Deadly Safari. Lisa Harris

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СКАЧАТЬ at her watch. “Forty-five minutes...maybe a bit less.”

      At a brisk pace they could make it—if they didn’t get eaten along the way. And if he helped her. He hesitated, then bridged the gap between them.

      “I say we take our chances and walk, but you’re going to lean on me.”

      “Really, it’s not that bad.” She took another step, then reached down to rub the bruised spot on the side of her knee that was already starting to swell.

      “Right. You need to get off the leg and ice it, but since you can’t do that, you’re going to have to let me help you.”

      She looked up at him with those big brown eyes of hers took another step, winced, then stopped. “Fine.”

      He wrapped his arm around her waist, wishing her hair didn’t smell like lavender and that her lashes didn’t go on forever when she looked up at him. He’d figured she’d be intelligent. He hadn’t planned on her being such a...distraction.

      The only solution to the problem, as far as he could see, was to tell her the truth. If she knew he was here doing a favor for one of his father’s old army buddies, who happened to be her own somewhat-estranged father, she’d be furious. Attraction definitely wouldn’t be a problem, since she wouldn’t let him within five miles of her. But if he blew his cover and told her the truth, he wouldn’t be able to protect her. And with the way things were spiraling out of control in the current election, and after what he’d seen today, he tended to believe that her life really was in danger. She needed him here, whether she knew it or not. And that meant he couldn’t do anything to drive her away.

      Alex shifted his gaze back to the uneven path, pushing aside his straying thoughts as he tried to focus on the situation at hand. All he needed to do right now was get them back to the lodge in one piece. “Which way?”

      “That way.” She nodded toward their right, then stopped. “I forgot my bag.”

      He grabbed her camera bag out of the Jeep, waited until she’d adjusted it on her shoulder, then wrapped his arm around her waist again. She looked up at him before slowly wrapping her arm around his waist. The wind blew a strand of her hair across his face. He brushed it aside, tightened his grip, then started walking.

      There was something about her that intrigued him.

      Okay, more than just one thing. Meghan Jordan was a filmmaker, seemingly as comfortable in the African bush as most women were at a shopping mall. She was intelligent, strong-minded and undeniably beautiful. Exactly what he wasn’t looking for.

      Alex swallowed hard. He really needed a distraction.

      * * *

      Meghan took another step and tried to ignore the pain.

      “You okay?”

      She nodded at his question, avoiding his gaze. Her knee was already swelling, but while she might need a distraction from the pain, Mr. Lone Star wasn’t what she had in mind.

      Today, she’d looked forward to filming some of the final scenes with Kibibi and her cubs. Instead, Alex had torpedoed into her life, bringing with him a string of disasters. He’d barely been here an hour, and he’d ticked off a rhino and gotten them stranded out in the bush.

      All right, maybe it hadn’t been his fault that the Jeep had malfunctioned, but still, the vehicle they’d been driving was now wrapped around the trunk of a baobab tree. Nothing like that had happened to her before he’d shown up.

      She should be mad at him, but instead, having him so close was wreaking havoc with her equilibrium. Which left her wondering what bothered her the most. The fact that she’d just been sent an assistant who more than likely didn’t know anything about the African bush, or the fact that she couldn’t ignore the feel of his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

      She searched for something to say to break the awkward silence between them as they followed the narrow trail bordered by the overgrown forest. “You do know the most important rule of the bush, don’t you?”

      “The most important?” He hesitated. “I’m not sure.”

      “Make sure you look both up and down.”

      “Meaning?”

      “Down to avoid any holes and snakes. Up to check for any unwelcome predators.”

      She felt the muscles in his arm tense and suppressed a chuckle. She had no idea where her boss had found this guy, but cowboy or not, he seemed better qualified to lead a hoedown than a trek through the bush.

      “Sounds like good advice.”

      Moments later, she stopped at a rise in the terrain, where forest opened up into a narrow grassland. Even after eight months of working here, she’d yet to tire of the ever-changing landscape and animals that filled its terrain.

      “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she said.

      “Incredibly.”

      The sun began to drop in the distance, painting the sky brilliant shades of orange and pink. Acacia trees, with their flat, green tops, sprinkled the horizon. Half a dozen giraffes walked gracefully across the far edge of the open veld.

      She pointed toward the left. “Look down there, at the water hole.”

      A family of elephants had gathered at the water’s edge, mamas and babies with their bulky forms casting gray shadows across the tall grasses. This was the one place in the world where she felt safe, alive and whole.

      “Do you believe in God?”

      He nodded at her question. “‘The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies his handiwork.’ It’s hard not to believe when you see things like this.”

      She’d always felt the same way. Cell phones, the internet and email always managed to pull her in a million different directions. But standing here, in the quiet stillness of God’s creation, everything seemed to move back into perspective.

      “Wait a bit longer until darkness settles in and the stars come out. There’s nothing like seeing the Milky Way and the Southern Cross light up the sky.”

      They started walking again. “Do all of the assistants on your project get such personalized attention?”

      She didn’t quiet her laugh this time as she looked up at him, wondering how he’d become the distraction that had almost erased the pain in her knee. “I can’t say that I’ve ever escorted a cowboy through the bush.”

      Arm snug around her waist, those dark eyes with a hint of amusement in their depths, this particular cowboy looked incredibly appealing. But she brushed the thought aside. There was no way she was falling for this stranger. There was no way she was falling for anyone, because she’d yet to meet a man who made her feel worthy of being loved. Relationships weren’t for her, and that was that.

      She dismissed the ridiculous train of thought. They continued walking. Twenty more minutes, thirty tops, and they’d be back at the lodge. In a couple more weeks, the job would be over, and she could send him back to Texas. Which was why, for now, it was time to change the subject.

      “Have СКАЧАТЬ