So he'd kept his distance from this mesmerizing, high-maintenance lady—with the most amazing eyes, ass and laugh.
Damned if he didn't walk across the courtyard anyway and sit beside her on a too-small bench.
He stayed silent—his normal ops. He figured if a woman minded the silence, she wasn't his type. His sex life was plenty healthy with other quiet women.
And he never ended up with a knife slicing his chest.
He reached into his flight bag and pulled out a folder. Birds hopped across the lawn, more circling overhead.
Sara tipped back her head and blew another stream of smaller bubbles toward the flock. "They know you."
Already, she was talking.
"They're birds with brains the size of a pea. They don't know me."
Without looking at him, she dipped the wand in the soap. "They know you because you feed them."
His hand fell back to his flight bag where a loaf of stale French bread waited to be crumbled. How did she know? "They make good company. They don't talk."
"My, you are so charming." Rolling her eyes, she batted his arm. "How did you ever land a diplomatic job?"
The simple brush of her fingers against his bicep shot a bolt of desire straight south. Why was it again that he should stay away from her?
Looking into her wide brown eyes, a bubble resting on her head like the crown this princess-type no doubt earned, he couldn't think of a single reason to haul his sorry butt off the bench. "I don't talk much so there's less chance of shoving my boot in my mouth."
She extended her leg—damn, the sun overhead was cranking hot—and pointed her toes inside high-heeled strappy sandals. "I chew on my foot quite regularly."
A laugh rasped free. Talking wasn't so bad when she amused him. "It's a pretty foot."
"That's the oddest compliment I've ever received."
"Any woman looking for fawning Romeo crap should probably bypass a guy like me." As close as he would come to warning her off.
Her slow sexy smile said she wasn't walking anywhere except right over his resolve to stay clear. "So you have a—what's the phrase?— a foot fetish? "
"Not particularly." He swept aside the bubble clinging to her hair, then let his fingers glide down the strand. "But for you, I could see my way clear to cultivating one...."
Chapter 5
Splashing her face in the jungle stream, Sara blinked against the bright morning sun blasting spikes of light through the leafy canopy.
Rustling sounded behind her as Lucas erased signs they'd slept under the cover of palm branches. Or rather she had slept against his chest. She somehow doubted he'd let down his guard long enough.
Guilt pinched, reminding her how easy it would be to slide back into her old dependent ways. She needed to carry her own load, for everyone's sake, especially for her daughter still sleeping curled on her side.
Which meant taking care of herself.
Sara rifled through her knapsack, careful to shield her hands from Lucas's sight, and unearthed the small black insulin pouch from the side. Thank God she'd decided to pack an extra case.
Another quick glance reassured her Lucas couldn't see her. She considered telling him. Certainly it was nothing to be ashamed of, but she feared he wouldn't let her pull her own weight. He'd lost so much blood from a stab wound she had inflicted. He was leading the way, working harder in setting up camp and carrying Lucia.>Sara's stories about her child spilled from one into the other with such obvious maternal affection, he couldn't help but smile. Not that she could see his reaction now that the sun had finally slipped into the horizon.
His eyes would finish adjusting in about a half hour, but for now, everything was pitch-black. He needed that anonymity with so much to process.
Aside from the fact that Lucia barely looked three to him, much less four and a half, she sure as hell didn't resemble him or anyone in his family. She was one hundred percent her mama's clone.
Even if the child was close to the right age, maybe Sara didn't know for certain, either. The thought of her being raped, especially when she was so helpless from her injuries...
He couldn't think about that and stay sane.