Читать книгу The Last Lone Wolf / Seduction and the CEO: The Last Lone Wolf / Seduction and the CEO - Maureen Child - Страница 12

Frowning, Jericho said, “Happy? Nobody’s happy on a battlefield.”

“You know what I mean,” she persisted.

He stared into his coffee as if looking for answers. Finally, he said, “Yeah, I do. The thing is, people always ask that question, but they don’t really want to know what a war zone is like.”

“I do. I want to know what my brother’s life was like before it ended.”

Lifting his gaze to hers, he kept his face deliberately blank. “Brant did his job. He was good at it. He was well-liked.”

When she opened her mouth to ask another question, he cut her off. “Daisy, let it go.”

“I can’t,” she told him, regret shining in her whiskey-brown eyes. “I have to know.”

Jericho sighed a little, took a drink of his coffee and told her what he could, with some judicious editing. Civilians would never understand what it was like in a combat zone. Would never know the moments of pure adrenaline rush, followed by the searing hours of boredom. They wouldn’t understand what it was to put your life in someone else’s hands and to trust them with yours, or the fierce loyalty that the military experienced on a daily basis.

And how could they?

So he kept it simple and as vague as he could possibly get away with. “The days were blistering hot and the nights were so cold,” he said, “you half expected to wake up with icicles on your nose.”

“Brant complained about the cold in an e-mail once. I sent blankets,” she told him. “To everyone in his unit.”

“I know,” he said, giving her a real smile now as his memory raced back in time. “There was a lot of celebrating that day. After that, every mail call, Brant’s friends huddled close, wanting to get in on one of your packages from home.”

“I’m glad,” she said, though her features were wreathed in sadness.

He could give her this much. To let her know that her efforts had been appreciated by more than just her brother. “Touches of home are really cherished when they’re hard to come by. I can tell you all of the hot chocolate and instant coffees and dry foods you sent made him real popular. MREs get pretty tasteless after a while.”

She nodded. “Meals Ready to Eat. Brant told me about them. He actually had me taste one once. It was tuna casserole.” She grimaced.

Jericho laughed. “It’s an acquired taste. Actually, I brought some with me on this trip, just in case. So if you want to—”

“No, thanks,” she said, reaching out to give her chowder a stir.

The scent of the soup filled the air and Jericho could admit at least to himself that he was relieved she’d brought along provisions for tonight. What she’d packed looked a hell of a lot better than the MREs.

“You were with him when he died, weren’t you?”

The question was so softly asked, posed with such hesitation, the sound of the river nearly drowned it out. But Jericho heard her and also caught the worried expression on her face, as if she were half afraid to hear his answer.

He was stepping onto dangerous ground here. Might as well have been a minefield. Not enough information and she’d still be thirsty for more. Too much information and her dreams would be haunted. No information at all and she’d rag on him until he gave her something.

Again, he kept it simple. “Yeah, I was.”

“He wasn’t … in pain, was he?”

If he had been, Jericho wouldn’t have told her, but as it stood, he could be honest about this at least. “No, he wasn’t. He talked about you. Asked me to help you out if you ever needed it.”

“My little brother trying to protect me,” she mused and looked at him. The trail of a single tear coursed down her cheek like a drop of silver sliding over porcelain.

“That’s what brothers do,” he said, thinking of his own brothers. Jefferson, Justice and Jesse. He hadn’t seen much of them since he’d come home.

By choice, really. He’d wanted, needed, the solitude of the mountain and his brothers had respected that. Of course, he thought with an inward smile, his sisters-in-law were less understanding and had managed to drag him off the mountain for a few family things.

And on those rare occasions, he had been struck by a surprising jolt of envy that had shamed him some. Hell, he was glad for his brothers. They were all happy, doing what they loved doing—raising families. Jericho had decided as a kid he wasn’t interested in living his life in the traditional manner. But seeing his brothers with their families always left him feeling a little like the outsider.

“You have three brothers, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” he said, jolting from his thoughts.

“Are you close?”

“Used to be,” he admitted. “Still are, really, but we grew up, we each chose a different path and we all got busy building lives. Jefferson lives in Ireland now, so no, we don’t see much of each other anymore.”

“That’s a shame,” she said, spooning chowder into two bowls and handing him one. “Family is important. It’s the only important thing.”

Which made him remember that now that she’d lost her brother, Daisy had no family. Though he didn’t see much of his, he couldn’t really imagine life without them, either.

In the firelight, Daisy looked lovely, delicate, with her soft hair falling over her shoulders, reflections of the flames dancing in her wide, brown eyes. She ate her soup and thought her thoughts and couldn’t possibly have known that just looking at her was making him … want.

Which just naturally brought to mind Sam’s warnings before they’d left the lodge that morning. Maybe the older man was right. Maybe Jericho was just being twitchy and not being fair to her.

But, hell, it was his mountain.

Who said he had to be fair?

Jericho watched Daisy maneuver her way carefully across a rope bridge in the early morning light and found himself silently rooting for her. She was a surprise in many ways. Not only did she have spine, she seemed inherently incapable of quitting. She wasn’t afraid to try something—take a risk—if it meant getting herself closer to her goal.

Plus her incessant good humor was starting to rub off on him. Hard to maintain a stern demeanor when you were faced down by a brilliant smile every time you turned around. Yeah, she wasn’t what he’d expected at all. And though his original opinion that she didn’t belong on the mountain still held, he had to give her credit for a hell of a lot more than he would have guessed.

Frowning, he watched her take small steps and then slide her hands along the top rope of the bridge. He’d had several obstacle-course projects made and installed before he’d opened the camp. This was one of his personal favorites.

A single, heavy rope was the base of the bridge with more ropes angling up from the base in a V. Stretched between two tall pines, the bridge was only four feet off the ground, so anyone falling wasn’t going to die. Though the bruises gathered would be a painful reminder of failure. He’d seen plenty of men topple off that bridge, cursing their own clumsiness and ineptitude, but Daisy was making it. Sure, she was taking twice as long as most people to complete the course, but careful didn’t mean failure.

The wind lifted her long ponytail and snapped it like a flag. Her jeans were dirty and her hands were curled so tightly around the guide rail ropes that her knuckles were white. But she was doing it.

He stood below her, watching every step and wanting her to succeed.

“Why does it have to sway so much?” she demanded, not risking a look at him but keeping her gaze fixed, just as he’d told her to, on her final goal.

“It’s a rope,” he reminded her, “bound to sway.”

“I don’t understand how this is a survival thing,” she muttered, scooting her clenched fists farther along the guide ropes. Her feet slid forward another inch or two.

“If you have to get to the other side of a river fast, you’d understand.”

“Be faster to swim,” she pointed out and gave him a fleeting grin.

“You’re doing fine. Pay attention to where you’re putting your feet. One in front of the other.”

“I know,” she said, swallowing hard. “Good thing you made me change out of my boots before we left the lodge. Never would have done this in them.”

He smiled to himself and kept pace with her. The dog at the end of the leash he held barked and pranced and in general made a racket as it tried, futilely, to reach Daisy. “How can you concentrate with this dog shooting off its mouth?”

“I’m used to it. Nikki’s very chatty,” she admitted and one of her feet slipped off the rope. She gasped but caught herself before she could fall. “Whoa, boy. That was close.”

“It was.” And he didn’t want to think about the feeling that had jolted through him with her misstep. He’d watched dozens, hundreds of people walk this rope bridge and never once before had he had a vested interest in how they managed it.

Lots of them had taken tumbles, too, and it hadn’t bothered him a bit. Yet damned if he wanted Daisy falling.

Shaking his head, Jericho acknowledged that he was having a problem. He was supposed to be discouraging her from passing these little tests. Instead, he’d helped her as much as he could. Maybe it was because of her brother, Jericho told himself. Maybe he felt as if he owed her something. But then again, maybe it was just because he wanted her.

He could admit that much to himself. And whatever he was feeling for her had only intensified since that morning. He and Daisy had gone to sleep the night before, lying on opposite sides of the fire.

But the nights were cold at this altitude and when Jericho woke up this morning, it was to find a curvy, beautiful, warm woman snuggled up close to him, spooning herself along the front of his body. Which completely explained the dream he’d been having, filled with images of hot, sweaty sex. He woke up to an aching groin and his blood pumping fast and thick through his veins. Ever since that moment of wakefulness, his body had been strung taut as a violin string.

“Jericho?”

He snapped out of his thoughts and focused anew. “No more talking. Just concentrate.”

“Okay,” she countered, keeping her gaze fixed on the end of the rope bridge, “if I can’t talk, then you talk to me.”

He shook his head. “You’re unbelievable.”

“That’s not talking,” she said.

“Fine,” he said, tugging on the leash to pull the dog back into line, “I’ll talk. Let’s see … we’ve got a batch of clients arriving end of next week. Only be here for a long weekend.”

“Who are they?” she asked as her foot slipped. “Whoops!”

“Concentrate.”

“Right. I’m good. Fine. Keep talking.”

“They’re part of a law firm from Indiana,” he said. Remembering how the last bunch of lawyers had performed, Jericho wasn’t looking forward to it. Lawyers seemed incapable of unwinding. Even in the wilderness, they were wired, tense. Without their PDAs and cell phones, they acted like spoiled children missing a favorite toy. They didn’t like being in the outdoors and usually resented being sent here by their companies.

“Not looking forward to it,” he said. “Lawyers complain too much.”

“True enough. I’m almost across.”

She was. Close enough to the end that she was liable to start speeding up to get it over with. “Slow down. Careful steps.”

“I am, I am,” she told him in an undertone. “So if you don’t like lawyers why have them here?”

“They’re paying customers, like anyone else.”

“Uh-huh. Did you ever think of opening up the camp to kids?”

“Kids?”

She laughed loud and long, and the joyful sound of it rose up through the trees like smoke. He narrowed his gaze on her and scowled when she set herself swaying wildly with her laughter. “You sound so horrified!”

“Knock it off and pay attention to what you’re doing.”

“Oh, relax! I’m good. In fact,” she added, her voice rising, “I’m done!“ She stepped onto the platform at the end of the rope bridge and threw both hands into the air in a victory pose. “I did it! By myself!”

Sure, he thought, not counting his shouted instructions and constant watchfulness. But damned if he could deny her the victory dance. “Yeah, you did. Enough celebrating. Now we go hit the climbing wall.”

“Wow, way to pop my balloon.”

“You want to be congratulated?” he asked. “Do it all, then we’ll talk. Now climb down, take this silly excuse for a dog and let’s hike to the wall.”

“Climbing a wall?” Her features fell like a kid faced with a pop quiz. That only lasted a second or two, though. She lifted that stubborn chin of hers and said, “Fine. Let’s do it.”

“Damned if I’m not starting to like you,” he said and had the satisfaction of seeing surprise flicker across her face.

“Thanks.”

He watched her climb down from the platform and walk toward him with a spring in her step. The little dog on the end of the red leash jumped and pulled, trying to get to her, so Jericho dropped the leash and the poodle raced to Daisy. The tiny dog was scooped up and cuddled while it wiggled in ecstasy.

Jericho thought briefly that he couldn’t blame the animal for the reaction. In fact, he almost envied the ridiculous little dog.

“Jericho?”

Her voice sounded confused. “What?”

She smiled at him. “Just wondering where you were. I was talking to you and you just zoned out.”

Well, that was humiliating. “I was thinking about the wall,” he lied.

“Oh. Okay.” She sounded disappointed now, but added, “Let’s go and get it over with then.”

Get it over with. Hmm. That had been his plan in bringing her up here. Walk her through, watch her fail and get her off the mountain. What the plan was now, he wasn’t sure.

“So,” she asked as Nikki trotted ahead of them, “why’d you freak when I suggested you bring kids up here?”

“I didn’t freak,” he said, and assured himself that was true. A man who’d spent as many years in the military as he had wouldn’t be “freaked” by the idea of having kids run amok at his camp. “I was just … surprised by the suggestion.”

She pushed a low-hanging bough out of her way, ducked her head to pass under and said, “I don’t know why. In my old neighborhood, there were dozens of kids who would have loved to be here for a week or two.” She took a moment to glance around and he followed her gaze.

Early morning light tipped the edges of the pine branches. A soft wind sighed through the trees and a bright blue jay shot through the air like a colorful bullet. The woods never failed to center him. To give him the sense of peace that was as elusive as it was sought after. Just the thought of having dozens of teenagers rampaging through the forest he considered a sanctuary was enough to make him grit his teeth. But Daisy clearly liked the idea.

“Kids in the city have no idea really. What a world with no sidewalks or freeways looks like,” she said wistfully. “They’ve never seen the stars the way you can up here and I’m sure they’ve never heard silence so deep.”

“I’m not set up to have kids here,” he said, guiding her around a stack of boulders. “This is a leadership camp. We train CEOs and other corporate types how to use teamwork. How to count on each other and learn from each other. How to overcome negatives and turn them into positives.”

“All of which kids would benefit from learning,” she pointed out.

“Not my job,” he insisted. What the hell would he do with a dozen or more kids running wild on the mountain? Hell, just the liability issues alone would be staggering.

“You talk tough, but you’re not such a hard guy, Jericho King.”

One dark eyebrow lifted when he glanced back at her. “Don’t kid yourself.”

“Oh, I’m not,” she said, smiling into his scowling face. “See, I’ve talked with Kevin, your cook—who is, I hesitate to point out, barely more than a kid himself—”

“He’s twenty.”

“My point exactly,” she said smugly. “Anyway, he told me that not only did you hire him here with no references, but that you’re also loaning him the money to go to the Culinary Institute of America. So he can be the chef he dreams of being.”

“That’s different.” And real damn irritating to find out that Kevin was shooting his mouth off. Jericho was going to have to have a talk with the kid.

“How is it different?”

He wasn’t sure. Kevin had wandered up to the mountain a little more than a year ago looking for work. He’d been scrawny and exhausted from carrying around a chip on his shoulder for so long. He’d had a rough life but he’d stood up to it and made himself into a good kid despite the odds. He’d proven himself in the kitchen so quickly that Jericho had kept him on. Now, he was helping the kid get a start. No big deal.

Gritting his teeth, he said, “The difference is, I didn’t go hunting down a bunch of kids to sponsor. Kevin found us. He just showed up and wouldn’t leave. Besides, he stopped being a kid a long time ago. He’s been on his own since he was fifteen and—”

“And you gave him a chance to be what he wanted to be,” Daisy said, laying one hand on his forearm. “I’m just saying it would be nice if other kids had the same opportunity.”

Reluctantly, Jericho pulled free of her touch and said abruptly, “Maybe you should stop worrying about other people and give a thought or two to passing your own test.”

That kept her quiet for a while, but in the silence, Jericho’s mind raced with the thoughts and ideas she’d planted there.

Damn it.