Chapter Seven
The next morning, Bubba didn’t immediately wake Zoey. He knew they needed to start moving, but he couldn’t make himself get up yet. At thirty-one, he’d been in his share of relationships, but he’d never really understood the allure of cuddling. He was a morning person and was always ready to get up and go.
He’d never felt the urge to lie in bed simply for the hell of it. He always had shit to do. Most of the time he had to get to PT with the rest of the team. But after waking up with Zoey for just two mornings, he realized what he’d been missing out on.
The air was chilly but not frigid. Apparently Zoey didn’t know that. She’d once again turned to face him sometime in the night and had buried her face in his chest. Her hands had snuck under his arms, seeking the warmth she knew would be there. Their legs were intertwined, and Bubba couldn’t remember ever feeling this…content…simply being with a woman.
Yes, they were in a unique situation, but he had a feeling he would’ve felt comfortable around Zoey even if they weren’t in a life-threatening position. Bubba figured part of the reason he felt so comfortable with her was because they weren’t exactly strangers. He’d liked her back in high school, and even though that was a long time ago, he felt drawn to her now.
They knew the same people. Hell, she was closer to his dad than he’d been. The night before, they’d talked about the old hangout spots from when they were in high school, and they’d laughed over the fact the kids today were doing the same things they’d done over a decade ago. Things in Juneau hadn’t changed all that much, which was both comforting and a little disconcerting at the same time.
Bubba shifted, trying to dislodge the rock that was jabbing into his ass, and his movements woke Zoey. He smiled as she groaned and slowly came awake. She was so different from him. When he was awake, he was awake. He could go from being dead to the world to on his feet, ready to fight, in seconds. It took Zoey several minutes to even crack her eyes open after she woke. He had a feeling she was a three-cups-of-coffee girl before she’d be awake enough to talk.
“You sleep okay?” he asked quietly after a moment.
“No,” she mumbled into his chest.
Smiling, Bubba merely shook his head and waited for her to wake up a bit more. It wasn’t as if they had to be anywhere at a certain time. He could lie there all day with her in his arms.
It took another five minutes or so for her to wake up enough to think about moving. Five minutes during which Bubba ignored the rock poking his ass and simply enjoyed the curvy body cuddled against him. When she finally lifted her head and looked up, Bubba felt something jerk inside him at the look in her eyes.
She was still sleepy and her hair was in complete disarray. Her cheeks were red, from both sunburn and a touch of windburn, most likely. Any makeup she’d been wearing had long since been rubbed and sweated away. Neither of them smelled all that great, but for some reason, he was more drawn to her than ever.
“Hi,” he said inanely.
“Hi,” she returned. Then after a moment, she asked, “Do I look as rough as I feel?”
Bubba chuckled, then lied straight to her face. “No.”
She rolled her eyes, and Bubba couldn’t help but smile at her reaction. He’d never see someone roll their eyes again in his life and not think of her.
“Liar. But I appreciate it.” She slowly sat up and groaned once more. “I have no idea how in the world you’re always so damn warm, but I have to say that I appreciate it more with every minute that goes by.”
“Anytime you want to use me as your own personal heater, I’m at your disposal,” Bubba assured in a much more serious tone than he’d intended.
“Thanks,” she said with a laugh. “Maybe you can just follow me around and let me stick my icy hands under your shirt whenever I get cold.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she closed her eyes briefly, and Bubba saw her cheeks pinken even more than they already were. “Ignore me,” she mumbled. “I’m obviously delirious.”
Bubba chuckled. Then he stood and held a hand down to her. As she took it, and he helped her stand, he said, “Nah. Tired, hungry, and worried, maybe, but not delirious.”
Then he took both her hands in his and slipped them under his shirt at his sides and held them against his skin. They were chilly, but not so much as to really bother him.
The look of ecstasy on her face was more than enough reward for the slight discomfort he might feel.
She closed her eyes and groaned, and Bubba couldn’t help but think about her having that same reaction to him doing something else with her, but he quickly pushed the thought aside. The last thing either of them needed was adding any kind of sexual tension to their already stressful situation. He needed to be her friend right now.
“Oh my God,” she said quietly. “That feels so good.”
Bubba stood there with his hands on her waist, hers clutching his bare skin under his shirt, for a couple of long minutes before she sighed and looked up at him. “Thanks. What’s on the agenda today? A little fly fishing followed by a nice quiet walk in the woods and a four-course dinner at the lodge when we get tired? Oh, and let’s not forget the soak in the hot tub under the stars too, huh?”
He chuckled. “I was thinking we should see if we caught anything in the snare. If so, we’ll cook that up, then see if we can’t make some more headway to get out from between these two mountains. I also thought we could have a competition today to see who can find the most mushrooms.”
Zoey sighed but smiled up at him gamely. “You’re going down, SEAL Boy.”
“It’s good to have confidence,” he replied.
Then she blew his mind by getting serious and saying, “Thank you for making this not suck as much as it could. For keeping my mind off the fact someone literally left us out here to die. And thank you for packing more shit in your pockets than I have in my entire suitcase. A knife, compass, twine, flint, and who the hell knows what else you’ve got in there. Just…thank you. I can’t imagine this going very well with anyone other than you.”
Bubba couldn’t help it. He reached out and palmed her cheek. “You don’t have to thank me, Zo. In fact, I’m guessing if you hadn’t had the bad luck of being on that plane, you’d be back in Juneau cursing my name because I didn’t bother to show up for the reading of my dad’s will.”
She frowned at him. “What are you saying? That you think you’re the target of whoever did this?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Do you know what’s in your dad’s will?”
“No. You?”
She shook her head.
“Right. Obviously Pop left you something. I can’t say what, you’d probably know better than me, but it’s most likely not enough for someone to want you dead.”
Zoey stared up at him but didn’t respond.
“But me being his son…and knowing how much his business is worth, I’m guessing there’s quite a bit of money in there for me.”
She blinked as if something had just occurred to her. “Oh my God, Mark. Do you think Malcom’s okay? What if someone went after him too?”