“I can’t exactly blame you,” she admitted. “I’m sorry I got you into this in the first place.”
He stopped packing long enough to smile fleetingly at her. “I’m sorry, too. I thought we might get back some of the romance we used to have, but it isn’t going to happen, is it?”
“I told you it was over between us long ago,” she reminded him.
He straightened. “You didn’t tell me you were hoping to find some he-man who can swing through trees on a vine and catch your dinner with his bare hands. I’m a bloody good businessman, but that will never be enough for you, will it?”
She couldn’t argue with his assessment of himself. They’d met through the magazine, and she’d been attracted by his good looks and the rapid-fire way his mind worked. “I thought this was about a crocodile attacking you. How did it get to be about us?” she asked.
“You must have known how much I wanted things to work out between us.”
She let a sigh whisper past her lips. “I hoped you would learn something about your own strengths, as well. Isn’t that why people undertake these survival-type challenges?”
“I’ve learned all I needed to. Not only that I don’t want to be around man-eating crocodiles, but that I don’t want to be molded into something I’m not.”
“I never tried to mold you into anything.”
“No? Then why didn’t you listen when I said I thought this project was a bad idea?”
He was right. She hadn’t listened. She’d been too fixated on satisfying Karen. At least that had been the reason Jo had given herself. Now she wondered if Nigel wasn’t right. Saving Lauren’s home had been Jo’s justification for agreeing to undertake the assignment, but she wasn’t the reason Jo was here. At least not the whole reason. “I’ll miss your help,” she conceded.
He didn’t relent. “You know where to find me if you change your mind.” His tone said he wouldn’t hold out much hope.
The snap of a dry twig outside brought her head up. “Someone’s out there.”
His head swung around. “What now, rampaging buffalo?”
“It sounded more like a footstep.” Perhaps Blake had come to check on their progress. The flood of relief accompanying this thought was something she’d have to think about later.
Right now, she wanted to check on the source of the noise. She flung the tent flap aside and strode out.
“Jo, wait for me. You don’t know what’s out there.”
She got outside in time to see a man disappearing into the bushes. From force of journalistic habit, she noted that he had dark skin, a stocky build and was about her height. He was dressed like the stockmen who worked the cattle on Diamond Downs. “Odd that he didn’t stop to say hello,” she said to Nigel, who’d followed her outside. Everyone they’d met so far had gone out of their way to be friendly.
“He could be from a tribe that doesn’t belong here,” Nigel suggested. “Or maybe he’s wary of strangers.”
“He must have seen or heard the croc attack. Wonder why he didn’t show himself before or try to help.”
“The crocodile could hold some cultural significance for him. We could speculate all day and be none the wiser.”
“You’re right.” Shock at Nigel’s near miss was taking a toll on her, too. The thought of someone spying on them didn’t help. Suddenly, she became aware that she would be on her own once Nigel left. Bile rose in her throat, threatening to choke her. She had to fight the urge to pack up and go with him.
He seemed to sense her ambivalence. “Sure you don’t want to come with me?”
No, she wasn’t sure, but she shook her head. “I can’t.”
Can’t or won’t? his expression asked. Just as well he didn’t voice the question, because she didn’t know what her answer would have been.
“I’ll get one of the men at the Logan homestead to drive me to town and bring the rental car back here for you,” he said.
Impulsively, she wrapped her arms around his neck, stung when he made no move to respond. What did she expect? “Thanks for giving it your best shot,” she said.
His mouth found hers, hot and hard, the way he knew she liked to be kissed. Normally the touch would have ignited her passion; now, there was only deep regret for what might have been. She kissed him back out of that regret.
A cough made her spring back. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
The laconic tone made her blood boil. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to be sure the crocodile didn’t snap off anything vital,” Blake drawled. Another man followed Blake into the clearing. For a moment, she thought it was the man who’d been watching them from the bushes until she realized that this man was taller and had a lighter complexion. The only thing Blake and his companion had in common with the spy was the khaki shirt, pants and battered Akubra hat that seemed to be the uniform for outback males. She couldn’t help noticing how ruggedly appealing it looked on Blake.
“One of the stockmen was across the river when he heard a commotion and saw the crocodile attacking. Evidently, it was greatly exaggerated.” Blake spoke softly to his companion. The other man nodded and moved off toward the water hole. Looking for the crocodile, she assumed. She was about to mention the man she’d glimpsed moments after the event, but Nigel spoke first.
“There was an attack all right, Stirton.” Nigel’s tone was the classic one of alpha male meeting another of his kind in his territory. The fact that he’d been about to relinquish that territory didn’t matter for the moment. Instinct won out.
Jo resisted the urge to step between them, struck again by how much at home Blake was in this environment. He could take care of himself. “Nigel was getting water from the creek when a crocodile lunged out of the water at him,” she said.
“Luckily it only snapped off my canteen, not my head,” Nigel contributed.
Blake frowned. “From the look of you, it was a close call. If you want my advice…”
Nigel gestured dismissively. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Jo felt the beginnings of a headache. “Nigel, please. Blake’s only trying to help.”
“If he wants to help, he or his stockman will grab the rifle and blast that man-eating monster out of the water before someone gets killed.”
She saw Blake’s jaw tighten. Nigel was reacting out of shock and she could hardly blame him, but attacking a man who’d come to help them wasn’t the answer.
“The crocodile isn’t responsible for human stupidity,” Blake said. “And Andy Wandarra is a tribal elder, so you’ll show some respect.”
She winced, wishing he had chosen his words more tactfully. She had a feeling
