Page 40 of Protecting Kelli
The sound went straight to Flash’s cock.
He was embarrassed by his reaction. This was the absolute last time he should be thinking about anything other than survival. But this woman did something to him. Turned him inside out. In a good way.
“Go on,” she urged. “Try it.”
Flash did, and it was all he could do not to moan himself when he chewed.
“We need to make this last,” Kelli said, her gaze fixed on the can now. It was obvious how hungry she was, how badly she wanted to shovel the food into her mouth. But she knew they needed to prolong their meal. “How about we tell each other something about ourselves between each bite. Wait? Are we eating it all right now? Or should we save it?”
Flash’s first inclination was to hoard the food. He had no idea how long it would take Heckle and Jeckle to get a hold of someone back home with the ransom demand. And then how long it would take for whoever was contacted to believe the threat was real and not some joke. Then his team would have to be notified, probably Tex, and then they’d have to get approval to come to Jamaica?—
He cut off his thoughts. They were most likely still days away from being rescued.
“I’m thinking we should finish this. The last thing we want is to let it go bad,” he told her. “Besides, it would be stupid to be rescued with uneaten food. There’s a show I found on TV calledAlone. It’s a reality show, but not like most. Men and women are dropped into remote locations, and they have to be the last one of the group to call it quits…or to be taken out of the game for medical reasons. They have no contact with anyone else and they have to film themselves, so there’s no fake drama or alcohol used to make things more, quote, ‘interesting.’” He held up his hand, making quotation marks as he said that last word.
“Anyway, this one guy, he caught a ton of fish. I think it was fish. Anyway, he had a ton of food that he smoked and was hoarding in his shelter. He lost a gazillion pounds but was more worried about having food for the future than eating it in the moment. He ended up being medically evacuated because he’d gotten too skinny. He had all that food, but still lost because he just didn’t eat it.”
Kelli nodded. “I’ll have to look up the show when we get home.”
“We’ll watch it together,” Flash said impulsively.
“I’d like that,” she told him with a shy smile.
And just like that, Flash realized they’d decided to see each other again when they got back to California. He liked that too. A hell of a lot. “So…I think we should eat this entire can now.”
“I’m not going to disagree with you,” Kelli said. “But we should still make it last.”
“Agreed. Okay…let’s see…my favorite color is…black.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Kelli said with a grin. “Mine is pink.”
“Why amInot surprised?” Flash repeated.
“I’ve always wanted to play the piano. It seems like such an elegant instrument. But I learned in elementary school that the recorder is about the extent of my musical abilities,” Kelli told him.
“I played the clarinet all throughout high school.”
“You did?” Kelli asked, sounding shocked.
“Yup.”
“You don’t seem like the band type.”
“Oh, I was a nerd through and through, and happy to be one. I was also in theater.”
“Me too!” Kelli exclaimed happily.
They spoke about the plays they were in and some of the shows they wanted to see on Broadway.
“Time for another bite,” Flash told her, scooping out another spoonful of callaloo.
“Seriously, this stuff is amazing,” Kelli said, as Flash chewed his own bite. “I bet it’s even better steamed, or cooked with some of the fish dishes the Jamaicans are known for.”
“Didn’t we have some of this on the buffet at the resort?” Flash asked.
At his question, Kelli’s gaze dropped and her shoulders sagged.
Mentally kicking himself for ruining the good mood, Flash reached out and put his hand on Kelli’s shoulder. He didn’t say anything; whatcouldhe say? He knew she was thinking how, just yesterday—wasit yesterday?—they’d been stuffing their faces at the resort with no cares in the world.
