“If those clowns got mugged a few times,” Erika said as she organized the buns, “they wouldn’t walk around all jolly, either. They look like tourists.”
“Or terrorists.”
“Same thing.”
Chuck snorted.
Erika said, “Ranger Bob, you have the oddest sense of humor.”
“You girls are the ones telling the jokes. I’m just appreciating them.”
“True.” Erika nodded. “We’re funny.”
“It’s refreshing. Usually I get one of those Prozac groups.” Chuck moved more hot dogs off the fire.
“Cynicism and sarcasm is refreshing?” Jenna asked in disbelief.
“We’ll just say I got mugged a few times.”
“Ah, that makes sense, then.” Erika put two more buns on a plate to one side. “Although I bet Prozac takers listen to your speeches and sermons.”
“Yes, they do. Which means I actually have to make them.”
“Ah,” Erika said in mock commiseration. “It’s irritating to do one’s job, yes. Horrible stuff.”
Green group passed through next. A portly man in his fifties with a gray comb-over passed right by Chuck’s organized station, before stopping in front of Jenna’s. He made a big show of looking over her meat.
“Honey, there’s one you might like.” A timid woman next to him, who must have been his wife, pointed at a plump burger right in front of him.
“Which one of these is medium?” he asked, staring at Jenna with a set face. It was an asshole’s face.
“I’m not sure. You might try this one?” Jenna tapped the burger the wife had pointed to.
“You don’t know?” The man leaned back and grunted. “That’s like you, honey. I told you it was a man’s job.”
Ah. One of those people. A man that walked through life pointing out other people’s flaws in order to make himself feel more superior.
Jenna’s right shoulder ticked upward, a reflex she hadn’t felt in a long time.
“My job is an architect, actually.” Jenna shrugged indifferently, something guys like him hated. “If you wanted a cook, you should’ve gone to a restaurant. At least here you’ll know I haven’t spit in it, right? Something new and different for you. So, which burger would you like?”
“Listen here, young lady—”
“Here…” Chuck reached across with a burger on his spatula. “This one is medium.”
The man pulled his plate away and opened his mouth to say something as he turned to Chuck. Instead, his eyes widened and his mouth clicked shut. The plate drifted under the offered hamburger.
Chuck was using his pointed stare. It seemed that not many people defied his wishes when he used that. Except for her.
“Just any burger would be fine for me,” the woman said as she showered Jenna in an apologetic smile. She surveyed the grill before saying, “Oh! You have hot dogs. Yum.”
“How about both?” Erika put both buns on her plate.
“Oh!” The women made a face that suggested she felt like she was getting away with something. “I couldn’t have both. I don’t want anyone else to go without…”
“Live a little!” Jenna put a hamburger on her bun as Chuck snatched a dog with his tongs and did the same.
“I’ll never be able to eat all this…” The woman’s smile turned thankful as she walked away.
Karen bustled over with a pronounced scowl aimed at Jenna. “I would appreciate it if you would be more appeasing to the other guests.”
Karen had picked the wrong time to stage a public confrontation.
“Look, lady,” Jenna snapped. This trip was getting to her and drying up all her reserve patience. “Keeping the guests happy is your job. My job is to enjoy myself and chip in. I am cooking. I call that chipping in. Outside of that, rude assholes are not my concern. Kick me out for it, and I’ll sue this whole outfit for discrimination.”
Karen brought herself up to her full height. She was trying to save face. She put her hands on her hips and turned to Chuck. “As the guide for this group, and a part of the organization, I expect you to keep a better handle on your team.”
Chuck moved a hot dog before calmly meeting her glare. “She didn’t do anything against the rules. I made a burger to order and handed it over as soon as it was done. I am not permitted to discipline the guests or restrain them unless they act in a violent or dangerous manner.”
Karen stared at him in rage. He stared back, unperturbed. They were having a war of the silent variety.
“I’m watching you,” she seethed, stomping away.
“Understood.”
Jenna and Chuck both returned their attentions to the meat without a word.
“That wasn’t very nice, Jenna,” Erika said quietly.
“She was trying to push me around!”
“Not Karen—she’s an ass. The guy…”
Jenna flipped a burger, sending it flying toward Chuck’s side of the grill. “That guy was a dick. You know the kind—don’t pretend you don’t!”
“I’ve met your father, so yes, I know the kind. But you know very well he is going to take it out on his wife. It wasn’t the right way to handle his attitude.”
Jenna opened her mouth to argue, but she knew Erika was right. Erika was the only one who knew Jenna’s twisted history. Usually she let Jenna get away with her tempers and pushiness, but every so often her friend pulled her back over the line. She trusted Erika with her life, and she often trusted Erika’s judgment over her own.
But just because she had to eat it, didn’t mean she had to enjoy the taste.
Jenna threw down the spatula and stalked off into the woods, hellbent on getting away from prying eyes. She didn’t like people seeing her cry.
Chapter Twelve
Josh stared after Jenna, unsure what protocol to follow. It was potentially dangerous out in the trees, but he knew Jenna would be fine and was confident she wouldn’t get lost. He needed to finish the burgers, and didn’t trust Erika to jump in to take over.
That was what he told himself, anyway.
In her pain, Jenna had let go of her “bitch” mask and looked on the verge of tears. Instead of the guilt he normally felt, usually because he was the reason a woman was crying, he only felt the need to protect. He wanted to stand guard and keep the beasties away while she took time to regroup.
It was a new feeling, and it freaked him the fuck out. He was getting soft. Too much time alone in the woods without sex. A very bad combination.
“She’ll be okay,” Erika said with guilt riding her tone as she watched Jenna walk away. “Sometimes she meets a ghost from Christmas past. She’ll cry it out and be right as rain.”
“If you don’t like calling her out, why do you do it?”
“Because she needs to know she can’t get away with everything. She usually has good intentions, but sometimes she doesn’t see how it’ll hurt others. She’d think about it later and dwell on it. This way, she can hate me for it, forgive me, learn the lesson, and get over it.”
“But in the meantime, she hates you.”
“She’ll get over it. I only say something when something needs to be said. She’s harsh a lot of the time, but she’s never intentionally cruel. She knows I wouldn’t speak up unless it were dire.”
“You women make no sense, you know that?”
“Ranger Bob, don’t try to figure us out. You’ll get brain bubbles. We’re two messed-up individuals.”
“In pretty packages.”
“Well, yes, those are the most messed up of all. Flaming dog crap, as it were.”
“I wouldn’t call flaming dog crap particularly attractive.”
“Well…I see your point. But exciting, am I right? Gets ya lookin’.”
Josh couldn’t help but shake his head. They were mad. Both of them. Yet he was seeing another little piece of the puzzle. He could certainly relate to a father like Jenna’s.
Karen was looking over at him. It was the usual song and dance. She
’d tried to throw her weight around, bashed up against him, lost face, and would now try and seduce him. Being on top sexually apparently made her feel powerful again.
Most of the time he avoided her advances, but occasionally, when she got him at the right moment, he wasn’t as good at saying no as he’d like to be.
“There goes Lewis to look for her,” Erika said in a low tone. “He’ll just chastise her for running away. He is such a tool bag.”
“What does she see in him?” Josh asked before he could stop himself.
Erika didn’t seem to notice the lack of tact. “He’s gorgeous and from good stock. She has this stupid idea that she doesn’t deserve any better. That and she hates the idea of getting close to someone so they can just step on her. Trust issues. Don’t we all, huh?”
Lewis disappeared into the dark. Josh served the last of the burgers and moved the rest off the fire in case anyone wanted seconds. He made a plate for himself and watched Erika make two plates; presumably one of them was for Jenna.
“Oh, here he comes. She didn’t want to talk to him,” Erika said gleefully. She quickly looked at her plates, busying herself like Chuck was trying to do.
“Erika,” Lewis said. He turned his body so his back was mostly to Josh, a slightly awkward situation, since they were on the same side of the grill. “Jenna is out in the trees somewhere. What if she gets lost? She didn’t answer when I called…”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine, Lewis. I pissed her off. She probably wants to be alone, is all.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. I did. Shocker, I know.”
Lewis’s posture changed significantly as he regained confidence. “Oh. Maybe you should go out and apologize, huh?”
Erika’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe…”
Lewis sniffed, gave Josh a flat stare—until Josh returned it—and then walked toward his tent with Erika squinting at his back.
“What?” Josh asked at her prolonged, though thoughtful, stare.
“Odd behavior, don’t you think? He thought it was something he did. He wasn’t even over here. Like, maybe something she’d heard he’d done…” She said it as though she knew more, but she wasn’t sharing.
“Odd, yes.”
Her expression cleared. “Anyway,” she said, bouncing back to her upbeat self, “she won’t want to see me for a while. Can you take her some food that she won’t want to eat and make sure a bear doesn’t maul her? You’re the guide; that’s why you’re elected. Although don’t take it personally if she doesn’t want to talk to you either.”
Mike approached and glanced at Josh before looking away quickly, like a mouse trying not to be noticed by a scientist. “Erika, do you have any extra toothpaste? I left the lid off mine and there are ants all over it. Ada has some whitening crap. I figured you or Jenna might have natural stuff?”
“I do. Need it right now?”
“I just ate.”
Apparently that answered that. “’Kay. Give me two secs.”
She finished loading her plate, smiled at Josh, and glided away. Josh grabbed his and Jenna’s plates, waited until Karen was occupied, and did a quiet exit into the cover of darkness. Karen wouldn’t leave the group and go looking for him until everyone was asleep. After that she would never find him. She didn’t have Jenna’s extraordinary sixth sense.
As he moved through the night in silence, he thought about earlier, when she’d found him in the trees. At first he’d wanted to run like a naughty child. But then, when she looked right at him, holding that graceful pose full of elegant beauty, he’d wanted nothing more than to drag her into the trees and get her to make those sounds of climax again.
But none of that held a candle to when she tensed up at his advance. Like prey. It was a buzz of a different kind. One that he’d never experienced before.
Josh stopped in mid-stride and squeezed his eyes shut as he remembered the thrill of that feeling. Oh God, he wanted to ride that wave all the way in—see if he could stay on and land it. See if he could please her in the way she deserved to be pleased.
He set the plates down for a second to shift his hard-on. The jeans were cutting the nuts off him.
When her body loosened up to fight, all his wild fantasies of role playing and dominance games dried up. She didn’t know him from any other stranger. He would never hurt her, never force himself on any woman, but she didn’t know that. Bullying was one thing, more like a game between them, but a real scare was not what he was about. She needed to know he had her back, and not be afraid of him.
It was too dark to track, so he moved in a straight line in the direction she had left the clearing. She wasn’t trying to hide, and although she seemed out of sorts, she had probably just walked until she found cover. He did the same.
There were a couple of clusters of trees and bushes, but Josh could tell Jenna wasn’t in either of them. He kept walking until he saw another huddle of trees and bushes large enough for a person to settle comfortably. He stopped for a moment, listening, and was rewarded with a light sniffle. His heart twisted as he decided what to do.
He knew that he shouldn’t get involved. This was a personal problem. It didn’t have anything to do with him. He could hang around to make sure she was fine. As long as nothing attacked her, he was covered.
He looked at the food in his hands.
She didn’t need that, either. He doubted she was hungry, and if she was, she could easily get it back at camp. There was no reason he needed to be out here.
He half turned back the way he’d come. He shouldn’t be there. She had her hooks in him enough as it was. But even more, he didn’t trust himself around her. Control was slippery, at best. Her sultry laugh and her gorgeous smile… As one of the most beautiful women he’d ever met—certainly the most glamorous—it was hard to keep his hands off her. Being alone in the dark with her was a recipe for disaster.
Chapter Thirteen
Jenna heard small animals moving in the undergrowth and crickets chirping in the hidden folds of the world. It took a while to bring herself under control and for the tears to stop flowing—even longer to get her emotions back in check. She let her mind wander, listening to the quiet solitude of the night.
She missed the sounds of the city—of a million other people to keep her company. Maybe she should’ve let Lewis find her after all.
“Can I come in?”
Jenna jumped and covered herself as her heart tried to explode out of her ribs. Chuck’s big silhouette was standing barely three feet away holding two plates.
“Where the heck did you come from?” she asked, catching her breath.
“Your boyfriend came back to camp and said he couldn’t find you. I didn’t want you sitting in the dark on your own. There are dangers in these woods, even if the worst of them came with you.”
“I didn’t even hear you coming.”
“I’m a woodsman, remember? I walk quietly.”
“I’ll say. I don’t really want company.” It was a defense mechanism that she regretted the minute the words passed her lips. She did want company. She wanted the ache of loneliness to go away.
“That’s fine, but I won’t leave you here alone. Could I talk you into going back?”
“No.”
“I thought not. I could either eat with you here, or eat ten feet away. I make a very unobtrusive sitting buddy. Up to you.”
“I know how to get back. I can’t imagine a bunny is going to come and eat me.”
“A bunny, no. A bear or mountain lion might make an appearance. A raccoon certainly will. Possibly a skunk. Maybe even a coyote if it’s hungry enough.”
She didn’t like any of those possibilities. “If you are going to stop talking, fine.”
“Fair enough.” He handed her a plate with a pile of food on it.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Eat. We’ve had the discussion about you fainting. I need you strong and able. You’re wasting away. Mangia.”
“Yeah, righ
t,” she said under her breath. She was losing weight, though. Her trainer would be pissed. He made a point of telling her every time he saw her that her body would eat her muscle when it ran out of fat. And she had very little fat.
He took large, greedy bites in quick succession before he slowly lowered the burger.
“Hungry?” she asked.
“Not especially.”
“What, then? Afraid I’ll steal it?”
An uncomfortable twinge colored his voice. “I’m a fast eater.”
“Ah. They say eating slowly is better for you.”
“I know. I try to slow down, but old habits die hard.”
“That’s the same problem I have with food. Old habits do die hard.”
They passed into silence. If he wanted to ask about her old habits, he refrained gracefully. She didn’t know if it was because he had promised silence, or because he didn’t care. But before she knew what she was doing, she let her mouth get the better of her.
“I’ve been watching my weight since before I could remember. I never got burgers as a kid. Or hot dogs. Not even for the Fourth of July. The first time I had mac ’n’ cheese, I was in college. I had to read the directions to make it. Doctors always said I was underweight, but my stepmother said I needed to lose weight, if anything.”
“Why?”
“I was a model in demand. I was expected to be a certain size, and my stepmother made sure I stayed that size.”
“Are you still a model?”
Jenna laughed, a shrill sound even to her ears. “Yeah, right, looking like this? They wouldn’t take me. No, that day has passed. And I say good riddance. When I was eighteen, I had enough money in the bank to walk away without any help from my father. And I did. Ran away, more like. I wanted to be an architect, so I went to college. I’m one of the lucky few that actually got to follow her dreams.”
“Then why don’t you eat now?”
Jenna huffed out a laugh at the frank question. “I do. Look at me—I’ve eaten half a burger already.”
“Not enough. Pardon my saying, but you are still underweight.”
Unexpected Hero (Skyline Trilogy Book 1) Page 9
