Page 25 of Keeping Amanda
“I saw, Rebel.” Then he nodded toward the dog.
Turning her head, Amanda saw Rain was standing almost right next to her.
Moving slowly, she brought her hand up toward his chest. She knew better than to try to pat the top of his head. Herfingers stroked the matted fur of his front left leg. “Hey, boy. Was that good? You starting to trust me a little more?”
She could feel him trembling, but he was allowing her touch. Wasn’t trying to bite her and wasn’t running off. For a moment, she felt him lean into her hand, then, as if thinking better of what he was doing, he stepped backward once more, out of her reach.
“Here. I figured the three of us could share a can of olives,” Nash said, holding a can he’d already opened out toward her.
The three of us.Even though he disapproved of her sharing her meal with Rain, he wasn’t berating her, telling her how stupid she was to waste what little they had. Instead, he was making it clear that he was aware she would continue to share her food with the stray.
Strangely enough, Amanda was happier in that moment than she’d been in a very long time. Which was crazy. She was lost in the middle of the jungle, with a group of pissed-off rebels who may or may not be hunting for them that very moment. She was absolutely filthy, thirsty, in pain from walking so much and sleeping on the ground…and yet the simple joys of having a full belly and of earning a little bit of the stray dog’s trust was enough to make her truly feel content.
Not to mention, the man she was stranded with. He made her feel as if she could let down her guard. Not worry so much about the next minute, hour, day. Whatever happened, they’d figure it out together.
He would get them back to Guyana, of that she had no doubt.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “For not yelling at me for feeding him. For being so patient with me and for knowing what to do when I have absolutely no idea.”
“You’re welcome. Go ahead and eat those while I douse the fire and see if I can remove any signs we were here. At least as much as possible.”
Amanda wanted to help, but she also didn’t want to be in the way. So she did as he asked and sat where she was, eating an olive and then throwing one toward Rain—laughing when he caught it in midair—before holding up one of the small treats for Nash.
He shocked the hell out of her when he leaned down and took the olive from her fingers with his mouth.
He smiled and held up his hands, which were covered in soot and dirt from trying to put out the embers of the fire.
The feel of his lips against her fingers was shockingly intimate. And Amanda felt it between her legs. It was surprising, and so inappropriate for the situation it almost felt wrong.
Almost.
It wasn’t as if she was seriously contemplating having sex with the man.
At least…not when they were on the run in the jungle. Not before she’d been able to scrub the last couple of weeks’ worth of grime off her body. She’d read books where the hero and heroine in the story had wild monkey sex in some jungle stream while on the run, but it always seemed a little gross to her. She couldn’t understand how the characters could eventhinkabout sexy times when they were in that situation.
But all of a sudden, she got it. She still didn’tactuallywant to have sex right now, but the spark she felt as he ate olives from her fingers was certainly eye-opening.
By the time the can of olives was empty, Nash had gotten the fire out and they were ready to start walking again. For some reason, Amanda was reluctant to leave this little oasis in the jungle. It wasn’t anything special, just another few meters in the vast wilderness, but she felt as if her world had tilted on its axis in this place.
The progress with Rain, the sudden and unexpected sexual feelings she had toward Nash, and of course, another memory of sleeping in the cradle of his arms. Amanda was confused, and a little angry that all of this was happeningnow. Thousands ofmiles from her home back in the States, with a mananykind of relationship with would likely be impossible, and while on the run from the people who’d kidnapped her. It wasn’t fair.
But then again, life wasn’t fair. You simply had to deal with whatever was thrown your way as best you could.
Taking a sigh, Amanda tried to shove her deepening feelings toward Nash out of her head. He was doing a job. She needed to concentrate on not falling on her face from exhaustion. On what was going to happen once she arrived back at the school. At how happy she’d be to see all the children again.
They started walking, and this time Amanda didn’t need to be so close to Nash, since she could see where she was putting her feet. There was no need to hang on to his pack in the daylight.
Ignoring the pang of disappointment, Amanda looked behind her as they headed out of the area where they’d slept.
The day before, Rain had run off after eating. But today? He was there, following along as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
She couldn’t help but smile as she walked. Life wasn’t perfect, it was damn hard at times. But the dog’s presence reminded her that there was beauty in the world. She simply had to be alert enough to see it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Five days later, Buck was pleased with the progress they were making. Mandy was holding up much better than he’d expected. She didn’t say much as they walked, but that was fine because it allowed him to stay alert for any signs they were being followed or that the rebels had managed to drive their trucks ahead of them.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that anyone who’d escaped them would be trying to get across the border. But Buck still wasn’t sure whether or not the kidnappers knew anyone had missed the rescue helicopter. It was possibleno onewas looking for them. That they’d assumed some of the kids had stolen food from the kitchen. Mandy had told him that she and the girls were left in the tent unaccompanied when they prepared meals.
