Switching off her flashlight, Zarina stowed it in her pack, then knelt down on the far side of the fire pit opposite him. She held out her hands toward the flames. “Is this where you’ve been staying this whole time?”
He shook his head, trying hard to keep from looking at her too closely in the light coming off the fire. She looked way too damn sexy in the flickering orange and reddish glow. He didn’t need anything making this situation harder than it already was. He was going to have a tough enough time convincing her to leave tomorrow, and it would only be worse if he let himself think too much about spending time with her.
“No,” he said, realizing he hadn’t answered her question yet. “This is about the tenth or eleventh place I’ve made camp since coming here. The rangers from the forest service aren’t too keen about people living out here full time, so I move every few days to make it harder for them to find me.”
She looked around. “It’s hard to believe someone could stumble across this place by accident. It’s so well hidden, I didn’t even know it was here until we walked into the clearing.”
“That’s one of the biggest factors when it comes to the places I set up camp,” he admitted. “It has to be well off the beaten path and difficult to find. I don’t like taking risks, though, so I move a lot.”
She frowned, as if considering that. “It must be difficult having to move your stuff and set up somewhere new all the time.”
He shrugged. “Not really. Everything I have can fit in my pack. I can grab my gear and move everything I own in less than ten minutes. That’s the way I like it.”
Her expression softened, and he knew she was about to say something meant to be comforting. He stood up quickly, cutting her off. “You need to get some sleep. We’ll have to leave early in the morning if I’m going to get you back into town at a reasonable time.”
He expected her to protest, to stubbornly tell him once again that she wasn’t going anywhere, but instead, Zarina simply nodded. Tanner wasn’t fooled into thinking that meant she was going to comply with his wishes. She was simply putting off the argument until morning. He was okay with that. He had no desire to get into it with her right now, either. Not after the evening they’d both already had.
“There’s some more wood over in that pile,” he said, gesturing to the branches he’d broken into manageable-sized pieces and stacked off to the side of the camp. “If you toss a few logs on the fire right before you go to sleep, that should keep you warm enough through the night.”
Once again, Zarina didn’t complain but merely nodded and began taking stuff out of her pack. First came a lightweight sleeping bag, then a self-inflating sleeping pad. That was followed by a blanket and a frigging pillow, of all things. Damn, no wonder that pack had been so heavy. She’d brought her whole damn apartment with her.
“If you have to…you know, use the facilities, I’ve dug a slit trench in the ground over there behind those trees,” he added. “There’s a stream about twenty-five feet or so downhill from my tent, but I don’t recommend going that far outside the circle of the firelight. That grizzly probably won’t come back, but he may have friends.”
Tanner felt like crap for scaring Zarina. Hell, he could hear her heart thumping harder already. But he didn’t want her getting comfy out here. He wanted her going home tomorrow, and that wouldn’t happen if he went easy on her. That’s why he was making her sleep outside rather than in the tent.
He hesitated a moment before turning away, his heart begging him to say something meaningful to her before walking away. But what the hell could he say that would help?
Thanks for coming. I appreciate the thought. Now go home.
“Good night,” he finally murmured, then quickly yanked down the zipper of his tent and ducked inside.
Zarina told him to have a good night in return, and her soft, mesmerizing voice was almost enough to make him turn around and go back outside. The urge to yank her to her feet and kiss her was so strong, his inner hybrid was practically panting in anticipation. Ignoring the beast, he zipped the tent flap closed with a muttered curse.
He yanked off his boots and T-shirt, leaving his jeans on like he always did just in case he had to run out and chase off a stray animal, then lay back on his sleeping bag. He wiggled around a bit, getting comfortable on the balled-up sweatshirt he used as a pillow and waited to fall asleep. Instead, he stared up at the inside of his tent, inhaling Zarina’s intoxicating scent. Damn, how could any woman smell that good? She was like a slice of heaven with a Russian accent.
He tried to block it out, but it was useless. Short of not breathing, there was no way to keep her scent from invading his nose and reminding him exactly how spectacular she was. The fact that it was giving him a boner sure the hell didn’t help.
Tanner closed his eyes only to open them again when his ears picked up an odd tapping sound. It sounded a little like a woodpecker, but they didn’t usually come out at night. He pushed himself up on his elbows and listened again.
Crap. It was Zarina. Her teeth were chattering. Dammit to hell, he knew that sleeping bag wasn’t heavy enough for her.
Biting back a growl, Tanner yanked open the zipper on the tent and crawled out. If he wasn’t so worried about her, he would have laughed at the sight of her snuggled up
