Her Baby's Bodyguard (11 page)

The interior of the building was one large chamber with a floor of stone instead of packed earth as she’d expected. Dark holes along the walls were all that was left of the timbers that must have once supported a staircase. The roof was gone. Sunlight tinted the top round of stones and streamed through the window slits, illuminating the dust that floated through the air. Enough light filtered downward to reveal traces of turquoise and faded pink on the wall opposite the doorway.

Eva moved farther inside, her boots crunching through a drift of dead leaves. The colors were what was left of a painting. The tower was surprisingly intact, considering its age.

“It could get cold once the sun goes down,” Jack said. He laid the pine boughs in a corner out of the draft from the door. “If it does, we might need to go back to the car and run the engine for a while.”

“It doesn’t seem too cold now.”

“Not yet.” He spread the blanket he’d brought earlier over the branches. “In the meantime, this should keep you comfortable when you have to feed the baby again.”

She gritted her teeth as she felt the heat of yet another blush in her cheeks. It wasn’t that he had embarrassed her. Over the course of the day, he’d become matter-of-fact about the necessities of Katya’s care, something she was grateful for. He’d seemed almost as concerned with her welfare as Eva was.

But that hadn’t stopped the effect he had on Eva’s pulse whenever the topic of breast-feeding came up. “She seems content right now. I think all the activity has tired her out.”

“If you’re hungry, I’ve got some MREs in my pack. Just let me know.”

“What’s an MRE?”

“Sorry, army jargon. It’s what passes for food in the field. I’ve got a full canteen, too.”

“Thank you, but—” She stopped herself before she could refuse his offer. Now that she thought of it, her throat felt odd. Not dry but tight. She hoped there hadn’t been something wrong with the sausages she’d eaten earlier. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like some water.”

He brought her the canteen, unscrewed the cap and held it out. “Want me to hold the pipsqueak?”

“No, thanks,” she said, pressing Katya against her shoulder with one hand while she freed up the other. “I’ve had a lot of practice doing things one-handed.”

“That’s what I figured when I watched you eat.”

“It’s one of the skills of motherhood they didn’t mention in the books I read.” She put the canteen to her lips. As soon as she tipped back her head, the room spun. She staggered sideways.

Jack clasped her arms to steady her. “What’s wrong?”

She blinked. “Nothing.”

“Eva, you’d better lie down.”

“No, I’m fine.” She breathed deeply a few times, then managed to take a drink. “Thanks.”

“You’re wobbly again.”

“I’m just tired.”

“Maybe. Or maybe it’s because of your wound. Damn. I knew I should have checked under the bandage. Come with me.” He released her arms and plucked both the canteen and Katya from her grasp.

“Jack!” She made a grab for her baby, but he’d already moved out of reach. Rather than being upset by the sudden change of position, Katya gurgled and waved her arms.

Eva scowled, even though she knew she should be happy that her child didn’t fuss when Jack held her. “I know you mean well, Jack, but—”

“The sooner we get started, the better.” He knelt on the floor beside the makeshift pallet and set the baby down on the blanket. Then he yanked off his coat and tucked it around her. “We have less than an hour of daylight left.”

Katya kicked the coat away and grabbed her feet, squealing in glee as she looked at Jack. He seemed disconcerted for a moment. Then he opened his pack and pulled out his med kit. “Babies like shiny things, right, Eva?” he said over his shoulder. “Do you think she’d like to play with my scissors?”

She bolted across the room and reached past Jack’s shoulder to place her hand between him and Katya. “You can’t possibly mean to give scissors to…” She stopped when she saw his face. “I should have known you weren’t serious.”

“It got you over here, didn’t it?” He caught her wrist and tugged her down to sit on the blanket beside the baby. Branches crackled beneath her, releasing the scent of pine needles. “Take off your coat,” he said. “I’m going to look at that wound.”

“But we’ll be evacuated in a matter of hours.”

“Sure, if everything goes according to plan. Murphy hasn’t been too kind to us lately.”

“Murphy?”

“More jargon. Anything that can go wrong, will.”

“You’re making a fuss over nothing. I told you it’s fine.”

He rose to his knees and pushed her coat off her shoulders. Then he sat back on his heels and took her hands in his. “Don’t argue with me about this, Eva. I’ve seen scratches turn septic in the field, and what you got was a lot more than a scratch.”

“Jack—”

“Humor me, okay?” He squeezed her knuckles. “I’m worried about you.”

She looked down at their hands. Her resistance to his examination had nothing to do with her injury. She didn’t want him to touch her. At the same time, she wanted more than anything to feel his hands on her body. Simply the sensation of his fingers against hers was making her pulse speed. The thought of having him stroke the more delicate skin along her side…

What was wrong with her? He was a medic. This wasn’t personal. She shifted so that her wounded side faced him and drew her sweater over her head. Her hair crackled and clung to her cheeks. She brushed it out of her eyes. Before she could reconsider, she undid the lower buttons of her blouse until she was able to draw the blood-stained fabric clear of the bandage. “Go ahead.”

He cleansed his hands with an alcohol gel as he had before, leaned closer and gently peeled up the tape.

Cool air wafted across the wound, making her shudder. The numbing cream he’d put on the day before had worn off long ago. Though overall the area was nowhere near as painful as it had been when she’d first been injured, the exposed torn skin did sting. She focused on Katya and tried to ignore her discomfort. “Well?” she asked.

“It looks good so far, but it’s hard to know for sure in this light.”

She started to lower her blouse but he stopped her.

“Hang on,” he murmured. He slid his fingertips along her rib cage above the wound and then did the same beneath it.

Eva bit her lip. Oh, his touch felt even better than it had the first time. The contact of his fingers seemed to take away the sting. The warmth that spread across her skin wasn’t painful. It was stimulating.

He cleared his throat. “There doesn’t seem to be any swelling. The area isn’t hot.”

“That means it’s all right?”

Instead of replying, he leaned over to bring his face close to her side. He inhaled slowly.

She shuddered again, only it wasn’t from the cold. Though he wasn’t touching her now, she could sense his nearness more acutely than before. “What are you doing?”

“Smelling it. It’s a low-tech way to check for infection.”

“And?”

“All I can smell are pine needles.” He leaned closer and inhaled more deeply.

How many times had she reminded herself that his actions weren’t personal? It was hard to remember that when his face was less than an inch from her breast. She looked at his hair, imagining how it would curl around her fingers. Would it be soft? Or stubborn and wiry? His shoulders were so broad. She’d already felt how strong his arms were. One of his sleeves had pulled tight when he’d leaned over, and she could see the contour of his biceps beneath his sweater. Her palm tingled with the urge to stroke it….

She clenched her hands into fists. “Jack?”

He sat back on his heels. He didn’t speak again until he had smoothed a fresh bandage into place. “You were right.” His voice was rough. “There’s no sign of infection. Looks like your symptoms are from plain old fatigue.”

She buttoned her blouse and pulled on her sweater. “I hope you’re satisfied.”

He rubbed his face hard, and then he reached past her for her coat. Rather than handing it to her, he regarded the side where the bullet had passed through the wool fabric. “It’s my duty to see to your needs, Eva,” he said. “My own satisfaction, or lack of it, has no bearing on this mission.”

“I understand that. It was just an expression.”

He fitted his little finger into one of the holes in her coat. “You smell like honey.”

“What?”

“The scent of your skin. It’s sweet.”

“Jack…”

“No, not exactly like honey. I’d have to taste it to know for sure.”

The image sprang instantly to her mind. Jack’s cheek resting on her stomach, her fingers tangled in his hair, her skin moist and tingling from his kisses. She’d already felt his lips on her forehead. That kiss had been too brief. What would it be like to feel his lips on her mouth? Or on her thighs?

“But you’re under my protection, Eva, so my curiosity is only one of the things that won’t get satisfied….” His voice trailed off. He poked his finger farther into the hole in her coat. “What’s this?”

She was still immersed in the image of Jack tasting her. It took her a while to focus on what he was looking at. When she did, it brought her back to reality as effectively as a slap. She snatched her coat from him and got to her feet.

“Eva?”

She thrust her arms into her sleeves.

“There was something hard in there,” he said.

“Maybe it was the bullet.”

“Couldn’t be. There were two holes. It would have passed through.” He rose to stand in front of her. “It’s the disk, isn’t it?”

She stepped past him and bent over to reach for Katya.

He hooked his arm in front of her waist to pull her back up. “She’s fine.”

It was obvious that he was right. Eva knew the pine-bough pallet was soft, and it was warm enough to keep away the chill of the floor. Katya was still playing with her feet and in no distress. “Don’t tell me how to handle my child.”

“Then don’t use her to change the subject.” He turned her to face him and placed his hand directly over the place where she’d sewn the computer disk into the lining of her coat.

The gesture knocked her breathless. Not because he’d found the disk that she’d hoped to keep concealed but because his thumb was pressing the underside of her breast. If he moved his hand just a fraction of an inch, he would be cupping it.

“This isn’t a good spot. It could have been damaged when you were hit.”

Heaven help her. She wanted to lean into his touch. If she did, would it turn into a caress? She wanted to feel his hand on her naked skin again. She was sorry she’d put her coat back on….

What was wrong with her? She stepped back, breaking the contact. “Stop touching me. You’re always touching me.”

“I only touch you when it’s necessary.”

“As it was now? I should have realized this was a ruse.”

“What are you talking about?”

She backed away. “You didn’t really want to check my wound, did you? You wanted a chance to search my coat.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“You’ve been trying to get that disk from the time we met, haven’t you? Those were your real orders, weren’t they?”

“No, that’s not true.”

“You probably searched Katya’s belongings before you put them in your pack.”

“Eva—”

“Was that the real reason you insisted on carrying my baby? So you could make sure the disk wasn’t in her carrier? Did you search her, too?”

He closed the distance she’d put between them and took her by the shoulders. “I already told you what my orders were.”

“All this consideration you’ve been showing me, all this kindness, it was just to make me drop my guard.”

“You’re wrong, Eva.”

“And like a fool I believed you cared. I should have known better. You’re a soldier. You’ve told me yourself that all you care about is the mission.”

“All I
should
care about is the mission.”

“The information on this disk is my ticket to a new life. I’ll hand it over to your government only when my daughter and I are safe.”

“So you said yesterday. That’s fine by me.”

“Good. Let go of me, Sergeant Norton.”

“Not until we get this straightened out. And my name’s Jack.”

“Not to me. You’ve found the disk. You don’t have to pretend to be my friend anymore.”

“I wasn’t pretending anything.”

“You can stop now. You got what you wanted.”

He gave her a light shake. “Think, Eva. If I really had wanted to get that disk, I wouldn’t have needed to play games. I would have searched you while you slept. Or I could have overpowered you and forced you to hand it over whenever I chose to. So why didn’t I?”

Her throat felt too thick for her to formulate a reply. What he’d said was true. He was a head taller than her and likely outweighed her by at least sixty pounds. He was all lean muscle, moved like an athlete and was never unarmed. He indeed could have overpowered her with ease. At any time. Whether she’d been asleep or not.

The reminder should have frightened her. It didn’t. Instead, it started to calm her.

“And tell me, Eva. Do you honestly believe it would have made a damn bit of difference if you’d handed over that disk when we met? Do you think I would have done anything differently? That I wouldn’t have protected you? Or wouldn’t have helped you?”

“I don’t—”

He brought his face to hers before she could finish. “And regardless of my orders, do you really believe I’m enough of a bastard that I’d desert a woman and a helpless infant in the middle of hostile territory just because some pencil-pushing bureaucrat decided they were expendable?”

She had hurt him. She could see it in his eyes. That, more than his words, was what finally got through to her. She inhaled hard, straining for breath. Her senses filled with the scent of his body. Soap, wool and warm male skin. It was the same scent that had enveloped her each time he’d held her, each time he’d been willing to give his life to protect hers.

He didn’t deserve her suspicions. He’d already proved himself to be an honorable man.

She shook her head. “Everything’s happened so fast. Information was the only bargaining chip that I had. I’ve been afraid to trust anyone.”