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Cam, eyes bright with excitement. “The mountain’s real.”

Cam grinned. “I wouldn’t call it a mountain but yeah, it’s as real as rain.”

It damned well was. A little while ago, he’d started wondering if they were seeing the same mirage. Out here, anything was possible.

But the hill, the mountain, the heap of rocks and stunted trees, was directly ahead of them, and it was the closest thing yet to salvation.

“You up to a climb?”

Salome nodded. He could read exhaustion in her face but she was smiling. A pale gold curl hung over her temple and without thinking, he tucked it back behind her ear.

She was amazing, his Salome, and—

His Salome?

Cam’s grin became a glower. He forced his eyes elsewhere. At the hill, at the sun, at the sand…

At her feet, where he found just the right distraction.

“For God’s sake, your shoes are falling apart.”

Her gaze followed his. Of course they were. Why did he sound so surprised?

“You can’t climb those rocks like that.”

Wordlessly she flashed a deliberate look at his bare feet.

“That’s different,” he snapped.

“How is it different?”

Cam’s Special Forces training had involved walking barefoot over rougher terrain than this, but he didn’t intend to explain himself to her.

“It’s different because I say it is.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Have you ever spent hours rehearsing a new dance routine?”

“What?”

“Dancing. Do you know anything about it?”

“No. Do you?”

His tone was hard and flat. So was the look on his face. A few minutes ago, she’d been thinking that only a man like Cameron Knight could have gotten them both this far.

How could she have been so stupid as to think nice things about him?

“Yes,” she said coldly, “I do. If you knew anything at all about my profession—”

“Trust me, Salome. I know a lot about your profession.”

Her hand whipped through the air. He caught it just before it connected with his jaw.

“Don’t,” he said softly. “Not unless you’re prepared for the consequences.”

“I wish I’d never laid eyes on you!”

“Right.” His lips drew back from his teeth in a cold parody of a smile. “Except, according to you and Asaad, you’d be marching to your execution right about now.”