Chapter 4
Summer stopped and smiled. Not even daring to breathe, she watched as the small bird nested. She took a step closer. She wanted a picture of the nest and innocent baby birds inside. She wanted to get so close she could see all of them.
Switching her lens wasn’t a good option. She was sure any movement would send the mother flying. She had to make sure the bird didn’t abandon the babies. She took a photo, then, with a happy smile, slowly retreated.
It had been a beautiful morning when she woke up. Snuggled tight against Easton’s chest, she’d felt so peaceful, rested. After all, she’d slept like a baby cradled in his arms. In the early morning light, it had been easy to consider the horrible event in the middle of the night as a bad dream. Except she still remembered being frozen in place, hearing the distinctive sound of a stranger breathing. And yet, when she’d been wrapped in Easton’s arms, his breathing had been comforting.
Determined not to lose track of time again, she glanced at her watch. Breakfast was in the next twenty minutes. She carefully packed her bags; which were still clipped together. She threw them over her shoulder and made her way back to base. The sun shone brightly. She tilted her face to the warm rays and smiled. It was a gorgeous morning. She’d been very tempted to stay in Easton’s arms but figured that would make it very awkward for him. Taking the opportunity, she had slipped out to get an hour or two of work done.
She tramped through the high grass as she glanced around, wondering at the natural beauty of the woods. Then she caught sight of something between the trees.
Stopping, she studied the area but couldn’t see what had caught her eye. She kept walking, a creepy feeling of being watched nudging her. She picked up her pace slightly, glancing behind her every few steps. The feeling was getting stronger. She watched the wide-open field as she headed back, but the tree line ahead worried her because anybody could be hiding there. Last night she couldn’t let go of the feeling that something lay in wait for her in her own tent, and now, with this scary creepy-crawly feeling all over her skin, it was a repeat of the same thing.
As she approached the trees, she studied the area, watching for anyone from the base out here. She’d like to be in the middle of a group right now, not coming in alone. Yet she had no way to get back except through that copse of trees. When she had headed out this morning, it seemed like a beautiful line of green, but now it was more a barrier, something she must cross to get to the safety on the other side.
She was still one hundred yards off as she looked for a pathway through. She didn’t think the trees were very thick or deep. She remembered it only taking a couple minutes to get through the line originally.
As she approached, she picked out a pathway, took a deep breath and dashed forward. On the other side, she smiled in relief at the camp ahead. She slowed her pace slightly but kept going. As it was, she would likely be late for breakfast.
She burst into the camp fields and kept going right to her tent. As she walked in, she found her sleeping quarters empty. She frowned. She’d really hoped, for some reason, the men would still be here. They were the only friendly faces she had in camp.
Then, of course, they’d probably gone for breakfast. A meal she kept forgetting.
Still carrying her equipment like a backpack, she headed for the mess tent. Once there, she stood in line with all the others scheduled for seating block A, the first group. When she got to the food tables, she quickly filled a plate, grabbed a coffee and walked into the center of the room, looking for a place to sit. Inside she hoped Easton would find her. But no one called out her name. She caught sight of her pilot, Robbie, and gave him a wave. He returned it yet didn’t ask her to join him. Neither did she get any friendly looks from those around the large tent.
Finding a table with an open spot at the far end, she sat down to consume her breakfast. Nobody said a word to her, but she never spoke to anyone either.
When she was done, she cleaned up her place and headed back to her tent. Feeling unnerved, not exactly sure what to do about it, she checked her schedule and remembered she had planned to take pictures of the morning workout but had missed it.
Under her breath she swore quietly. “That’s not good.” It was one of the things she was supposed to capture, something she’d have to do tomorrow morning; otherwise she’d be in trouble.
She checked to make sure all her gear was okay; yet again she packed up and headed outside. The day was chock full of training on signaling, navigation with and without evasion charts, route selection, and even shelters. She understood they’d be doing wilderness survival, traps and snares, food and water procurement, preservation and even improvised equipment. The classes sounded like a lot of fun actually. She’d do her best to make up for this morning. Her forgetfulness was legendary. Earlier she’d been alert and aware. She deliberately kept track of time for breakfast, but somehow she’d forgotten to account for the morning exercise.
Running back outside, she made her way to the artillery range where the military men were learning to create improvised weapons. The morning passed by quickly as she wandered from one activity to another, taking photos from every angle.
She really wanted to get photographs of the men in uniforms as they worked on the new water system on the far side. When she felt she had enough light moving high above, she moved to that part of the base where she’d get better photos this time of day. She set up a tripod and watched as the training session continued on the new water containers. They took creek and groundwater, processing them through the system—intended to handle anything, including saltwater, turning it into clean drinking water.
As she watched, the instructors broke down one of their large units and showed the trainees how to put it together again. When finished, they took it all apart again and stepped aside to let the teams learn to do it themselves. She stood then, picked up her cameras and moved closer. The looks on their faces, the discussions and the concentration of focus was phenomenal. She spent several hours here, then realized she was hungry. She glanced at her watch and swore softly.
Good thing she packed a lot of protein bars as she’d missed lunch again.
She lost herself for the next couple hours, interested in learning more about the water system. As the group of trainees switched to a new one, she returned to her bags, only to find they’d moved again. She glanced around, as panic set in. She had left the tripod only ten feet from the bench and was relieved it was still there.
Looking around, she saw a man carrying what looked like her bags. Leaving her tripod where it was, she raced after him. Just as he was about to go into one of the tents, she realized it was her bag. She snagged it off his shoulder, jerking hard.
The man spun around and glared at her. “Hey, what are you are doing?”
“Reclaiming my property, thank you,” she snapped, glaring at him.
Confused, he looked at her, then the bags. “They’re yours?”
She nodded. “Whose did you expect them to be? They were beside me when I was photographing the whole day.”
“I just saw them, left in the middle of the field,” he protested. “I was taking them to the lost and found.”
She wasn’t sure she believed him. She’d had some of her gear go missing before, so she had a hard time with that story. But that didn’t mean he was lying either. “Well, it’s not lost, and it’s now been found, and this is my gear.” She pointed to the tags at the bottom showing her name and a photo ID.
He held up his hands. “No worries. Sorry.”
Giving him a muttered response, she quickly retraced her steps to her tripod, happy to see at least it still stood where she’d left it. Feeling a change in atmosphere during this visit, and not liking it one bit, she quickly stowed away her tripod and stepped off to the side.
Several logs were just outside the base compound. She sat down on one, out of the way from where everyone worked. She wanted this trip to get back onto a normal track. She’d been in several camps, and nobody had ever picked up her bags and took them to the lost and found. Why would there even be such a thing? The teams were only here for a few weeks. And surely she was the only freelance photographer on base.
She pulled a protein bar from her pocket and munched slowly. She had a bottle of water stashed in her bag somewhere. She dug into the bottom and pulled it out, popped the top and took a long drink. It was late already, almost four o’clock. She studied the angles of the sun and the shadows of the trees. She could get in one more shot today before she lost the good light.
She never had any guarantee of how long she’d be on-site. For all she knew, she’d get shipped out tonight. Her boss made those calls. With that thought in mind, she polished off her protein bar and water, then resumed taking photos. With a sense of impending change, she could spend the next several hours, right up until dinnertime, taking pictures of the crowds wandering in and out. The laughing, joking, and smiling, seeing the exhaustion, the pissed-off looks of those who hadn’t done as well as they’d wanted to. Capturing it all was a challenge.
“Are you coming to dinner?”
She spun around, startled. For the first time since she woke up in his arms, she came face-to-face with Easton.
She smiled up him. “There you are. I haven’t seen you all day.”
He raised one eyebrow. “Are you coming to dinner?”
She nodded. “I think I’m done here for now.” She glanced around. “Where are your friends?”
“Heading for dinner.”
She quickly packed up the last of her cameras. “Thank you for coming and finding me. I missed lunch again,” she confessed.
He shook his head. “You need a keeper.”
“Sounds like a good thing, but probably isn’t.” She stepped up to the chow line to find Ryder and Corey waiting for them.
“What was that about a keeper?” Corey asked. His voice was low, comfortable, relaxed.
She shrugged. “He thinks I need a keeper because I keep forgetting simple things, like lunch and dinnertimes,” she said with a half-smile.
“Keeper…That word has a bit more meaning than you know,” he said, nudging her slightly to take their place in the moving wave of people.
She never got a chance to ask what that meant. But she did notice her pilot in line before her. “Hi, Robbie.”
He turned, nodded back to her, with a raised-chin greeting for the men with her.
By the time they made it to the food tables, she was more than happy to ride the wave. Easton’s team made life here a lot easier for her; that was for sure.
She pulled out her phone just before she sat down. Still no text from her boss. Maybe that was a good thing. She had to admit she felt like her trip would end quickly. Or maybe she just wanted it to. Although, then she wouldn’t see Easton anymore, and that would hurt. Putting away her phone, she glanced at the men. “I haven’t seen any of you since I woke up this morning. So how was your day?”
There was silence at the table. She looked up from the bread she was buttering to see them all glancing at Easton. She looked at him and frowned. “What’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing,” he snapped.
“He’s pissed off that you left the bed without him knowing. He prides himself on being a light sleeper.”
She shook her head. “He was sleeping like a baby. I didn’t want to disturb him,” she explained gently. “It really was very nice of you to look after me last night. The least I could do was let him catch up on his rest.”
The others nodded solemnly. But all she heard from Easton was a half-sigh, half-snort.
She rounded on him. “What was I supposed to do? Wait until you were awake? I couldn’t do that to you.”
He pointed at her plate. “Eat.”
Considering it might be the best option, she turned her attention back to the food.
*
Easton tried hard not to keep a close eye on her as she ate. If he saw the motion of her fork out of the corner of his eye, he was content to ignore her as she seemed to be following his orders. When he chanced a glance at the other men, it was to find huge grins. He scowled at Corey especially. But it had the opposite effect than he wanted. Corey laughed.
Summer lifted her gaze to study him, paused for a long moment and then asked, “What’s so funny?”
Corey was past the point of being able to answer her. He shook his head and tried to control his chuckles. The trouble was, the others were in the same state.
“He has these fits every once in a while,” Easton said. “Just try to be understanding.”
Then the others got off on Corey’s contagious laughter as well. She glared at them all suspiciously, then turned on Easton. “Are they making fun of me?”
His eyebrows rose. “No, they aren’t.”
“Seems like they’re laughing at me.”
She turned her glare at one of them. The men were beside themselves at this point.
Easton popped the last forkful into his mouth, waited until he was done chewing, threw down his fork and knife on the plate and pushed back. When she still hadn’t resumed eating, he again pointed at her plate. “Eat.”
She rounded on him. “Why are they laughing at me?”
“They aren’t laughing. They’re laughing at me,” he snapped. He shoved his face into hers, making sure she turned and ate again.
Instead she picked up her fork and held it like a knife, threatening to stab his hand on her chair. “Why would they laugh at you?”
He stared at her fork in astonishment. “You’re going to stab me?”
“To stop you from ordering me around, yes,” she snapped back.
He glared. She glared back.
Finally he slumped in his chair and faced her. “You’re hungry. You don’t look after yourself. Someone has to make sure you keep food in your stomach.”
“And who made you my guardian?”
“You did.”
She reared back slightly, frowned at him in confusion and then settled in her chair. “They really are laughing at both of us, aren’t they?” she asked glumly.
He nodded. “They are, indeed.”
Together the two of them looked at the three men, who now had stopped laughing, but still had huge grins on their faces.
Devlin said, “Easton, I totally approve.”
Easton shook his head in disgust. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I probably know better than anybody here,” Devlin said calmly. “And I’ve got to tell you, it’s the real deal.”
Instantly Easton froze. “Hell no.”
“Hell yes,” Ryder said. “Even I can see that much.”
Easton shook his head rapidly, but it wasn’t having any effect. He shoved his chair back and stood, gave them all a hard stare and snapped, “Hell no.” He turned and walked from the tent.
“Easton?”
He ignored Summer’s questioning voice. Outside, he stopped a few feet off to the side of the main entrance, hands on his hips, and glowered at the world around him. No way in hell. She was not the woman of his dreams. She was the exact opposite. He wanted somebody who could take care of herself. Somebody who wanted to be a part of his life but didn’t need to be looked after. He wanted somebody who…
A small hand slipped around his forearm. He stared at the long slender fingers and knew it could be only one person. Summer. He groaned gently.
“Did I do something to upset you?” She stepped in front of him so he had no place to look but at her. She peered up at him earnestly. “I’d never want to hurt you. I do lose my temper occasionally though,” she confessed. “But I don’t think I’d really have stabbed you with my fork.”
He stared at her, a reluctant grin tugging at his lips. “You probably shouldn’t tell people you threaten with a fork that you’re really not going to follow through. It kind of loses the impact the next time around.”
She gave him a one-shoulder shrug. “The thing is, I’m really not very confrontational.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Really?” he drawled. “I never noticed.”
She shrugged and leaned forward to share a secret. “I’m too soft inside. Maybe, if I’d had military training, I’d be tougher. I did do karate. But I spent the class time apologizing, making sure my opponent was okay,” she confessed. When he chuckled and then howled with laughter, she glared at him. “It’s not that funny. I spent a lot of time apologizing.”
He bent over, laughing. When he finally caught his breath, he said, “You could look at it the other way. How you finally got good enough to actually defend yourself.”
She smirked. “I did get very good, but I stopped practicing because I was hurting people.”
“Didn’t they teach you how to fall?”
She nodded. “But it always seemed like the other person was hurt more than I was, so it made me feel really bad.”
He rolled his eyes. “Then you know karate?”
She nodded. “I tried judo, but that didn’t work out so well.”
He winced, but instantly had to ask, “Why?”
She turned, catching the tone of his voice and glared at him. “Are you laughing at me?”
He shrugged. “You’ve got admit it’s pretty funny. I’ve done so much hand-to-hand combat training, martial arts training, weapons training, and to hear you are afraid of hurting your opponent, when that’s the entire purpose of learning any of these skills, well…” He shook his head. “These are skills to defend yourself.”
“But I didn’t want to hurt them,” she cried out. “They’d get mad at me, saying, if I didn’t fight them, then they didn’t get any practice either. So I’d get mad, defend myself, and they’d go down, and it would be all over. Whereas, if we play nice together, we could practice for a longer time.”
He stared at her in astonishment. “Play nice together?”
She nodded her head earnestly. “Sure. If we could have gone through all those moves without hurting anybody, it would have been so much better.”
He rubbed the side of his face. “Oh, boy.”
“Now you sound like my master.”
“Before or after he asked you to quit?” he asked, chuckling all over again.
She glared at him, refusing to answer.
He added, “I know—both.” Easton wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tucking her close.
Instinctively her arms opened, and she wrapped them around his waist. She laid her head against his chest and cuddled in closer. “Most of the time you’re a really nice man.”
That started his chuckles all over again. “Most of the time?” he asked between his mirth, loving the natural open quirkiness of the woman in his arms.
“Yes. When you aren’t laughing at me.”
“I’d like to think I’m laughing with you. I’m not so heartless to laugh at you. Although some of the things you say are pretty funny.”
She tilted her head back to give him a disgruntled look. And then she shrugged. “Maybe that’s why I do better with pictures than people.”
He hugged her gently. “You do just fine with people. Forget about the others.”
“But your friends were laughing at me.”
Ryder’s voice came from behind them, interrupting. “No, Easton was correct earlier. We were laughing at him.”
Easton turned to find all three of his buddies standing behind them, listening in. He rolled his eyes. “Don’t you guys have something to do?”
Ryder tapped his watch. “Yes, so do you.”
The reminder was so pointed that Easton checked his watch and groaned. “Right, we have a meeting tonight.” He dropped his arms from her shoulders. “Try to stay out of trouble for the rest of the evening.”
She stared at him in surprise, but he turned and walked away. Still he couldn’t help glancing back to see if she had moved on. No, she stood there with such a forlorn look on her face that he wanted to pause and tell her it was okay.
Ryder and Corey grabbed each of Easton’s arms and dragged him forward. Corey added, “Hey, she’ll be there when we get back. We still have responsibilities.”
This wasn’t like him, and the revelation startled him. Nothing ever made him forget he had duties. Tonight they were doing an extra session on hostage negotiation in wilderness territory. It was a different issue dealing with a kidnapper in a high-rise of a major city versus a survivalist kidnapper in the wilderness. They were here to meet their counterparts and establish a network they could call on during strife. SEALs were known to be the best military force out there, but the Canadians were no slouches, even if they were more peacekeepers. The world needed more of those too. Easton was not here to be distracted. Especially not by a woman. He frowned, not liking this turn of events.
They entered one of the tents and saw the new water system he’d been hoping to get a closer look at. Four men stood as they walked inside. After a slight hesitation Ryder stepped in front and held out his hand, taking the lead.
Easton frowned; he should have been the first to shake hands. Not that he stood on protocol about rank with his own team, but he needed to get his head in the game. He was on duty. His personal life had to be kept separate. Not that he had one. At least not yet. Damn that woman …
In a low voice beside him, Devlin said, “Don’t worry about it. You’ll adjust—eventually.”