Their Wildest Safari Dream by Suzanne Merchant

Author:Suzanne Merchant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-10-13T21:41:48+00:00

* * *

Anna swallowed the last mouthful of grilled chicken salad and then bit into the creamy flesh of a peach. Jack twisted the cap off a bottle of water and balanced it on the front bumper between them.

‘I thought,’ she said, wiping peach juice from her chin, ‘the restaurant staff were off duty.’

‘They are. I put this together.’

She pushed up the brim of her straw hat and studied his profile. It was achingly familiar, in spite of the years they’d spent apart. Yet it was also subtly different. The serious mouth was bracketed by faint lines. Similar lines radiated from the outer corners of his eyes. Most people would have labelled them laughter lines, but she knew they resulted from years of narrowing his gaze as he squinted into the distance, or the sun.

He tipped his head back and took several deep pulls of water from the bottle in his hand. She watched the smooth bronzed skin of his throat move as he swallowed. The previous version of Jack had scarcely ever set foot in the kitchen. Meals—sometimes at irregular intervals, always plain—had just appeared and been eaten. She’d never given much thought to how they’d got there.

Jack had produced a perfect meal three nights ago and a gourmet picnic today. He was harder, more rugged, but he’d developed skills in the kitchen. And there was that scar...

He turned to face her. ‘Have you found what you’re looking for?’

Anna swallowed the last mouthful of peach. How did he know she was looking for anything? He’d be the last person she’d share her dreams with. They’d wither and die in the blast of a single one of his scorching glances. She’d learned that the hard way.

‘What do you mean?’ she managed, when she’d forced some air into her lungs. ‘I’m not looking for anything. I’m just...’

‘You’re staring so hard that I wondered. That’s all.’

Ah... She’d been so absorbed in his nearness, in the reality of him, trying to puzzle him out, that she’d read far too much into the question.

‘I’m thinking how you’re the same yet different,’ she said.

‘How different?’ He raised his eyebrows.

‘You’re tougher.’ She looked away and pressed her hands to the bumper on either side of her hips. ‘More...ruthless, somehow.’ She smiled, trying to lighten her words. ‘Mean and lean.’

‘You’re right. I am.’ He screwed the cap back onto the bottle, tightening it hard. ‘I have to be. Getting to where we are now has been a struggle, and the struggle will go on. It’s a harsh environment and it’s tough. Running the mine and Themba take up all...all...my time.’

‘Then it’s exceptionally kind of you to take time out for this trip. I’m very grateful.’ She settled her hat firmly on her head so it shaded her eyes again. ‘But you seem to have a reliable team in place. Are you not happy to leave Themba in their hands while you’re away?’

‘They’re an excellent team, but I prefer to be there. I’m involved in every detail of both operations.

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