just have to try me and find out. You strike me as a girl looking for adventure and I think I’ve got just the thing for you.’
His eyes glimmered in the low light from a flickering votive candle in the middle of the table, conveying an enthralling danger that thrilled yet scared her.
Consuming heat swept through her body, burning everything in its path, including her common sense. She’d had a close call with a rat fiancé, had had her trust in the parents she loved shattered, yet here she was hanging on this guy’s every flirtatious word. And not just any guy, he was her boss. Even if her common sense had gone AWOL she knew boss should equal hands off. Should being the operative word.
‘And what would that be?’
‘Six months in the most spectacular, unspoilt wilderness you’ll ever see with an expert park naturalist as your personal guide. What more could a girl ask for?’
Oh, she could think of plenty of things, but wisely kept her wayward thoughts to herself.
‘Tell me more.’
‘What do you want to know?’
‘Whether you fend off wild animals in your spare time?’
He laughed as she battled the instant image of Ranger Rhys shirtless, his torso glistening with sweat, muscles rippling as he wrestled a moose with his bare hands.
Perspiration peppered her brow at the thought as she surreptitiously dabbed it and gestured towards the fireplace. Yeah, as if that was making her hot.
‘I enjoy the wilderness, if that’s what you’re asking.’
She wanted to ask more than that: such as how long he’d been here, how many tours he’d led, how many women he’d dazzled with those come-get-me eyes and wicked smile.
‘Interesting. After seeing you at the office I figured you to be the businessman type. Relishing the head-honcho role, running the company from behind the comfort of your desk.’
His smile faded, shadows clouding those brilliant blue eyes to muted midnight.
‘Yeah, guess I’m the typical suit now, though I don’t see it as a bad thing.’
She noted the tensed shoulders, the sudden clenching of his fingers around the glass he held, and wondered who he was trying to convince.
‘Grappling with figures can be just as rewarding as shooting the rapids. I haven’t been out in the wild for two years and I don’t miss it.’
His voice, devoid of all emotion, was a telltale sign in itself. His spiel sounded rehearsed, one he’d recited often by the sounds of it.
‘You’re kidding? Number crunching versus thrills and spills? If you’re a park naturalist you must love the wilderness. Why haven’t you been out in all that time?’
She could’ve bitten her tongue as his expression closed tight. He was her boss and she barely knew him. What on earth made her blurt out a question like that?
His body language screamed defensiveness, which meant he didn’t want to talk about it. She knew better than this. She’d attended balls at international embassies all around the world, was usually the epitome of tact and diplomacy. Now, her social skills had deserted her, along with her self-confidence in reading people.
An awkward silence stretched as he stared into the bottom of his glass, his lips compressed and, though she should shut up, an unseen, previously undiscovered demon urged her to give it a last shot.
‘Look, we’re going to be colleagues for the next six months. Don’t you think we should know a bit about each other, beyond the everyday niceties?’
His gaze lifted, the bleakness slamming into her, quickly replaced by the ferocity of one of the famed black bears she’d read so much about. So much for the meet-and-greet stage of their working relationship.
‘If you’re so keen on sharing secrets, why don’t you tell me why you ran away from Australia and flew all the way out here, huh? And don’t give me that bull about wanting to be a biologist because I don’t buy it.’
Jade took a steadying breath. She’d started this, she’d have to finish it whether she liked it or not.
‘I didn’t run away. I needed a new start.’
Understatement of the year.
His stare bored through her as if he could read her mind. ‘New start? Must involve a guy.’
‘Why would you say that?’
She aimed for nonchalance, knowing it must look as if she’d swallowed a salmon whole.
‘You’re an intelligent, beautiful woman. Bet you had the guys lined up back in Sydney.’
A slow warmth suffused her cheeks at his compliment, the inner glow Julian had extinguished reigniting with the simple admiration from this man.
‘Just one guy. He cheated on me.’
He winced. ‘Sorry. What a jerk.’
She sighed, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. She could tolerate probing questions; she couldn’t stand his pity.
‘All in the past now. Good incentive to focus on the future. No one to stand in my way now.’
‘I admire your resolve.’ He gestured to the barman, indicating another round. ‘Same for you or would you like something stronger?’
‘Soda’s fine.’
So much for finding out more about him; once she’d flapped her loose lips, part of her pathetic life story had flowed out and the ship had well and truly sunk.
‘I’ve told you my sorry tale—what’s yours?’
He avoided her eyes, focusing on the table, the silence stretching like a taut highwire ready to snap.
‘Come on, it can’t be that bad,’ she teased, trying to lighten the mood.
After the waiter cleared the glasses and replaced their drinks, Rhys looked up and her heart twisted at the despondency in his eyes.
‘One of my tour guides died on my last tour.’
He shook his head, hopelessness evident in the dejected slump of his broad shoulders.
‘You okay?’
She laid a tentative hand on his forearm, wishing she could think of the right thing to say and coming up with nada.
He threw off her hand, sat back so abruptly his chair scraped across the floorboards.
‘You asked for my story, you got it. Ready to go?’
What could she say? No, she wasn’t ready, because she wanted to know more about the tragic death that turned a carefree charmer into a bristling bore in an instant? No, that she wanted to apologise for pushing him when
