Whitewater Rendezvous

“Okay, so your tent-swapping plan distracted me a little,” she admitted. “But I already told you, I’m not getting involved in any one-night stands with a client.”

“Well, I think you’re limiting yourself,” Sally said. “Maybe it wouldn’t have to be a one-night stand. You never know.” She put her hand on Chaz’s shoulder, and her voice grew serious. “Maybe you’re throwing away a prime opportunity for happiness. I’d hate to see that happen. Think about it, would you? Please?”

Like I can think about much of anything else. “Give it up, Sally.

It’s not possible. We have a job to do here, a responsibility to these women, and I’m not going to forget that.” She packed up the remnants of her lunch and stood, ending the discussion for the moment anyway.

She managed to keep her mind on her duties when they got back on the river to head to their next campsite, at least for the most part.

She didn’t want the clients to miss any more prime wildlife sightings because of her daydreaming.

But it wasn’t easy. She’d caught Megan watching her as she got back into her kayak, and Sally’s words rang in her mind. I think shelikes you, too…I’ve seen her looking at you a lot, kind of like you’vebeen looking at her.

Something told her that the greatest tests of her self-control were still to come.

O

Most of that day the Odakonya meandered lazily through a wide, fl at plain of tundra, the mountains far distant and the view unfettered by trees or brush for miles in every direction. But late in the afternoon, the river turned and entered a long valley thick with trees: a forest of cottonwoods and aspen and spruce, protected from the killing winter winds by the mountains rising steeply on either side. The lush growth around them after several hours of unbroken, treeless terrain made Megan feel a bit like she’d come upon an oasis in the desert.

There were birds everywhere, and ground squirrels chattered noisily at them from the riverbank, adding to the cacophony of twitterings and chirps and snippets of birdsong. Up ahead, she could see that Chaz had pulled off and was out of her kayak. They must have reached their second campsite.

• 95 •

KIM BALDWIN

Justine brought her kayak alongside Megan’s. “What a great spot.”

“Beautiful,” Megan agreed.

“Are you sure you’re okay with the sleeping arrangements? You actually want to stay with Chaz?”

“It’ll be all right.” I hope it will be, anyway. “No offense, Justine, but I haven’t slept well since we left Chicago.”

“Sorry. I guess I should have warned you.”

“You knew you snored?” Megan asked.

“Well, duh. I am a grown woman. And too long unattached, I grant you, but only because I’ve been working a lot. I do have overnight guests, you know. Although most of them are apparently too diplomatic to tell me honestly how loud I am.”

“What team are you trying out for these days, by the way?” Megan asked as they drifted near the place where they would spend the night.

“I think I’ve had it with men. Women are way more interesting.”

And some women are much more interesting than others. “You got that right, kiddo. Got any prospects in mind?”

“Well, I might have made a play for tall, taut, and lovely over there.” Justine nodded in Chaz’s direction. “But I hate to stand in line.

You realize that Elise is out for her too, right?”

Their kayaks crunched against the gravel bank, and they both popped their spray skirts to get out.

“I never said I was interested in her,” Megan protested feebly, as she got to her feet and stripped off her PFD.

“You don’t have to,” Justine said, following suit. “It’s pretty obvious, Meg. I just want to make sure you knew that you’ve got some competition, and you know as well as I do that Elise has a way with women.”

“Well, I don’t know that quite as well as you do. I’ve seen her in action, but I’ve never succumbed to her charms personally. ”

“That’s not fair. It was just the once, and it only happened because I was stressed out and she was helping me to relax,” Justine said.

“Yeah, right.” Megan rolled her eyes. “She went to massage school to add to her arsenal of seduction tools. The sexy punk haircut, the fl irtatious grin, the big pouty lips. She’s butch with the femmes, and femme with the butches, and she gets them all.”

“So why has she never gotten you?” Justine asked.

• 96 •

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14