Chapter seven

Chaz scarcely noticed the scenery during the fi rst couple of hours after breakfast. She was totally thrown by the prospect of sleeping next to Megan that night, and equally baffl ed by the sudden thaw in her client’s frosty attitude toward her. It almost seemed like Megan jumped at the chance to stay with her, rather than one of her friends. What was up with that?

Chaz was even more perplexed by the way her mind and body were reacting to the turn of events. Whenever she pictured them lying side by side in the tent she felt a sharp twinge of arousal.

Okay, so you’re really, really attracted to her, she admitted, paddling along on autopilot, her eyes seeing only the way Megan had smiled at her that morning from the other side of the tent screen. She’d felt something warm her from within when Megan smiled at her that way.

But nothing is going to happen, she reminded herself. Even if sheis warming up to you. She’s a client, you have nothing in common,and she lives on the other side of the country. Besides, you’re not evenreally sure she’s gay. It’s your hormones talking. She kept telling herself that, but it was doing nothing to stop her overactive imagination from wondering what the pale skin of Megan’s neck would taste like, what the press of Megan’s body would feel like against her own. What the network vice president might be like in bed. Do you always have to bethe one in control?

She felt both tremendous anticipation and profound dread when she thought about the nights ahead of them. Sharing a tent with Megan might test the limits of her resolve. Though she hoped that no one had noticed how distracted she was all morning, she wasn’t too surprised when Sally sought her out soon after they stopped for lunch.

• 93 •

KIM BALDWIN

Chaz had taken her sandwich and gone to sit on a rock next to the river, her back to the clients.

“You’re not mad at me, are you?” Sally asked as she settled beside her.

“Now why in the world would I be mad at you?” Chaz answered calmly. It took some effort, because in all honesty she was a tad peeved at what was blatantly a misguided effort to play matchmaker. It’s allyour fault I’m apparently going to have a frustrated libido the nextweek and a half, she wanted to say. But she knew Sally’s intentions were honorable.

“Well, I can see that I really threw you for a loop when I volunteered to swap tents with Megan. I just thought you needed a nudge. I know you like her. And I think she likes you, too, despite how she’s been acting. I’ve seen her looking at you a lot, kind of like you’ve been looking at her.”

“You didn’t throw me for a loop, and I haven’t been looking at her any more than anyone else,” Chaz protested, annoyed with how well Sally could read her. She didn’t want to admit how much Megan was getting to her; it would only encourage Sally’s determination to hook them up.

“I guess there must have been some other reason you failed to point out a half-dozen things during this last stretch of river, then.”

Sally grinned.

“What? What did I miss?”

“Let’s see. A golden eagle, another nice grouping of Dall sheep, and the fi rst musk ox of the trip, among other things.”

“Oh, shit, really? Where was the musk ox?” Chaz felt awful for slacking on her responsibilities. They might not see another one, she knew, and that was an animal that always made a real impression on the clients.

“There was a pair of them a good ways back, and they were a long distance away—I could only really see them with binoculars.

But I knew that if you’d blown by them, Miss Eagle Eyes, there was something major going on with you.”

“There’s nothing going on with me,” she replied, a little too defensively.

“Whatever you say,” Sally said, with an infl ection that said she clearly didn’t believe a word of Chaz’s denials.

• 94 •

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14