Chapter 1

“So where are you off to, Beautiful?”

Joss looked up from her book, ‘Wild Food and Medicinal Plants of the South Pacific’, meeting her driver’s eyes in the rear view mirror. He offered her a cheeky wink, as though hoping his weak compliment would make her drop her panties right there and then. He was not bad looking, so she could only assume his charm had worked once or twice before.

“Vatuvara,” she replied, looking back down to her book in an attempt to avoid the flirtatious small talk that would inevitably follow if she maintained eye contact.

“Exotic. Where’s that, sexy?” he asked, undeterred.

“Fiji Islands,” she shrugged, searching for the paragraph she’d paused at. Most people would find the subject matter dry and uninteresting, but Joss was fascinated with the material. As a survival enthusiast, and an Instructor at Alderleaf Wilderness College, it wasn’t surprising that this particular book was in her hands, but the truth was, she was reading for pleasure, not business. She was obsessed with the study of botany.

“Wow, that’s a long way to venture on your own. Are you traveling for work?” he said, either ignoring her ‘not interested’ signals, or too self-absorbed to care. She was certain it was the latter.

Joss sighed, and met his gaze again, wondering if he planned to chit-chat the entire ninety minutes, from Monroe to the Sea-Tac airport. Sure, he was hot, and most women would be happy to schmooze with him, but Joss was a social introvert, and for the most part, a little shy. She forced herself to be friendly in social situations, or when teaching, so most people considered her out-going, but the truth was, she preferred solitude. Her alone time was precious to her. She would use it to recharge her batteries, and she had been counting on the travel time to do just that. That is before she was hauled into the crazy festivities of Hannah’s wedding.

Surrendering to the conversation, she placed her book back into her carry on bag. “Yes and no,” she admitted, certain he wouldn’t spare her anyway. “My friend is getting married on Monday and I’m a bridesmaid.”

“And that’s work?” he chuckled, trying to catch her eye again.

Joss grinned back and shrugged. “If you knew Hannah, you would understand,” she giggled, thinking of her crazy friend, “but no, I’m actually participating in a five day survival course in Vanua Levu, after the wedding. Work is paying for it.”

“Sounds intriguing. What exactly do you do for a living?”

“I’m a Certified Survival Instructor. I teach at Alderleaf,” she explained, checking the time on her watch. It was a paracord survival watch, complete with a whistle, fire starter, compass, and a thermometer, among other useful things. It was ugly but functional. Her father had presented it to her just before she left to hike the Pacific Crest Trail a few years earlier. She treasured the gift because it was the last thing he ever gave to her, and his way of saying that he supported her choices, as unconventional as they were. God, she missed him.

“Wow, that’s cool. How did you fall into that?” he asked, genuinely impressed, as though suddenly realizing she might be more than just a pretty face.

“It’s a long story,” Joss shrugged, hoping he wouldn’t want to hear it.

“We have time,” he teased, flashing her another playboy grin, perhaps hoping he’d wear her down. Joss shook her head at him and chuckled, (almost) immune to his charms.

“My Dad and I used to go camping when I was a kid. I loved it, being out in the middle of no where, surrounded by nature, relying only on our wits and creativity. I felt more at home in the woods with him than I did anywhere else,” she smiled, her voice thick with recollection. “It was so much fun to be around him, without the stressors of everyday life wearing him down, you know?”

“Sounds like a great dad.”

“He was...” she whispered, grief catching in her throat. She briefly met his eyes before dropping her head. “He died several years ago. Heart attack.”

“Sorry.”

“Anyway,” she continued, casually bypassing the condolences, “when it was time to pick a career, I wanted to be out in nature, but my pragmatic mother talked me into nursing. I had a strong penchant for the sciences and she was insistent that I pursue a sensible career, something that would serve me long term and offer a decent wage, something with a suitable pension package. She had me planning my retirement before I even started working.”

“Ah, and you were too obedient to say no?” he grinned, as though imagining her submissive.

Joss laughed and nodded her head. “Something like that. Mary was not a woman you wanted to argue with, trust me. So I did it. I enrolled at Seattle U, excelled through school, and soared through every term on the Dean’s list, but right before I graduated, I walked away from it all.”

“Really?” he chimed in, curious by the admission.

Joss hesitated for a moment, wondering why she was sharing so much with him. It was so out of character for her, but she’d already gone this far and she decided to continue. Hell, she’d probably never see him again, she thought.

“Yeah, I really did. I went through a pretty rough break up and was frigging miserable. Actually I was suffering from depression and my doctor put me on some heavy duty prescriptions. To put it mildly, the drugs made me feel like the walking dead. Truthfully, I felt like I had no control over my own life, and the depression was a symptom of my own despair. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, switching gears may have saved my life.”

“What did your Mom say?”

“She wasn’t happy, but by then it didn’t matter anymore. She and my father split up and Mary moved to another state to shack up with her then lover. We’ve been estranged ever since.”

“That’s rough,” he offered uncomfortably. Joss wondered coyly if he was regretting making small with her after all. In her experience, men acted like they wanted to know you, but then squirmed in their seats when the story wasn’t easily digestible. They wanted the history to be as pretty as the face they were flirting with.

“It was,” she smirked privately, knowing she should let the poor sap off the hook. “Anyway, as soon as I left university, I flushed my meds and went on a sabbatical of sorts. Took that summer to hike the Pacific Coast Trail from border to border, Mexico right up to Canada. Did it in four and a half months.”

He looked at her reflection in the mirror, unable to mask his surprise. “Shit, no kidding?”

“No kidding. Solo trip too. By the time I hit the Oregon/Washington border, I knew what I had to do. I spent the next few years earning my accreditation. Alderleaf hired me on as an instructor soon after, and I have been with them ever since.”

“That’s cool. So like if we were lost in the woods together, you could build us a cabin and keep us alive, and shit? Cook up some squirrel, maybe knit us a cozy blanket we could snuggle under?” he teased, easing back into the flirtation. It seemed to be his comfort zone, she noted, wishing she had not put her book away.

“Sure,” she offered flatly, wondering just how far Romeo would push his impromptu seduction if she’d let him. It always surprised her, even now, when men came on to her. She didn’t consider herself all that beautiful and yet for some reason, they still seemed to hit on her. She certainly didn’t primp the way most women did. She rarely wore make up, and her long, blond hair spent more time tied back in a pony tail than coiffed. In fact, Hannah teased her that she’d be wearing more cosmetics the day of the wedding than she had worn in her whole life, combined. That was probably the truth. She was a tomboy, through and through, but it served her need for solitude, whether she liked it or not.

It wasn’t that Joss wasn’t interested in men, quite the contrary. She wanted the fairytale romance just as much as the next girl, but aside from her father, men always seemed to disappoint her. Things would start off great, but would never last. Her mother used to tell her that boys were intimidated by her intelligence. She would say, ‘Jocelyn, it wouldn’t hurt you to dumb it down a little around the opposite sex. Boys don’t want women to be smarter than they are.’

That used to drive Joss crazy. Why would a man want a woman pretending to be something she wasn’t? And why would she want any man that would want that? She held out hope for years that her mother was wrong, but at 31, and hopelessly single, she was starting to wonder. Still, she knew that she came across as too serious, even bitchy sometimes, but she dreamed that the right guy would see past all that and bring out her wild, playful side. She knew it was in there. Aside from being bright, she did have a healthy, sexy imagination. She had just built up a lot of walls.

“Have you ever had to use your survival skills? I mean outside of teaching?” he asked, pulling her back from her thoughts.

“Sure, a few times, on the PCT. It can be dangerous out in the back country if you don’t know what you’re doing,” she admitted, her eyes looking ahead on the highway. They were getting close to the Airport Expressway, much to her dismay. She was excited to see Hannah again, but flying made her anxious.

It had been almost a year since she had seen her friend. The last time they were together, Hannah announced her engagement and asked Joss to stand up for her. At first Joss declined, uncertain she would have time for all the festivities and responsibilities that came with the position, but Hannah assured her that there would be none of that to worry about. They were planning a destination wedding in an exotic locale, and all the fun would be during the week of the wedding. Joss accepted, in spite of her fear of flying. She would just have to suck it up if she wanted to be beside her best friend when she tied the knot.

They met at S.U., college roommates, and were inseparable all through school. Hannah was a wild child, always partying and having fun. She insisted on bringing out Joss’s playful side, and thank goodness she did, or Joss would’ve spent the entire four years with her nose in her books. No one could loosen Joss up like Hannah! By the same token, Hannah needed Joss’ sensibility and work ethic to help her stay focused. They’d been a good team and Joss adored her. Hannah had been there for her during some tough times, in particular that last year of university, and the terrible loss that Joss had endured.

“We’ll be pulling into departures in about 5 minutes,” he said, glancing over his shoulder to merge. Once he shifted the Cadillac into the proper lane, he casually handed her his cellphone. “Give me your digits. Maybe we can hook up when you get back from your trip,” he offered casually, as though there was no doubt that she would comply.

“I’m Brandon, by the way. My friends call me B.”

Joss stared at his phone, brows raised, but did nothing, trying unsuccessfully to hide her astonishment. Did he really think she would just roll over and lift her petticoats for him? After only a few minutes of flirting? Cute, but lazy, she thought, turning her head away.

“I’m too busy to date, besides, don’t you live in Seattle?” she declined, watching the airport closing in.

“Yeah, so what. We’re only an hour apart. You can come visit me, I have a spare room,” he winked, turning up the charm.

“I’m not much of a city girl.”

“Come on, I’m harmless” he urged, gesturing her to take his phone. “We’ll have fun! I’m just a normal guy, I promise.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of. Normal doesn’t work for me, B.”