never said I did,” Blake responded mildly, but his hazel eyes flashed fire. “I assume after what’s happened, you’re both leaving?”
She moved a few feet away from Nigel in what she recognized was a symbolic gesture. “You assume wrong. Until the agreed-upon month is up, I’m not going anywhere.”
Nigel flashed her a look of disbelief. Had his packing been an attempt to manipulate her into going with him? “You can’t stay here alone,” he said, reinforcing her suspicion.
Blake settled his hands on his hips. “She can’t stay here at all. This wasn’t part of the deal between Des and the magazine.”
She folded her arms. “As I recall, neither were you, except as technical consultant.”
Blake’s eyes flashed fire. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“You have no authority to throw me out if I choose to remain.”
“Des Logan does, and he will if I recommend it for your safety.”
“For my safety or for your convenience? From the moment I arrived, you’ve made it clear you don’t want me here.”
“Surviving in the outback is not a game.”
She nodded. “It won’t be reported as such. My editor wants me to faithfully record our experiences for our readers.”
“To achieve what, exactly?”
“If even one person is stranded in the outback and applies something they’ve learned from my articles, the series will have served a purpose.”
Nigel pulled the straps of his backpack tight and looked around the camp. “Are you two going to argue the point all day? I have everything of mine. The rest of the gear belongs to the magazine. Can I get a ride to Halls Creek with you, Stirton? I don’t want to leave Jo without a vehicle.”
“You don’t have to leave at all,” she said. “Why not give yourself a little more time before you decide?”
“I have decided. I only agreed because I thought this wouldn’t last more than a couple of days, then you’d see sense and we could get back to civilization.”
Her mouth dropped. “You expected me to fail?”
Blake gave a humorless smile. “Charming.”
Nigel shot him a look of irritation. “Of course not. Damn it, Jo, the only reason I agreed to be part of this is because I care about you. It’s important to you, so it was important to me until I found myself staring death in the face.” He jerked his thumb toward the now-tranquil creek. “We don’t belong in that monster’s territory, and I’m getting out while I still can.”
She shuddered involuntarily, having no comeback. If the same thing had happened to her, would she feel like bailing, too? But it hadn’t and she couldn’t give up now, even though the memory of the crocodile leaping out of the water would haunt her for a long time. “I’m sorry.”
Nigel’s hand rested on his backpack. “Me, too. Look, I’ll stay if you agree to my condition.”
Her hopes rose but with them, a quiver of uncertainty as she guessed what he was about to say. “Nigel, don’t. And besides, I don’t need a caretaker,” she said, annoyed that both men seemed determined to cast her in the role of a dependent. She was the youngest in her family, and her two older brothers had tried to do the same. Had she jumped at this assignment as much to prove them all wrong as for any other reason? At the same time, she knew there was more to her reluctance to accept Nigel’s proposal, but this wasn’t the right time for self-analysis. “I’ll be fine on my own,” she insisted.
“You won’t be on your own,” Blake intervened. He actually sounded pleased that she hadn’t accepted Nigel’s offer. Was that because he hoped it would get rid of her sooner? She couldn’t imagine that his interest was in the least personal. “I may not be able to insist that you leave, but I can stick around and make sure you get through this in one piece,” he said.
“Even if I don’t want your protection?”
“It isn’t a suggestion.”
She gave vent to a sigh of frustration. “I can hardly throw you off your family’s land, but you’d better not get in my way. I’m the one supposed to be learning to survive out here.”
“You’ll learn all right. I don’t intend to make things easy for you.”
If anything, he was going to make her task more difficult, she thought, and not only when it came to outback survival. He attracted her far more than she wanted him to. After her experience with Nigel she didn’t plan on getting hot and bothered over any other man for some time to come.
Aware that hot and bothered barely covered the way her blood pressure soared every time Blake came near her, she looked from one man to the other. Talk about a rock and a hard place. Nigel’s face was set in an expression that she knew only too well—it meant he wouldn’t change his mind. And Blake didn’t strike her as the type to back down, either. What was it about the outback that turned men into Neanderthals? “Seems like I don’t have a choice,” she demurred.
“None at all if you want to stay. So you’d better get your things together.”
“Why, if I’m not going anywhere?”
“Until Andy and I find out why that croc attacked, you’re not staying here alone. I have to meet my brother at the airport, so we can drop Wylie off at the same time. Then I’ll come back with you and make sure everything’s secure here.”
“Sounds reasonable,” she conceded.
His expression didn’t alter. “I’m glad you approve.” His tone said he didn’t care one way or the other.
Before she could think of a suitable response, Andy Wandarra emerged from the bushes. “I found fresh tracks along the river bank. This was buried not far from the tracks. I disturbed a wild pig digging it up.” He held up a handful of bloody entrails.
The rancid smell assaulted her senses and she recoiled. “I thought you said crocodiles drag their food into the water?”
Andy threw the mess into the creek where it sank leaving only bubbles. “They do. Whoever made the tracks must have dropped it.”
Nigel swore colorfully. “I assume that wasn’t the remains of the intruder’s lunch.”
“More like the crocodile’s. If someone has been feeding the croc from the landing, it would explain the attack.”
Nigel moved closer to her side. “The only person we know who wants us out of here is you, Stirton.”
“He wouldn’t,” she protested, appalled at the suggestion.
Nigel made a slashing motion. “How can you be sure? You don’t know him, yet you’re prepared to put your life in his hands. I only hope you know what you’re doing.”
“She’ll be safe with me, because I intend to get to the bottom of this,” Blake vowed. He turned to Jo. “Did you see or hear
