The Husband by Elizabeth August

Author:Elizabeth August [Elizabeth August]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459280793
Publisher: Harlequin

“It’s time to get going.”

Beatrice opened her eyes to see Joe frowning down at her.

Leaving the tent, she discovered he’d heated water and made coffee. He’d also already eaten. While she gulped down a quick breakfast, he returned their sleeping bags to their backpacks and repacked the tent.

She’d considered offering to help but got the impression he preferred to work alone.

After breaking camp, he took the lead, heading directly for the road. She couldn’t fault his choice. The going would be much faster than trying to make their way through the forest. And, if someone should decide to return to the fortress, she and Joe could hear any traffic approaching soon enough to leave the road and hide.

His strength was clearly returning. He set a faster pace than he had the day before, causing her to nearly jog to keep up. For the first mile, she matched his gait, then the heat began to take its toll. Giving up, she set a pace she knew she could maintain. If he wanted to hike out on his own, that was fine with her.

She’d caught a glimpse of his face before she’d begun to lag behind. He had the look of a man whose mind was elsewhere and she wondered if he would even notice she was missing.

Apparently he did, she mused, rounding a bend and finding him standing in the middle of the road, his arms akimbo, his expression shuttered. Perspiration streamed down his face. He wiped at it with the sleeve of his shirt.

“I figured it would be stupid for both of us to collapse from heatstroke,” she said, coming to a halt a few feet in front of him.

He raked a hand through his sweat-soaked hair, combing it away from his face. He was giving her every chance, he told himself. Without a word, he took the lead again. At first he set a reasonable pace, then began to increase it again.

Watching him, she could sense his anger as if it was a physical force driving him forward.

Reaching the gate well ahead of her, he was again forced to wait until she caught up.

The coldness in his eyes rankled her. “If I’m slowing you down too much, feel free to go ahead without me,” she told him curtly. “I can make it back on my own.”

“I’m sure you can.” He shoved the gate open and waited for her to pass.

That was not the response she’d expected. What she had expected was for him to give her one of his dry looks as if to say she was being foolish. The realization that he wouldn’t have minded in the least if she’d taken off on her own caused a jab of hurt. Again she told herself she didn’t care how he felt about her. Remaining where she was, she glared at him. “I only stayed with you because I thought you might need some help getting back. You seemed a little weak yesterday. But since you appear to have regained your health, we can part company anytime.

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