Discovering Sophie (10 page)

His eyes pierced her as he measured her words. “You don’t have any more secrets to reveal, then?”

Her eyes drifted down to his bulging biceps, bringing back the memory of being held within those impressive arms. Yeah, she had another secret. She was hopelessly—against her wishes—attracted to this man.

“I’m a girl. Of course I have secrets.” She made herself look directly at him. “But I can assure you those secrets won’t have any impact on you.” Because neither she or Jack were looking for a relationship, especially not with each other.

Besides, after ending things with David, she had vowed to never again date anyone who didn’t believe in God. This pull she felt toward Jack was nothing more than a school girl’s crush. It could never be anything more.

* * *

Sweat trickled down the middle of Sophie’s back. She wiped her brow with the back of her hand, wondering if a woman should perspire this much. Discreetly, she checked to see if she had any sweat rings under her armpits.

The next thing she knew her steps halted abruptly as she smacked into something solid. The weight of her backpack made her lose her balance, and Sophie yelped as she felt herself topple backwards.

She realized the solid mass she had run into was Jack and, in desperation to keep from falling down, she reached out and grabbed onto the straps of his pack. “Oh no,” she said just before she tumbled on her backside. Then Jack flattened her when he landed on top of her.

The weight of Jack’s body and his forty pound pack compressed all the air in Sophie’s chest, rendering her unable to breathe or scream for help. Even after Jack quickly rolled off of her, Sophie still couldn’t draw in any air.

“What happened?” Jack said, shrugging off his backpack. “Are you okay?”

All Sophie could do was gasp while she waited for her diaphragm to start working again. She closed her eyes and tried not to panic, concentrating on the simple task of taking a slow deep breath.

“Sophie,” Jack said, jostling her shoulder. “Hey, talk to me.”

Unable to answer him, Sophie opened her eyes to find Jack’s face hovering near her own. The dark stubble covering his jaw was so close she could almost feel the prickly whiskers against her skin. His light blue eyes were filled with worry as they held hers.

Finally, she was able to take a full breath. “Ouch,” she said in a soft voice. “That hurt.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “You scared me. For a minute there I thought I was going to have to give you CPR or something.”

“It wouldn’t have helped.”
Although the mouth to mouth would have been interesting
. “You knocked the wind out of me.”

His lips parted into a full grin. “
Hmm
.” He inched back, his gaze still holding hers. “All I did was stop to look at my GPS, and then, wham, I got knocked off my feet.”

“Well, maybe you should warn me when you’re stopping.”

“Maybe
you
should pay closer attention.”

“Maybe I should.”

Amusement lit his eyes as he eased away and held out his hand to help her up. She did her best not to react to the flash of heat when she placed her palm in his and climbed to her feet. She winced when a muscle in her back protested as she straightened. “Thank you.”

Jack was slow to let go of her hand, his forehead lined with concern. “You sure you’re okay?”

Not really. Her back was killing her, and her heart beat erratically merely from touching him. “Yes. Just a little sore.” She pulled her hand away.

Jack eyed her for a few more seconds before he leaned over to get his pack. “Looks like you dropped something,” he said, kneeling down to pick up two tubes of lip gloss that must have come out of her pocket when she’d hit the ground.

Sophie held out her hand, but instead of giving the items back to her, Jack read the names on the tubes. “Whipped Vanilla and Frozen Daiquiri. That sounds…” He paused, and gave her a wry grin. “…refreshing.”

Her mouth went dry when his gaze drifted down to her lips. She felt her lungs squeeze together and her pulse race even faster. A flicker of mirth crossed Jack’s features, and Sophie knew he was aware of the effect he had on her.

Swallowing, she reached out to snatch both tubes of gloss from his fingers. “I guess you’ll never know.”

He gave her a lazy smile. “You’re probably right.”

For some reason the implied declaration that he would never taste-test her lip gloss disappointed her. Flustered, Sophie stepped away from him and glanced over to see Hector watching both of them, clearly amused.

“Since we’re stopped,” Hector said, handing her a bottle of water. “It would be a good time to rest, ¿
no
?”

“
Gracias
.” Sophie accepted the bottle of water. “But I’m okay to keep going.” She didn’t dare look at Jack and was relieved when he said they could rest for a few minutes.

Sophie shrugged off her backpack and sat down, using the pack as a seat. Jack talked to Hector about what was ahead of them and where they’d make camp tonight. He didn’t once look her way and acted as if nothing had happened between them.

What
had
happened between them? Or, rather, what had happened to her? Her feelings made no sense because half the time she didn’t even like Jack. She twisted the lid off of her bottle and took a long drink of water.

Forcing thoughts of Jack out of her mind, she focused on her dad and wondered where he might be. Hopefully she would find him doing what he loved best—studying and finding ways to preserve the ecosystem, especially inside the rainforest. She prayed the reason she hadn’t heard from him was because he was too busy and had lost track of time.

Tipping her head back, Sophie looked up into the canopy of trees, her eyes searching for the monkeys she could hear. She loved watching them, just as she had as a child. The lush green leaves fluttered from movement of the jungle life as flashes of colorful birds hopped from one branch to another. It was so incredibly beautiful here—completely different from her childhood home in Texas.

No wonder her dad had spent most of his life living in this setting. Had she not graduated so early from high school, she probably would’ve ended up accompanying him on some of his trips again. But once she had started college, the loneliness she had known most of her life had dissipated with a variety of roommates and the campus social life.

So deep in thought, Sophie hadn’t heard Jack talking to her. “I’m sorry, what did you ask me?”

He sat all alone, watching her with one eyebrow raised. “I asked if you’re okay? You were kind of spacing off.” One corner of his mouth edged up. “You didn’t jar your brain when you landed on your butt, did you?”

Sophie couldn’t suppress a laugh. “I’m fine. I was just thinking about my dad and how much he loves the rainforest. Being here again, and seeing it through adult eyes, I think I can understand how he feels. I would love to come back here and do humanitarian work alongside my dad.”

He gave her a soft smile. “I’ll bet he would really like that.”

Sophie was grateful Jack talked like there was hope her father was still out there healthy and alive. It occurred to her she knew nothing about his family. “What about you? Have any of your family members ever come over here to take a tour with you?”

Jack’s lips pressed together tightly, and Sophie thought she saw a hint of sadness in his eyes before they hardened. “No. They never have.” He got to his feet. “Well, if you’re okay, we really need to get moving.”

“Sure.” Sophie stood up and slipped on her backpack. It seemed obvious Jack didn’t want to talk about his family. Although she was curious, she didn’t feel comfortable asking him about it. She avoided looking at his face as she walked away from him.

“Sophie! Stop!” Jack shouted, making her heart miss a beat.

Chapter Eight

The
panicked tone of Jack’s voice made Sophie stop in her tracks. She sucked in a frightened breath when he swiftly moved in front of her, and swiped his machete to cut off the head of a colorful snake coiled just inches from her feet. Generally, she wasn’t afraid of snakes, but she knew enough about a coral snake to know its venom is deadly.

Putting a hand over her chest, she watched Jack use the toe of his boot to toss the lifeless body away from her. He crouched down and wiped the blood off the blade of his machete in the grass.

“Thank you. I…I didn’t see it.”

Jack tilted his head up. “I’m impressed how quickly you listened to me, Dr. Kendrick. If you had taken one more step, I would most likely be hauling your body back to the States.”

“I’ll be more careful from now on.”

His pale blue eyes remained locked on hers as he stood up. “Yes. Being careful is always a good idea.” He continued to hold her gaze. “Nobody wants to get hurt.”

Sophie didn’t try analyzing whether or not his words had a double meaning because the look she read in Jack’s eyes was something she couldn’t quite decipher.
Admiration?
Or was it something more? For some reason, it made her happy she had somehow pleased him.

He regarded her a moment longer before motioning her forward. “After you.”

As Sophie trailed behind Hector, she looked forward to making camp tonight, and hoped to spend some time talking with Jack. She wanted to get to know him better—the real guy under all the sarcasm and jokes. They had at least ten more days to spend together, and it would be nice if they could become friends. She told herself that a friend was all she wanted to be, but deep down she suspected she might like it to be more than that.

They hiked for a couple of hours longer, and then stopped just before the sun went down. Sophie slid the backpack from her shoulders and stretched her neck from side to side.

“We better hurry and get the tents up,” Jack said, dropping his pack to the ground. “It’s going to rain.”

“
Sí
,” Hector said, handing each of them a protein bar. “This will have to be your supper.”

Sophie tucked the peanut butter bar into her pocket and picked a spot to set up her shelter. While Jack and Hector unloaded the donkey, Sophie retrieved their tents and laid them out on either side of hers as they had instructed the night before.

She set up her own tent first and then went to work on Hector’s. As she connected the poles together, Jack knelt down and started on his own shelter. Building a friendship with the man was her goal, but he was so focused on getting his tent up that he hadn’t even looked her way.

He worked quickly as if he expected a downpour any second. Not wanting to get caught in the rain, Sophie decided she better pick up the pace. Jack cursed under his breath when one of the poles wouldn’t fit together. This morning he’d had the opposite problem and had struggled pulling the poles apart. A little petroleum jelly would help solve the problem, but he seemed touchy about setting up and taking down his tent, so she kept silent and continued to work.

“
Gracias
,” Hector said when Sophie completed the task. “Maybe you can help Jack now.” His voice held a hint of laughter.

At the suggestion, Jack shot the man a fierce look. “I got it.”

Sensing Jack’s rising frustration, Sophie wisely didn’t say anything. They’d had a relatively good day together, and she didn’t want to do anything to put him in a bad mood again. It was her hope that their rocky start was in the past.

Fat drops of rain began to fall just as Jack finished. The rain was coming, and she was disappointed they wouldn’t have a few minutes to talk.

Their eyes met briefly, and Jack gave her a quick nod of his head. “See you in the morning.”

“Okay.” She smiled and then hurried inside her sleeping quarters. Tomorrow would be soon enough to get to know Jack a little better. She quickly changed into her cut-off sweats and T-shirt and crawled into her sleeping bag.

Exhausted from the miles they’d covered, she could barely keep her eyes open. After saying her prayers, she felt her muscles relax as sleep overtook her. She was hopeful her nightmare wouldn’t come tonight, especially since her mind kept replaying Jack’s teasing laugh and the tender look he’d given her after saving her from the snake.

Another smile tugged at her lips, and she looked forward to the morning.

* * *

Jack rubbed his eyes, feeling a little grumpy about how poorly he’d slept his second night into their trip, and it wasn’t only because Sophie had had another nightmare. Just like the night before, he’d bolted from his tent to rush to her aid. But instead of getting a hug, this time he had found her fully alert and assuring him she was okay.

Well, he wasn’t okay.

He had dreamed about her again, but this time it was about something much more disturbing than him trying to rescue her. In it, he wore a tuxedo and stood inside a church, waiting for her to join him as she made her way down a long aisle wearing a shimmering white wedding dress.

He hadn’t been able to go back to sleep. Why on earth would he dream about a wedding—no, their wedding? It was absurd, and this growing fascination he felt for her needed to be dealt with. Getting involved with a woman who already had a serious boyfriend was wrong. Besides, how could he really trust someone who had purposely deceived him twice?

He cradled his tin mug of coffee and stared at Sophie’s tent. She was awake. He could hear her moving around and softly humming. Glancing around, Jack wondered what was taking Hector so long. He’d gone to use the latrine twenty minutes ago. For some reason, Jack didn’t feel like being alone with her.

Taking a sip of the hot brew, he heard the tent door unzip and the humming stop as she stepped out.

He swallowed the bitter liquid and studied her through half-lidded eyes. She wore tan cargo pants and a fitted brown tee. Like yesterday, she had on very little makeup. She looked good. A little too good.

When their eyes met, Jack’s chest tightened with conflicting emotions. Fighting the hold she had on him, he scowled at her. Her chin rose, and she returned the glare—a challenge in her eyes.