Chapter Twelve #3
They went back and forth on it long enough that she started laughing, swatting his arm, and any heaviness that had settled between them after the cabin eased.
Right now, they weren’t treasure hunters or grieving family or a bodyguard and his charge.
They were just two people arguing over bad handwriting.
Darkness crept in around them, leaving only the light of the fire left to read by. She squinted harder at the page, tilting it one way and then another, chasing the flicker of flame for enough light to make out the words that were already difficult to decipher.
She shifted closer to the fire and angled the journal, but it still wasn’t enough. The shadows swallowed half the page every time the flames dipped low.
Hawk reached for her. His warm hands landed on her waist, and he pulled her close beside him so they could study the page together. Her breath caught at the way he touched her—like he had every right to.
More surprising was how much she didn’t mind.
Her concentration broke as his shoulder pressed against hers, warm and solid. He didn’t move away and neither did she.
“Here.” She passed him the journal. “See if you can make out this line better than I can.”
He took the book and skimmed through it, squinting at the page. His head bent close enough that she could kiss him if she turned her head. And his spicy, woodsy scent filled her senses.
“The cursive is too tiny and cramped.” He held the book out to her.
She took it, but as soon as it was safely in her hands, Hawk opened his arms to her.
“Come here.”
She blinked. Before she could ask what he meant, he settled against the fallen log behind them and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her until her back rested against his chest and the journal lay angled perfectly toward the fire where they could both see it without straining.
Sinead melted into him, surprised by how natural it felt. How comforting, how easy it was to mold her body to his, like it had been waiting for permission to stop holding itself apart from his.
He kept one arm around her waist while he held one side of the journal with the other.
Her eyes slipped closed without her meaning to shut them. But the feel of Hawk at her back spread a slow, intimate ache through her chest.
As they worked through the journal entries, his chin occasionally dipped near her temple, making her burn to rub her face against his stubbled jaw.
The script seemed to shrink, half the letters smudged ink. Finally, she stopped on a word she couldn’t parse.
“Can you read this?” She tilted the page toward him.
He studied it for a long moment. “Boobs?”
She burst out laughing, the sound echoing through the quiet campsite. “It does…not…say…boobs!” Giggles rushed out between words.
His chest rumbled. “Look at it. Two round letters. That long swoop.” He traced the shape in the air. “It’s boob. And I’d know. I’ve been looking at that word since fifth grade when Johnny Mills showed me how to type 28008 on a calculator and turn it upside down to read BOOBS.”
She shook with laughter. When she swiped the tears from her damp lashes, she focused on the page with fresh eyes.
“Booth.” Her breath caught. “Not boobs—Booth. Hawk, it’s a place. He’s naming a location.” She read on, words tumbling faster. “Booth Ridge?”
“Yes.” His tone sounded with awe.
“Booth Ridge. Where is that?” she asked slowly.
He looked off toward the wall of trees for a moment. Then he shifted his weight, jostling her against his chest where she still leaned, and pulled out his phone. He opened the map app. But he shook his head.
“If it existed, it’s not called that now. I need to send out a feeler to my team. I’ll do it first thing tomorrow. We can’t search for it tonight. It’s not safe to go poking around in the dark.”
Her blood fizzed with excitement. “But if there is a mine, and it’s close—”
He cupped her face, turning her face up to his.
His serious expression stopped her from leaping up and running into the void of darkness.
“Let’s make a plan for morning. We need to do some scouting of the area too.
I won’t let you fall into any mine shafts.
” He stroked the pad of his thumb over her lips, a soft sweep that sent tingles through every corner of her body and throbbed low in her core.
“The only thing I’ll let you fall into…is my arms.” He kissed her, a tender brush of his lips that spiked her need.
Journal forgotten, she twisted in his arms, hooking her hand around his nape to pull him down for more. When her body pulsed with urgency, she kissed him harder.
“Easy, darlin’,” he murmured against her mouth, his words a stroke of their own. “We have time.”
He was wrong. What they didn’t have was time. It was slipping between their fingers with every mile they hiked together. They were closer than ever, and that meant soon, she and Hawk would part ways.
Her body reacted to that with a sharp dip of her heart, so low it almost hit her stomach.
If this was all ending soon, she wouldn’t let herself waste a single second of it.
She gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him down again. “We have all night, and I intend to use every minute.”