting guards? Right. That’s almost comedic.”
“They can alert us if they notice anything.”
“And we can do what? Charm our way out of being kidnapped and ransomed?”
Crap. The tingle on my neck turns to stinging bees. I look toward Beast and get my confirmation. He’s glaring like a bull. Damn, the man must have satellite dishes for ears if he heard what we are saying.
He gives me a tight lift of his chin.
Fiddlesticks.
“Um,” I cringe. “So, Beast says we’re staying in his team’s cabinas. With them.”
Belle makes an exaggerated slow blink, as disbelief takes her eyebrows on an elevator ride. “Say what?”
“We’re going to be sleeping in one of their little houses. They rented some to use as their base in Santa Rosa for their mission.”
A hot glow starts to pulse around my cheeks.
“You’re staying with him, aren’t you!” Belle hinges forward. The woman has the audacity to clap.
The urge to tackle her is real.
“NO!” I blurt. “I mean, yes. I don’t think I have a choice, but it’s not like that. The man can barely stand me. He’s got an allergy to me or something. He gets all itchy and irritable at the sight of me.”
“Sweetie…first, that’s because he wants you and won’t let himself have you. Second, you need to remove that stick from your ass.”
I snort.
Beast’s glare flashes like fireworks. Not the little fizzle kind. The kind that go BOOM!
They burn so hot it’s a wonder I don’t have a freaking hole right in the middle of my forehead.
I’m raspy when I speak. “No stick here. I need to keep my focus on work. This job is important to me. I don’t have time to think about what big stuff over there is packing in the meat department.”
Oh. Hell.
Belle nearly falls out of her chair. Her laughter is earsplitting. Like a hyena mated with a megaphone.
I look for something to stuff in her mouth.
Of course, Beast is staring even harder. If that’s even possible.
Meat department?
Shoot. Me. Now.
I turn ten shades of red. My panties start to feel really hot. With a disgusted croak, I hide my face. “God, I can’t believe I said that.”
Belle snorts and howls. “Glad you lost your stick. It had to be hard to walk around like that all the time.”
“It’s the heat, it melted the important brain cells responsible for my filter.”
An incredibly awkward time passes with Belle laughing until tears are coming out of her eyes.
I shouldn’t look. But I do. Beast is wearing an expression that I can’t interpret. I haven’t been around enough men with his specific dictionary of expressions. This one is…thunderous. Yes. That’s it.
Unpredictable and thunderous, agitated, and wild. A lot like a hurricane.
Christ, why does that smoldery look turn me inside out?
I lose my patience and give Belle my best enough-of-it glare. “So, we’re sleeping in the truck, right?”
Belle’s laughter turns into piggy snorts. She’s talking between the animal sounds, only, I’m not listening.
I’m watching Beast shake his head, NO.
I narrow my eyes at him and press my lips into an uncompromising line. The heat that’s hitting my face pulses with a different kind of energy.
I have the mind to teach him the meaning of no.
One side of his mouth curls up. His look of determination turns into a knowing and very infuriating smirk.
The urge to punch his long, perfect nose makes my fist tingle.
Since when did I become so violent?
“What did you say?” I ask Belle as I vibrate with frustration.
“You might want to sleep in that godforsaken box truck, but if I can sleep inside four walls with a fan, I’m so down. You better get ready for a fight because if one of those hotties asks me to share his bed, I’m gonna hop on his back like a monkey.”
I open my mouth to debate.
“I’m serious,” she warns.
“Ugh.” But the visual of her leaping on one of these guys’ backs and belting out, “Yahooo,” almost makes me grin.
But then I remember I’m angry.
I have a big problem. Six-feet-plus big.
Without Belle going along with my idea, I won’t be able to convince Brian and Pembrook. Without them to share watch duty with me, I’m screwed.
I drop my head in my hands because it’s going to explode. If not from the laser beams that Beast is pounding me with, then from the thought of being inside four walls in the darkness with the man.
I don’t know if I can take it.
I want to hate him.
I don’t want to think he’s hot.
I definitely don’t want to think about the body he’s got under those badass, tactical cargo pants.
I groan roughly. “Somebody please wake me up from this nightmare.”
Belle pats my back. “Let go a little.”
“I can’t.”
“You should have a drink.”
I sigh. It’s a tired, pathetic, frustrated sound. “I don’t drink.”
“Maybe Beast Mode will share some tequila with you. One of those little ladies that visited with me said the local drink that’s made near here is the key to happiness.”
I lift my head and look at Belle. “Was she happy?”
“Deliriously.”
I shake my head. “I don’t need delirious. I need food. I need a shower. I need?—”
“Did someone say food?” Justice strides into the tent wearing a big smile. It would probably measure in the mega-watt range.
But more important is the question—how did he hear us? I’ve got to be careful what I say around these guys. If one of them hears what I’m thinking, I’m running for the jungle, rebels or not.
Beast’s folded arms uncross, and he takes the bulging paper bag Justice passes him. “What’d you find?”
“The jackpot! Outside town, there’s a little place that makes tamales and other really good-smelling shit.”
There’s a rumble from Beast. “Mmmm. Now that’s good news.”
Justice places the rest of the overloaded bags on the table. “I got enough for everyone, including Belle, Camile, and their guys. But there’s some bad news as well.”
“Yeah?” Beast asks, cranking up his focus.
“The rebels seem to be regrouping. A few of them were milling around at an old, dilapidated farm just past the edge of town. I suspect they might be coming back after dark.”
A shiver dances over my skin even though the heat is still almost unbearable. “What should we do?” I ask.
Beast taps his thumb to his ring finger. As he does, he steps out of earshot and starts talking. The thumb tap on his ring must be how he activates his secret coms gear to talk to his team.
I like it. Stealthy. From the looks of their clothes, boots, and the fancy communications tech, they must be working for some well-paying client or company.
“Let’s wrap this up, ladies,” Justice says as he circles his finger in the air. “Time to retreat for the night. Lock up your box truck so the extra supplies don’t get stolen.”
“Oh boy.” Belle jumps out of her chair. “Where are we going?”
Great, here we go. Justice better get ready for a flying woman to land on his back.
“To our cabinas.”
Yep. Here it comes. Belle grins wildly. But Justice starts carrying our extra supplies to the back of the truck. “Our team rented out these great little places just down the road.”
Belle hangs on his every word.
Thankfully, we stowed most of the provisions in the undamaged truck this afternoon. We only have a few boxes of snacks, water, first-aid kits, and personal care kits to put away.
Belle follows along behind him, carrying a large box. “Does it have running water?”
“Yep, running water and fans.”
“I’m all yours.” She pronounces loudly as she shoves her armful into the truck. “Lead me to this magical abode.”
Justice chuckles. “Round up your guys. Belle, you can stay with me. One of the men can stay with Truck. The other can stay with Scout. Sounds like Camile is staying with Beast.”
“Great,” she chirps as she practically levitates out of her shoes. “I’ll get the guys now.”
I’m left to my own devices. Justice knows that I’m with Beast. Whatever that means.
I’m not going to contemplate that ridiculous train of thought right now. I just can’t. It’s beyond my tired brain’s comprehension level.
Beast returns to me a few seconds later after finishing his chat with whoever was on his secret bat-ring thing. He’s got his warrior face on. The one I glimpsed behind the truck when he snatched me out of harm’s way.
A weird kind of relief tumbles through me, softening my stiff muscles. But I hate depending on someone. Men especially. I vowed to never need one again.
“We should get out of sight.” He lifts the food. “No use getting into a ruckus if we don’t have to.”
As I put away the clipboards and do one more check of our space, I avoid his eyes. “I figured a man like you’d be spoiling for a fight.”
He’s silent until I look at him.
“A smart man knows when to evade.”
Why do I feel there’s more meaning to those words than what’s on the surface?
He searches my face in brooding silence.
What does he see when he looks at me like that?
I guess something that pisses him off.
With a scowl that would scare the bark off a tree, he demands, “Going to make me carry your ass this time?”
Jerk.
“I’ll walk. But it doesn’t mean I’m happy about going.”
I stride off leaving him where he’s standing.
Behind me, he laughs darkly. “Maybe some of these tamales will change your mind.”
Not likely.
“You can have them. I’ll just eat a snack bar or something from my pack.”
His thudding footfalls catch up to me. “The fuck? You haven’t eaten a damn thing all day. Am I going to have to force feed you as well?”
I pivot my head slowly and glare at him. “You wouldn’t dare…”
“I guess you’ll have to find out.”