Читать книгу Four Relentless Days - Elle James - Страница 12
ОглавлениеWhile Talia was in the kitchen helping his teammates feed their late-night hunger, Harm stepped out of the lodge and hurried to the cabin he’d been assigned, wishing he had a flashlight to shine at the ground. Though he didn’t have a deadly fear of snakes, the cobra in Big Jake’s bed would shake him as much as it had shaken his friend.
Once he reached the cabin, he flipped on the light switch and made a careful study of the interior, just in case another cobra had found its way in while Harm had been away.
The question burning in his mind was how did a cobra get inside Big Jake’s cabin? And why would it end up on the bed?
After a thorough search of his own cabin, Harm studied the bed. The comforter had been neatly fitted over the entire bed with a colorful throw draped at the foot. Someone could have stashed the snake in the throw. Until Big Jake slid beneath the comforter, the snake might not have felt the need to move.
Using a hanger, Harm lifted the throw off the end of the bed. Nothing lay beneath. He shook the fabric. Nothing fell from the folds. Harm released the breath he’d been holding and set his gear bag on the bed. He unearthed the flashlight he kept in an outside pocket of the bag and unzipped the main opening.
A few minutes later, he’d ascertained his bag was free of snakes, bugs or anything else that might keep him up at night. After he zipped the bag, he hefted it onto one shoulder and left the cabin, closing the door behind him.
The screaming howl of jackals filled the night. Harm didn’t consider himself very superstitious, but Africa and the savanna lent itself to being creepy.
He hurried back to the lodge and up the stairs to ditch his bag before joining the rest of the gang in the kitchen.
His five teammates were seated at a large wood and steel kitchen table, digging into ham sandwiches and drinking beer.
“Would you care for a sandwich?” Talia asked.
T-Mac held up what was left of his. “You gotta try the ham. I don’t know what the chef put on it, but it’s damned good.” T-Mac glanced at Talia. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to curse.”
She smiled. “No worries. I’ve heard worse. I think I’ve even said worse.”
Harm’s heart contracted at Talia’s sweet smile. Curse words from her mouth wouldn’t detract one bit from her beauty. Not wanting to leave the kitchen yet, he tipped his head toward the container of ham slices. “I’d like a sandwich, but I can make it myself.”
“No need. Sit with your friends,” she ordered. “It won’t take me a minute.”
“At least let me help.” Harm washed his hands in the sink and returned to pull lettuce off a head on the counter.
Talia laid bread on the counter. “Mustard or mayo?”
“Both,” Harm replied.
She spread mustard on one piece of bread and layered ham slices over it.
Harm laid the lettuce on the ham, while Talia slathered mayonnaise onto the other slice of bread. She laid it on top of the pile of ham and held it from falling off to the side. “Could you hand me the knife?”
Harm reached around her, his chest brushing against her back.
Talia stiffened, her hand freezing on the sandwich.
“I’ll cut that,” he said.
She held the sandwich with one hand.
Harm’s arm curved around her, and he held the knife over the bread. About that time, he caught a whiff of her perfume and couldn’t think past wanting to get closer to identify the scent.
“Are you going to cut it?” she whispered.
Entirely too aware of his hostess, Harm pressed the handle of the knife into her palm. “Maybe it would be best if you did the honors.”
She nodded. “Right.” Her hand shook as she sliced through the bread, ham and lettuce. With quick efficiency, she laid the two sides of the sandwich on a plate and poured potato chips beside it. “Here you go.” Talia shoved the plate toward Harm. “You can help yourself to the drinks in the refrigerator. If you prefer tea or coffee, I’ll make some for you.”
“Thank you. I’ll have a beer, but I can get it myself.” He took the plate from her hands, his fingers brushing against hers, sending an electrical current up his arm and all the way down to his groin.
Talia snatched her hands away and tucked them into the back pockets of her jeans. By the way she was acting, she might have had a similar reaction to his touch.
A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he carried the plate to the table. He liked that he unnerved her as much as she did him.
Diesel reached out as if to snag Harm’s sandwich.
“Touch it and I’ll break your fingers,” Harm warned. That sandwich meant more than something to fill his belly. Talia had helped make it. For him.
The other SEAL held up his hands in surrender. “Just kidding with you. I kind of like my fingers the way they are. Need them to shoot.”
“You know better, Diesel. No one comes between a SEAL and his sandwich,” Pitbull said. As if to prove his point, he stuffed the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth and grinned like a chipmunk with his cheeks full of nuts.
Big Jake stood, carried his plate to the sink and stopped at the refrigerator on the way back. He snagged two longneck bottles of beer and handed one to Harm. “Didn’t think you’d want to leave your food unattended with these vultures around.”
“You got that right.” Harm shot a narrow-eyed glare at the others sitting at the table and then gave a chin lift to Big Jake. “Thanks, man.”
“You’re welcome.” He patted his flat stomach and stretched. “I think I’ll be hitting the rack.”
“I’ll show you the room,” Talia offered.
Big Jake grabbed his duffel bag and followed Talia out of the kitchen.
Harm couldn’t focus on his food until Talia had left the room. His pulse hadn’t slowed since he’d touched her hand.
“I’m going to marry that woman,” T-Mac said.
Harm’s gaze shot to his teammate, and he nearly crushed his sandwich in his fist. “Why do you say that?”
T-Mac laughed. “Seriously?” He tipped his head toward the door Talia had disappeared through. “She makes a mean ham sandwich, she’s beautiful, and most of all, she’s not afraid of snakes.”
Dr. Vega set her bottle of water on the table, a frown wrinkling her pretty brow. “And you think those are enough reasons to marry someone?”
“It’s enough in my book,” T-Mac said.
“You barely know the woman,” Pitbull said.
“And how long have you known Marly?” T-Mac raised his eyebrows and smiled at Marly. “No offense, Marly.”
She shook her head, her sandy blond hair swinging around her chin. “None taken.”
Pitbull lifted Marly’s hand. “We’re different. There was a connection between us from the start.”
Marly lifted his knuckles to her lips and pressed a kiss to them. “Well, not from the start, but shortly after. I was more interested in making him sweat in the copilot’s seat of my airplane.”
“And I did,” Pitbull said.
“Yes, but you held strong.” Marly smiled into his eyes. “Even when you were scared out of your mind.”
Pitbull frowned. “I wasn’t scared out of my mind.”
“Uh-huh.” Marly pressed his hand to her cheek. “Even when we landed in the middle of a herd of zebras?”
“Crash-landed,” he corrected.
“I prefer to call it a controlled emergency landing.” Marly lifted her chin. “I was in control the entire time.”
“Yes, you were,” Pitbull said and leaned across to kiss her lips.
Harm watched their public display of affection and found himself wishing he had that kind of relationship with a woman. His thoughts immediately went to Talia and quickly switched back to T-Mac.
He’d be damned if his teammate stole Talia’s heart out from under him. Not that he held her heart. She’d loved her husband.
The tension ebbed from Harm’s body. T-Mac didn’t have a chance with Talia. For that matter, neither did Harm. It would take a very special man to win her heart after the love she’d shared with her husband. Harm wasn’t sure he, T-Mac or anyone else on his team was that special. He loved them like brothers, but none of them were as creative or sensitive to the plight of the animals on the savanna. Yeah, they cared about their existence, but not to the point where they’d choose to give up their lives in the States to run a resort in Kenya.
Talia deserved someone strong, yet sensitive and creative, who would love her so very much he’d be willing to risk it all to keep her safe.
Harm bit into his sandwich, thinking about Talia’s husband, Michael. Any man who would bring his woman out to the wilds of Africa without a backup plan had to be too focused on his own dreams and desires to think about the needs of the woman he promised to love, honor and cherish. Somewhere in those marriage vows should have been another promise...to protect. By dying, Michael had left his wife exposed to all the dangers inherent to life in Africa. He should have had a plan in place for her should he be injured or killed.
The man obviously didn’t love her enough, or he would have left instructions on what to do in the event of his death.
Talia was a lone woman in a country where she didn’t have family or a support system. And from the sound of it, the local witch doctor was using her femininity against her and turning the community against her as well.
“T-Mac, you need to focus on women within your reach,” Pitbull said. “Talia lives in Africa. What kind of relationship could you have if she’s half a world away from you ninety-nine percent of the time?”
T-Mac shrugged. “Love will find a way. I mean, look at you and Marly. All she had to do was blow up her airplane and voilà!” He waved his arm to the side. “She’s moving to the States.”
“Let me get this straight,” Harm said. “Are you planning on blowing up the resort? Because if that’s your plan, you’ll have to go through me to do it.”
“Well, no, but my point is, things have a way of working out.” T-Mac frowned. “You don’t have to take me literally.” He stared across the table at Harm, his eyes narrowing. “Wait. What does this mean? Do you have feelings for our pretty hostess?” His eyes widened and a smile spread across his face.
Harm’s brow dipped. “I didn’t say that. I’m just saying she’s got enough problems without worrying about one of her guests destroying her livelihood.”
T-Mac’s grin broadened. “You like her.” He glanced around at the faces of the other four men in the kitchen. “The most confirmed bachelor of all of us has a thing for Talia.” He whooped. “Hot damn. This ought to be fun to watch. The harder they are, the bigger the fall.”
“I thought it was the bigger they are...” Marly commented. “And what do you mean, Harm’s the most confirmed bachelor? I thought you were all pretty happy being single.”
“I thought we were, too,” Pitbull said. “Then Diesel met Reese, I fell for you, and Buck reunited with Dr. Vega. Apparently, even the most confirmed bachelors are susceptible to falling in love.”
Harm shook his head. “Not me.”
T-Mac laughed. “I’d be willing to give up my pursuit of the beautiful Ms. Talia to see the cynical Harmon Payne fall to the greater power of love.”
Harm frowned at T-Mac. “Yeah, well, it isn’t going to happen. You know as well as I do that we’re not cut out for relationships. Not in our line of work.” He cast a quick glance at Dr. Vega and Marly. “No offense. You might be the exceptions. Although what you see in Pitbull and Buck, I’ll never figure out.”
Thankfully, Marly and Dr. Vega laughed.
“It’s finding the right woman who can handle the long separations,” Buck said. He took Dr. Vega’s hand and smiled down into her eyes. “It takes a very independent woman who is capable of standing on her two feet. I think Talia meets that criteria.”
“She’s a business owner in a challenging industry and country,” Marly pointed out.
“She obviously doesn’t need a man to function,” Dr. Vega said.
“And neither do either of you two women,” T-Mac said.
The ladies nodded.
“But we choose to be with our guys.” Marly laid a hand on Pitbull’s arm.
“Not because we are dependent on them, but because we want to be with them,” Angela Vega said with a smile.
Harm shrugged. “Again, I believe you ladies are the exception.”
“Be careful, Harm,” Marly warned. “You can’t paint all women with the same brush. Many of us are of stronger stock.”
Angela studied him with narrowed eyes. “What happened in the past that turned you against relationships? Did you get a Dear John letter that broke your heart? Or am I getting too personal?”
Harm stiffened. The doctor’s words hit far too close to home.
“Yeah, Harm, who rocked your love boat?” T-Mac asked.
“That’s it.” Harm glared at his teammates. “My love life—”
“Or lack thereof,” T-Mac inserted.
“—is not up for discussion,” Harm continued. “If and when I have a love life, which is highly unlikely, you all will be the last to know.”
“I have a feeling we’ll know before you,” Diesel said. “You’ll be in a huge state of denial.”
“Like you are now,” Buck added.
“Whatever.” Harm spun toward the door. “I’m calling it a night.” He marched toward the door, ready to get the hell out of the conversation.
“You can run from the truth,” T-Mac called out, “but you can’t hide.”
He was so intent on leaving the kitchen, Harm didn’t notice Talia coming from the opposite direction until he plowed right into her.
She bounced off his chest and might have fallen if he hadn’t gripped her arms to steady her.
Laughter erupted behind him.
“See? You can run...” T-Mac said.
“I’m sorry. I should have been more careful,” Talia said, looking up at him with her clear blue eyes, a smile curving her soft lips.
“No,” Harm said, his voice gruff. “My fault. I should have been looking where I was going.” His first inclination was to pull her into his arms and crush her to his chest. But the lingering chuckles behind him reminded him of the conversation his teammates had subjected him to.
He wasn’t in the market to find love. But if he were, Talia was an amazing woman. Strong, sensitive, loyal and beautiful. Damn. “I can’t go there,” he muttered and set her to the side.
“What do you mean?” she asked, her eyebrows forming a V over her nose. “Go where?” She looked past him to the crowd in the kitchen. “Did I miss something?”
T-Mac slapped a hand to his knee and gave a bark of laughter. “Boy, did you.”
Harm had no desire to be humiliated in front of their hostess. “Good night.” He continued toward the staircase and took the steps two at a time, laughter following him all the way up.
He hoped his teammates wouldn’t share their discussion with Talia. He didn’t want her to get the wrong impression. He wasn’t interested in her. Even if her touch sent fire ripping through his veins and her smile made his knees wobble.
* * *
TALIA STOOD IN the doorway of the kitchen, her arms still tingling where Harm had gripped them.
His friends were laughing and grinning like fools. Even Marly and Dr. Vega were smiling.
“I feel like I’m missing out on a joke. Someone want to fill me in?”
T-Mac turned to the others. “Should I?”
“No,” Buck said.
Diesel shook his head. “Just leave it.”
T-Mac frowned. “You take all the fun out of poking the bear.”
Talia stared from T-Mac to Diesel and back. “Bear?”
“Harm.” T-Mac raised his hands. “That’s all I’m going to say.”
“Good,” Marly said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I could use some sleep.”
“Me, too.” T-Mac pushed back from the table and stood. “After I check for snakes.” He carried his plate to the sink.
“You’re welcome to stay in the lodge, if it will make you feel better.” Talia gathered more plates from the table. “I’ll happily make up a room for you and anyone else who wants to move in from the cabins.”
“I’ll risk the cabin.” Buck slipped his arm around Dr. Vega. “If you’re willing.”
Angela smiled up at him. “As long as you go in first and make sure we don’t have a cobra waiting in our bed.”
Buck shuddered. “I can’t imagine what Big Jake must have felt seeing that snake.”
“I would have blown the bed and half the room away trying to kill that cobra,” T-Mac said.
“Because you’re a lousy shot.” Diesel draped an arm over T-Mac’s shoulder. “Come on, I’ll help you clear your cabin so you can sleep without fear of being snake bit. And so you don’t feel the need to put holes in the furniture or walls.”
“Thanks, dude,” T-Mac said with a twisted grin. “You’re a real friend.”
“I’ve got your six, man,” Diesel said.
The two men left the kitchen, followed by Buck and Angela and Marly and Pitbull.
Though they poked and prodded each other, they seemed to be a tight-knit team, willing to do anything for each other.
Eventually, Talia was alone. She cleaned the dishes, dried them and put them away. She knew she was procrastinating, avoiding going to bed. Many nights she’d stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, finally falling asleep in one of the lounge chairs in the common area rather than going up to the room she’d shared with Michael.
A few months after Michael’s death, she’d moved her things out of their room and into a smaller room to open up the master suite to guests. She’d told herself it was because she could charge a premium for the larger room. The reality was she didn’t want to sleep in the room she had shared with Michael. Too many memories kept her awake at night.
But tonight, she wasn’t awake because of her memories of Michael. She didn’t want to walk past the room Harm was sleeping in to get to hers. The thought of only a wall standing between them as they lay in their beds seemed too personal. None of her other guests had that effect on her. Why would Harm?
She wrapped her arms around her middle and walked into the common area. Maybe she’d sleep in one of the lounge chairs. She always woke before her guests. In that case, she could be up and dressed for the day well before they came down for breakfast.
Talia sat on one of the long sofas and tucked her legs beneath her.
Wide-awake and wired, sleep wasn’t going to come to her at once. The cobra, the poachers and other happenings were getting too close for comfort. Something had to give. Her chef had suggested she hire the local witch doctor to lift the evil spell from the walls, floors and grounds. She hadn’t been keen on doing that.
First of all, Talia didn’t believe in magic, but the people who worked for her did. Second, the witch doctor could be the one behind all of the shenanigans. He could be setting her up for extortion.
However, if things didn’t improve soon, her staff would stop coming to work. She’d have to run the place by herself. She could do it during the slow season, but not when the lodge and all the cabins were full. Someone had to lead the safaris while another person cooked enough to feed the guests, tended to the cabins and maintained the grounds.
No, she couldn’t do all those tasks alone. If her staff quit coming to work, she’d have to take fewer and fewer guests. If she couldn’t bring in guests, she couldn’t pay the bills. She’d be forced to close.
Then what? After Michael was killed by a rhino, she’d automatically assumed she’d continue on with the operation of the resort. Yes, it had been primarily Michael’s dream, but while he was alive, she’d shared that dream. After his death, she’d been in such a funk, she couldn’t bring herself to consider other options. Michael was buried in Africa. She hadn’t wanted to leave.
This place, the lodge, the resort, the savanna, had memories seared into every corner, every tree, everywhere she looked.
Yet her thoughts continued to drift up the stairs to the man in the room beside hers. Guilt rushed over her like a heat wave. Only a year had passed since Michael’s death. She shouldn’t be feeling anything for anyone other than her husband. Should she?
Talia reached for one of the throw pillows on the cushion beside her and hugged it to her chest. She missed being able to hug someone. Not just a friendly hug, but one that involved body-to-body contact. A real, warm, lasting hug she never wanted to end.
Not like holding a pillow. A pillow couldn’t return the sentiment. Someone with thick, strong arms was needed to make that connection. Someone who could return the pressure and make her feel safe and loved. And not so very...alone.
“Why are you sitting down here all alone?” a deep resonant voice asked.
Talia started and glanced up into the warm, deep brown eyes of the man she’d been thinking about.
He wore jeans and a well-worn T-shirt stretched tautly over the broad expanse of his chest. And he was barefoot.
Talia fought the urge to drool like Pavlov’s dog. “I...uh...” She gulped hard to keep from squeaking. “...wasn’t sleepy.”
“Too much excitement?” He nodded toward the cushion beside her. “Mind if I sit?”
Excitement? Oh, yeah. She pretended a nonchalance she didn’t feel. “Please. Sit where you like.” Inside she fought a losing battle between self-preservation and desire. If he accepted her offer to take the seat beside her on the sofa, self-preservation didn’t stand a chance.
Harm dropped onto the cushion inches away from Talia.
Her breath caught and her pulse kicked into high gear.
Sitting half facing her, Harm leaned his elbows on his knees. “The snake in Big Jake’s cabin worrying you?”
“For a start,” she admitted. No use telling him she was also worried by her feelings for him. He didn’t need to know that little bit of information. If she thought witchcraft and bad juju were making her vulnerable, letting a man know he made her weak in the knees would expose her in a way she was nowhere near ready to handle.
Talia prayed he didn’t try anything silly, like kissing her. She wasn’t sure she had the power to resist.
