Читать книгу I Will Survive - Samantha Connolly - Страница 11

JESSIE STRAIGHTENED HER spine and licked her lips nervously as Nick and Lois re-joined them. Kenny circled around so he could catch Nick’s arrival.

“Okay,” said Lois, crackling with authority. “Jess and Nick, I love this sexual tension thing you two have got going on and we’ll really play on it later but, for now, let’s just put it on hold until we get the practicalities sorted out.”

Jessie was horrified, even more so when Cindi nudged her and made kissy noises.

“There’s no sexual tension,” Jessie and Nick said in unison and then their eyes met in dismay.

Lois laughed delightedly. “Right,” she said. “Obviously. Anyway, I’m going to give you the rundown and I’m only saying it once so listen up everyone. We’re trying to keep the camera presence as unintrusive as possible. Even though this is a special we’re maintaining the feel of the regular Survive This! show, so Kenny will be the only handheld following you. Unless you have to split up and then we’ll bring in temps. Apart from that there are cameras scattered around the island.” She smiled. “We call them the Island Eyes.”

“Where are they?” asked Jessie.

“You don’t need to know. Now, you’ve also got the confession cam in the tiki hut, which is beyond the coconut trees at the end of the beach. Contractually, you’re obligated to do ten minutes, twice a day, but you can go in more often if you like. Remember, it’s no-holds-barred in there. Talk about life on the island, each other, what’s happening, any problems you’re having. If you’re thinking it, we want to hear about it.” She waggled her finger at them. “No holding out on us. And remember, that’s also your chance to address the audience directly. Which leads me nicely on to my next point.”

She looked down, checking her clipboard. “Nick will be setting challenges for you while you’re here and there’ll be a certain amount of points going for those. But sixty percent of your scores will come from audience votes so in the end, they’re the ones who will really be deciding who wins.”

Jessie nodded along with the others and then risked a peek at Nick. He was looking down at the sand, apparently listening, and she let her gaze linger on his face. The blue-green eyes framed with dark lashes, the thick tousled hair, the laugh lines at the corner of his eyes matched by the brackets on either side of his mouth. His features were so familiar from all those evenings on the sofa laughing along with his modest self-deprecating comments that she had to remind herself that he was a stranger to her. Then there was also the fact that, much as she’d told herself not to have any expectations, she hadn’t been able to resist the occasional fantasy regarding what would happen on the island. She’d imagined that, as she met each challenge with grit and determination, Nick’s admiration for her would grow and one night as they were gazing into the fire he’d suggest that just because their adventure was coming to an end didn’t mean their friendship had to.

“I’ve shared more with you in two weeks,” he’d say, “than with people I’ve known my whole life.” And then maybe he’d take her hand in his and lean towards her…

Except that now he thought she was some sort of hysterical bimbo.

Great start.

She suddenly remembered Kenny’s camera and she turned her attention back to Lois, hoping Kenny hadn’t caught her looking too moony.

Lois was still talking. “The first show goes out in two days, on Friday, and it’s going to be one hour a night every night after that, made up of edits from the handhelds, the Island Eyes and the confession cam. That’s what I’ll be spending my days doing, just in case you think I’m going to be out there drinking piña coladas on deck while you’re scrounging for grubs and berries here.”

They all smiled dutifully.

Lois came over to Jessie and handed her something that looked like a button on a shoelace. “Here, wear this around your neck.” She showed her a small black box. “This is the transmitter. Just clip it onto your dress or underwear or whatever. I want you all miked-up all the time, though please remember to take them off when you go in the water. Say something, Jess.”

“I prefer to be called Jessie, not Jess.”

“Got it,” said Kenny, tapping his headphones.

“Good,” said Lois. “Don’t worry, you’ll soon forget you have it on. Now, I think that’s it. I’ll be coming back and forth from the yacht anyway to iron out any wrinkles as they occur. Kenny will stop filming in the evenings and start up again at 7:00 a.m. so you’ll have the nights to yourself.” She treated them to another feline smile. “Apart from the Island Eyes, of course. Are there any questions?”

“So we haven’t really started yet?” asked Jessie. “I mean, will that stuff in the water be used?”

“We’ll use whatever’s good,” said Lois disingenuously. “So, welcome to your new home away from home and good luck to all of you.”

Silence followed and they all looked at each other until Lois made shooing gestures. “Go,” she said impatiently. “That’s it.”

Nick took a step towards Jessie and held out his hand. “I’m Nick Garrett,” he said. “Welcome to the island.”

“Jessie Banks.” Their eyes met as she introduced herself but she looked away quickly, infuriated to feel herself blushing.

“You’ve met the others?”

Jessie nodded, smiling. If Nick wanted to pretend that that little incident in the water had never happened, she could go along with that.

“Okay then,” said Nick, turning to Malcolm and Cindi. “Why don’t we go and show Jessie what we’ve done so far?”

Jessie let the others go ahead of her and she turned hurriedly to Lois and Kenny.

“I’m sorry to have to ask,” she said, “but I really could use a drink of water.”

Lois pointed at Nick. “Ask him,” she mouthed. “We’re not here.”

Jessie looked at Nick’s retreating back and muttered an oath under her breath.

“For the record,” came Kenny’s calm voice behind her, “the microphone you’re wearing is very strong.”

Jessie blushed again and started up the beach after Nick.

“I WAS JUST WONDERING—”

“Malcolm constructed the second eave of his shelter by himself,” said Nick. “He’s a fast learner.”

“That’s great,” said Jessie. Her throat was getting more parched by the minute but the others weren’t giving her any opportunity to broach the subject. They were too eager to show her the shelters they’d built the night before.

Jessie nodded politely as Malcolm extolled the virtues of vegetation as an insulating material but her eyes were darting around, trying to locate the supplies.

How rude is this, she thought, inviting someone to your home and not offering them a drink? Even if the home in question is only a smoldering fire and three V-shaped tents made out of sticks and grass.

Her disenchantment must have showed on her face.

“I hope you’re not getting cold feet,” Nick teased her. “I had to give a pep-talk to the others last night and I’m going to tell you the same thing now. The competition and the prize money, that’s only a small part of our stay here. Despite what my producer might think, this is not a game show. It’s going to be the real thing. A lot of my viewers are no strangers to survival situations themselves and I’m not going to cheat them by taking shortcuts. We’ve come onto this island with no supplies and we won’t be getting any help. It’s going to be up to us.”

“Speaking of supplies,” Jessie cut in. “I was wondering if I could get a drink of water. I got salt in my throat and it’s also much hotter here than I’m used to.”

“That’s a good idea,” said Nick. “Cindi, Malcolm, let’s see if you remember what to do. What’s the first step of purifying water?”

“Filter it,” gushed Malcolm.

“Right, and what do you do then?” Nick looked at Cindi who was fiddling with the skirt of her uniform.

“Is it heating it?” She squinted. “I forget.”

Nick tsked. “Okay, Malcolm can show you. Get to work.”

Today maybe, thought Jessie. Her dress was beginning to dry in the sun and she was longing to have a look around the island. The beach stretched enticingly in either direction and she could see palm trees swaying in the distance. But she couldn’t concentrate on any of it when her mouth felt like it had an inbuilt dehumidifier. She moved her tongue, trying to dredge up some saliva.

“What are you doing?” asked Nick.

Jessie stopped masticating. “Nothing,” she said vehemently before she realized he was talking to the others. She coughed and mimicked his look of concerned curiosity.

“We’re boiling water,” Malcolm said hesitantly.

Nick walked over and kicked apart the embers of the fire. “I lit this fire,” he pointed out. “I want to see if you can do it.”

Another milligram of Jessie’s patience slipped away.

“So we need tinder materials,” said Malcolm enthusiastically. “And something to produce friction.”

“That’s good,” said Nick. “I hope you’re paying attention Cindi, I’ll expect you to do it next time.”

Cindi gave him a flirtatious grin. “I pay attention to everything you say, Nick.”

“Apparently not,” he retorted playfully.

Jessie fiddled with a strand of her hair, considering the possibility that she might actually shrivel up and die of dehydration, right there on television.

She watched with mounting despair as Malcolm fumbled with a stick and a piece of bark.

“No,” he complained to Cindi, “you have to use the dry moss first. Try and crumble it up into smaller pieces and hold it over to the side.”

“You’re supposed to move the stick faster,” nagged Cindi in return. “It has to smolder.”

“On a scale of one to ten,” Jessie said conversationally, “how bad would it be to drink salt water?”

Nick smiled at her, evidently under the impression that she was joking. “About a five. It wouldn’t kill you but it wouldn’t do anything for your thirst, just make you feel worse.”

“Worse than I do now,” murmured Jessie. “Imagine.” Her throat was so dry that she couldn’t even swallow.

Another five minutes passed and Nick hunkered down to help out.

Jessie looked out to sea, at the yacht bobbing gracefully in the distance. She glanced at Kenny who was quietly filming them. She looked down to the shore, where Lois was yapping on a walkie-talkie.

She silently counted to ten and then opened her purse and took out the lipstick.

Nick paused in his efforts and looked up at her in disbelief. “Making sure you look good for the cameras?”

Jessie didn’t answer. She took the top off the lipstick and rolled it up, catching the matches as they emerged. She held one out to Nick.

“Here, tough guy, let’s get this show on the road.”

She couldn’t help smirking as his eyes widened in surprise.

Malcolm barked a laugh. “Where’d you get those?”

Jessie held up her sparkly evening bag and felt a glow of satisfaction as a small smile quirked the corners of Nick’s mouth. She rolled the matches back into the lipstick and tucked it away in her purse, then met Nick’s eyes.

“Look,” she cajoled, waving the match, “next time you can light it from scratch but I really need a drink, right now.”

The laughter lines around Nick’s eyes deepened. He took the match and started to scrape the waterproofing wax off it.

“Are you going to keep calling me that?” he said in an undertone.

“What?”

“Tough guy,” he muttered.

He looked vaguely uncomfortable, which Jessie found endearing. “I’m not sure,” she teased. “I’m kind of getting used to it.”

Nick struck the match and Jessie gave a cheer as the small bundle of tinder lit into flames.

“HI, EVERYONE! Uh…is this on? Well, I’m going to assume that red light means it is.” Jessie got comfortable in the seat and beamed at the camera.

“Welcome to Castaway Island and this, my very first broadcast. I have to say that it’s quite strange to be talking into a camera like this but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.” She waved cheerfully. “A big hi to all my friends back home in Iowa. Look, I made it! Martha and Sophie, I hope you’re being nice to everyone at work and hello to all the regulars at Fairbury Library. Janice, you’d better have one of your apple pies ready for me when I come home, something tells me I’ll have quite an appetite. Marty, thanks again for house-sitting and feeding Toby and I’d better have both a house and a dog when I come back. No wild parties, I mean it.”

Jessie paused and subconsciously folded her arms. “And Tom, hi. Thanks for seeing me off at the airport. Uh…I haven’t thought…that is to say…what I mean is I’ll see you when I get back.”

She looked down, trying to recover her train of thought and quickly found something else that bore mentioning. “Ah yes, my dress. Well, what do you think? Pretty glamorous, eh? It’s what every fashion-conscious castaway is wearing this season.” She made a wry face. “Don’t know if you’ve seen what the others are wearing, but I think I drew the short straw. I might have to steal Malcolm’s jacket while he’s sleeping.” She laughed. “Don’t worry Debs, I’m only kidding. I’m sure that neither Cindi or I will be doing anything to your husband while he’s sleeping.”

Jessie paused, thinking. She wanted to make a joke about how the other contestants deserved the money so much more than her, but she was afraid that the audience might take her seriously. There was no point sabotaging herself from the start.

She searched the sides of the hut for inspiration. “Oh, jeepers, I almost forgot.” She laughed at the camera. “And all you gals out there are probably yelling at me to get to the good stuff. Well, Nick Garrett is currently getting some food together for our dinner, which I’m really looking forward to. I’m starving.” Her eyes twinkled playfully. “But at least I’m not thirsty anymore. But I will warn you now that there will be a preponderance of shots of me drinking water. It is hot, hot, hot here. I guess that’s what you get when you come to the Tropics.” She looked up at the thatched ceiling. “Although, it’s not so bad in here. This shade is nice.”

Then she realized she was rambling and she looked back at the unblinking eye with the red light underneath it. “Where was I? Oh, yes, Nick’s making dinner.” She hesitated and then resolved not to let the silly misunderstandings cloud her judgment. It was much too soon to be saying things that she could regret. “So, I’m here to tell you that he is just as handsome and friendly in real life as he is on TV. A little overeager in some cases,” she couldn’t help adding, “but that’s hardly a crime.” Her mouth curved cheekily. “He’s very good at lighting fires.”

She rushed on. “And later, I’m really looking forward to exploring the island.” Her eyes lit up. “This place is so amazing. You should see the—” She broke off, laughing. “Hang on, you are seeing it. Okay, I think I must be getting delirious from hunger, I’d better go and see what’s cooking.”

She put a hand to her hair, thinking again of her friends. “I was in the water so I might look a bit bedraggled but I’m feeling good so don’t worry about me…just keep watching this space! Uh…that’s it, bye. Over and out.”

She waited a moment to see if the red light went out but it didn’t so eventually she just got up and left the hut.

“NO WAY,” SAID CINDI. “It’s just not going to happen.”

Kenny panned the camera down slowly to zoom in on the squirming, fat, beetle grubs and then up again to record the contestants’ expressions of repulsion.

“It’s okay, I am going to cook them,” Nick said.

Cindi shook her head. “I don’t care. I am not eating those. They’re disgusting. They even smell bad.”

Malcolm rubbed his hands together. “Sorry, Cindi, but if that’s your attitude, you’re going to be easy to beat. I have no problem with eating grubs.”

“Wait a minute,” said Cindi in outrage. “We haven’t started the challenges yet, have we? I thought we were starting tomorrow.”

Nick was cutting up some sweet potatoes and he paused to look at Cindi.

“Why?” he smiled. “Would you eat them if it was part of a challenge?”

Cindi jutted out her chin. “Of course.”

Nick nodded thoughtfully and went back to work. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Cindi gave Jessie a look of dread, making Jessie laugh. She looked at Nick who put the potatoes in a large tin of water and started to cook them over the fire.

“Where did you get that?” she asked suspiciously, pointing at the tin. “I thought we were surviving from scratch here.”

Nick looked up, pleased. “We went beachcombing yesterday. Managed to find ourselves some treasure.”

“Treasure?” Jessie smiled, playing along. “Like Spanish doubloons?”

Nick pointed out towards the west. “Now that you mention it, there have been ships wrecked on the coral reefs out there so it’s not unknown for the odd coin to be found on islands in these parts.” He put up a hand to forestall her excitement. “But I was actually talking about treasure of a different kind. Like this, which as far as I can tell is an old paint tin. Don’t ask me how it got here, maybe someone was touching up the paint job on their boat. Anyway, to us, it’s a cooking pot.” He looked up at Malcolm. “Want to tell her what else we got?”

Malcolm didn’t hesitate. “A rope. About ten feet long. And not as rotted as it seemed at first.”

“Cindi?” said Nick.

“Don’t tell me,” Cindi said eagerly. “I know this.” She scrunched her nose up prettily before sitting up straight with excitement. “Ooh, I’ve got it. Two bottles. So now we’ve got something to store our clean water in and to drink out of.”

“And to send SOS messages in,” commented Jessie, earning herself a grin from Nick.

“And we got some different-sized shells,” Nick added, handing them around. “Which we can use as bowls and spoons.”

They took their eating utensils and then watched with quiet curiosity as Nick whittled at a thin stick, scraping off the bark and sharpening one end to a point. He picked up one of the unappetizing white grubs and, without ceremony, speared it upon a stick.

“Eeeouw,” howled Cindi, flinging her hands over her face.

Jessie couldn’t help looking away as well. Malcolm kept watching as Nick impaled the remaining grubs, but his face was a few shades paler by the end.

Nick grinned cheerfully at their reactions and held the beetle-grub kebab over the fire while he stirred the sweet potatoes.

He gave Malcolm the job of straining the potatoes and dishing them out, while he concentrated on cooking the grubs evenly. They crackled as they gradually turned golden and crispy.

Unbelievably, Jessie’s mouth was watering.

They all made short work of the potatoes and then Nick asked for a volunteer.

“I will!” said Malcolm.

“Hold on a second,” said Nick, his eyes glinting mischievously. “Whatever happened to ‘ladies first’?”

“Very funny,” said Cindi, grimacing. “Forget it.”

Nick raised his eyebrows at Jessie and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Okay,” she whispered, smiling excitedly at her own daring.

Nick held out the stick and Jessie hesitated for a second, then she reached out and plucked off a grub, closing her eyes as she popped it into her mouth.

It was succulent and sweet, like a ball of crackling pork.

Jessie opened her eyes as she chewed it. “This is delicious,” she said. She looked at Cindi. “Seriously. You should try one.”

Cindi put up her hands. “No offence, but I just met you and, frankly, I don’t believe you.”

Poor Malcolm was almost quivering with the desire to display his grit, so Nick took pity on him and handed him the stick. Malcolm removed a grub and then paused, a frown shadowing his round face.

“Are these high in cholesterol?”

JESSIE SMOTHERED ANOTHER yawn as she watched the dancing flames. She’d thought she might go exploring after dinner but in the end she just didn’t feel like moving from the fireside.

It was her first chance to really think about what she’d let herself in for. Her expectations and hypotheses had been inadequate preparation. In her imagination the other contestants had been mere ciphers, just background figures in Jessie’s adventure with Nick Garrett. A few short hours with them had cured her of that misconception. They were real people, with their own personalities and their own agendas.

Throughout dinner and afterwards, Jessie had been quietly studying them, trying to work out why they had been picked out of the thousands of people who had entered the competition.

Malcolm was so innocuous and eager to please that Jessie had come to the conclusion that he was there simply because he was the embodiment of Everyman. He was ordinary and human and easy to identify with.

And Cindi was obviously the sassy, worldly, city girl—a part she seemed more than happy to play.

But if they were dealing with stereotypes, what role had Jessie been drafted for?

She raised her eyes from the fire and stole a quick glance at Nick. He was whittling efficiently at some sticks, creating rudimentary forks and spoons out of pieces of wood. Jessie looked down again, grappling with her thoughts.

To her dismay, the mild crush she had on Nick Garrett, TV personality, had transferred itself directly onto Nick Garrett, actual person. Jessie had been prepared to be somewhat awed and starstruck on meeting him at first but she’d presumed it would only be a temporary imbalance. Unfortunately, there was no sign of it dissipating. She was trying to act normal but her heart still took on an erratic beat whenever their eyes met, and her capacity for putting together sentences, which she’d always taken for granted, seemed to desert her whenever he was around.

It was especially horrible because it was just so clichéd. He had all the ingredients for a male fantasy figure. His features weren’t perfect but somehow they added up to a face that was warm and welcoming. His eyes were very clear and intelligent and his mouth always seemed to be on the verge of a smile, even when things were going from bad to worse, as they occasionally did on his show. He was friendly, easygoing and genuine and Jessie found herself utterly tongue-tied in his presence.

Her only consolation was that she didn’t think it was showing.

Up until now.

Now that she was alone with him, things were becoming strained. Malcolm had gone off eagerly to do his time with the confession camera and, when the dinghy had come to pick up Kenny for the night, Cindi had volunteered to walk him down to the shore—and Jessie still wasn’t sure what that was about.

Jessie and Nick hadn’t talked for over ten minutes and while Nick seemed unperturbed by the silence Jessie was desperately searching for something to say. She kept coming up with lighthearted conversation topics and then discarding them because they seemed trite or forced and the more time that passed the more pressured she felt. She’d been so glad when the others had left them alone and now she was just praying for their return. A movement caught her eye and she looked up to see Nick holding up the spoons.

“No more eating with shells,” he said cheerfully.

“Yes,” said Jessie. There was a painful pause and then she added, “Indeed.” She smiled inanely and looked out towards the shore. She could see Cindi chatting to Kenny and the crewman who had come to collect him. What was that girl up to?

Jessie looked back at Nick, realizing in a rush that there was something that needed to be said.

“Uh, look, I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier, when I came ashore. I know you were only trying to help.”

Nick glanced up. “That’s okay. I’m sorry I tried to save your life.”

Jessie blinked. She hadn’t expected sarcasm.

Nick put his hand to his head and let out a low laugh. “No, wait a minute, that came out wrong.”

Jessie smiled, feeling an odd surge of affection at his embarrassment.

“I really didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” he went on. “I promise. I’m sorry, too. Sorry that we got off on the wrong foot.”

“I can see how easily you might have thought I was in trouble,” Jessie said generously. “You were right to try and save me. Better safe than sorry.”

He shook his head in mock regret. “I don’t know. At the time I thought you were going to start whacking me with your bag. I was about to throw you back in.”

Jessie laughed.

“Of course, now I know why you were so anxious to rescue that bag,” said Nick. Jessie nodded smugly, at last beginning to feel the possibility that she might make friends with Nick.

“I hope Lois doesn’t get too mad,” she said.

Nick tilted his head quizzically and then she saw comprehension dawn on his features.

“You smuggled those onshore,” he said.

Jessie nodded, pleased by Nick’s obvious admiration.

She didn’t even notice Cindi’s return.

“What are you looking so happy about?” said Cindi.

Jessie flushed. “What? What do you mean?”

“Relax,” said Cindi, “I was just asking.” She sat down on the log next to Nick and leaned over to nudge him playfully with her shoulder. “I’m afraid that I might have interrupted a little tête-à-tête.”

Jessie wanted to go over and push Cindi off the log. Nothing sophisticated, just push her so she went ass over teakettle onto the sand. She didn’t know if it was deliberate or not but Cindi was exhibiting a real knack for dissolving any burgeoning friendship that Nick and Jessie managed to achieve and embarrassing them back into self-conscious formality. Or maybe it was just Jessie she was embarrassing.

“Anybody mind if I hit the hay?” said Malcolm, joining them at the fire and evidently not noticing any strain in the atmosphere. “I’m exhausted again and I don’t even know why. It’s not like we even did that much today.”

“It’ll take time for your bodies to get used to the heat,” said Nick. “Just wait until tomorrow, you’ll really find out what tiredness is about.” He laughed at their expressions. “It’s a good idea for us all to get some rest.”

They got to their feet, stretching and yawning in the mild night air.

Cindi looked at Jessie in consternation. “Where are you sleeping, Jessie?”

Jessie looked around in dismay. She hadn’t even thought about it. Had they expected her to build a shelter? Why hadn’t anyone said anything?

“She’s sleeping with me,” Nick said casually.

Jessie looked at him and then let out a laugh. “Oops,” she giggled. “Did you hear what you said? Another slip of the tongue.”

He looked at her blankly. “No. I meant it.”

Jessie swallowed. “Excuse me?”

“Sorry, I should have explained sooner. You’re going to share my shelter tonight. There’s too much risk that you’ll get cold overnight on your own and if I share out my clothes it’ll just leave us both underdressed. This is the only way to do it until we’ve had a chance to scavenge something to make clothes out of.”

He gave her a frank smile. “I promise I’m not trying to take advantage of you, it’s just a survival tactic. If you get cold you won’t be able to sleep and you’ll be irritable tomorrow.” His eyes grew playful. “You might try and attack me with your bag.”

Jessie returned his smile and offered a suggestion. “Maybe I should bunk down with Cindi instead.”

“Sorry,” said Nick. “I’m under instructions from Lois. Since you’re all competing she wants to keep you separated.”

Jessie nodded, keeping her face impassive. Trust Lois. Even though Kenny was gone, Jessie had no doubts that their sleeping arrangements were going to be caught on one of the Island Eyes. The woman knew how to make good television.

Jessie glanced up at the nearby trees, wondering if there was a camera focused on her right now and hoping that her indifferent expression was fooling it. She might be feigning resignation with Lois’s decision but inside she was jittering with nervous excitement at the thought of sharing a bed with Nick.

Cindi was evidently thinking along the same lines.

“Well, aren’t you the fast mover, girl,” she said with an outrageous grin. “I guess you knew exactly what you were doing when you wore that dress.” Cindi giggled as if she was only kidding around, but Jessie’s face flamed regardless.

“It’s not…I didn’t plan on…”

“It’s about survival,” said Nick, unruffled. “Nothing more.”

“Survival of the species,” said Cindi in an undertone to Jessie. “It wouldn’t surprise me if Nick’s planning a little propagation. Lucky you.”

“Oh, right,” Jessie whispered back. “Like we could do anything without you and Malcolm hearing it.”

Cindi raised an eyebrow. “So you have been thinking about it.”

Jessie shook her head, but Cindi just winked at her. “Sleep tight,” she said as she sauntered off to her own shelter.

“Okay, you too,” said Jessie with forced brightness. “See you in the morning Malcolm.”

“Yup,” he said. “Good night.” Malcolm obviously didn’t intend to be as blunt as Cindi but he didn’t have to be. Jessie could see the inevitable speculation in his eyes.

Jessie winced and then she followed Nick over to his shelter, trying to shake the feeling that she was the chosen concubine.

“Are you tired?” asked Nick conversationally.

She nodded, realizing that the weakness in her legs needn’t necessarily be attributed to the fact that she was about to bed down with Nick Garrett.

She was just tired, that was it.

Her eyes widened in alarm as Nick unbuttoned his shirt. He took it off and then pulled his T-shirt over his head in one fluid motion.

Jessie couldn’t tear her gaze away from Nick’s chest, naked except for the microphone around his neck. She didn’t know what to do. Had she been completely wrong about him? About this show? Was she expected to have sex with him after all? On camera?

“Here,” said Nick, handing her his T-shirt. “Put this on.” He put his shirt back on and bent to untie his boots. “I’ll give you my socks as well, they should be some help.”

Jessie, mortified by her assumptions and touched by his consideration, slipped the T-shirt over her head. It smelt of him and she wrapped her arms around herself as she felt the lingering warmth of him seep into her skin.

Nick gave her his socks and then covered his microphone, indicating she should do the same. Jessie wrapped her hand around the microphone and stared at his face, shadowed in the moonlit night.

“I just wanted to tell you that you don’t have to worry about…I mean, what Lois said earlier about the sexual tension…that’s not something you have to worry about.”

Jessie felt her chest constrict and she was glad of the darkness. “Oh, gosh,” she fumbled, “you neither. I mean, you don’t have to worry. Of course not.”

He nodded and smiled. “Come on, let’s get some sleep. Big day tomorrow.” He tilted up the roof of the shelter so Jessie could lie down and then he arranged himself next to her, lowering the roof above them.

The bed was too narrow to allow any space between them and anyway, Nick seemed devoid of any self-consciousness as he slid one hand under her neck and curved his arm protectively around her. He was lying on his back and Jessie found herself nestled in the crook of his arm, her back snuggled warmly against his side. She could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest and she made an effort to slow her own breathing, certain that he could feel her heart thudding like a piston. Her gaze dropped to Nick’s arm and she could see the golden hairs glinting in the tiny rays of moonlight that seeped through the roof branches. She could imagine the salt on his skin and wondered how he’d react if she just tilted her head down and licked it.

She closed her eyes. A few moments passed and then she decided that she didn’t care if the others were less than ten feet away. She was in bed with Nick Garrett and she was going to make the most of it. She rose up and turned over in the bed. She looked down at Nick who was watching her with dark eyes and she moved over until she was straddling his lap. She peeled off the T-shirt and then slowly, tantalizingly, dropped first one strap and then the other until her breasts were bared to his gaze.

Nick’s reaction was immediate and passionate and probably would have done him proud had he been aware of it. Jessie had already succumbed to sleep and her flickering eyelids were the only evidence that such a shameless seduction was taking place.