“I’ll bet. Now that you mention it, you look a little flushed. You can use my bandanna if you—” He paused and chuckled. “Never mind. You probably don’t want to rinse your face with the bandanna I just used on my horse.”
“I wouldn’t care about that. But don’t worry about me. I’m used to being hot.”
His sudden laughter made the brown-and-white paint lift his head and stare at them. “I’m not touching that line.”
“Oh, dear God.” She felt a new blush coming on. “I didn’t mean it like that.” But he’d taken it like that. To her surprise, this beautiful shirtless cowboy was flirting with her. What a rush.
“Now you really look as if you could use a splash of cold water.”
“It’s my blond coloring. I blush at the drop of a hat.” Or the drop of a shirt.
“It looks good on you.” He gazed at her with warmth in his brown eyes.
She felt that warmth in every cell of her body, causing her to think of truly crazy things, like what it would be like to kiss him. She’d actually moved a step closer when the piercing cry of an eagle grabbed her attention.
Breaking eye contact, she looked up through the trees and saw the female sail overhead, a fish in her talons.
“Wow.” Luke stared after the departing eagle. “He’s huge.”
“She.”
He glanced at Naomi. “She? You mean her mate is even bigger than that?”
“No, her mate is smaller. Female eagles are bigger than the males.” After a week of observation, Naomi could distinguish the female’s eight-foot wingspan from that of her smaller mate.
“Well, blow me down with a feather. I didn’t know that.”
“Many people don’t. They think any male creature is automatically bigger than the female, but that’s not universally true.”
He grinned at her. “You said that with a certain amount of relish.”
“Maybe.” She returned his smile. “It’s fun to smash stereotypes. By the way, did you happen to notice what kind of fish she had?”
“Looked like a trout to me.”
“I thought so, too. I have to go back up and document the feeding time and the type of food on my computer. As I said, you’re welcome to come up and check out the nest.”
“I’d love to.” He sounded eager. “But not if I’ll get in your way. Or break the platform.”
“You won’t. Emmett and Jack were both up there together, testing its strength. They made sure it was sturdy.”
“In that case, lead the way.”
She walked quickly back to the tree. “This ladder will hold you, too. But we can’t be on it at the same time.” She started up.
“I’ll wait until you give me the okay.”
Climbing the dangling ladder was much easier than going down, and she made the trip in no time. “All clear. Come on up.” She stood, glanced around her little research area and wondered what he’d think of it.
He hoisted himself up on the platform with another display of muscle. “What a view! Makes me want to be an eagle.”
Funny, but she could almost imagine that. He had the alert gaze and restrained power she associated with eagles and hawks. “Not me. Flying would be cool, but I wouldn’t like living without a roof over my head.”
“I could live with that in return for the freedom of being able to fly anytime I felt like it. Yeah, the life of an eagle would suit me just fine.” His glance took in the trappings of her work—the webcam mounted to the railing, the camp stool and small folding table for her laptop, her camera bag and a small cooler for her snacks and energy drinks. “Cozy setup.”
“Thanks.” It felt a lot cozier with him in it. At five-four, she didn’t take up much room, so the area had seemed plenty large enough. Now she wondered how she’d be able to move around without bumping into him.
“Aren’t you supposed to be recording stuff?”
Yes, she was, and his bare chest had distracted her from her duties. “Right.” She picked up her binoculars and handed them to him. “You can help. Do you see the nest?”
“Sure do. From up here it’s hard to miss.” He raised the binoculars. “Big old thing, isn’t it? Wow! There they are, two baby eagles getting lunch from Mom. That’s impressive.”
“See if you can keep track of whether one’s getting more than the other.” She sat down and turned on her laptop. “One of the nestlings is bigger and I suspect it’s getting more food.”
“That’s what it looks like.” Luke stood facing the clearing, booted feet spread. He looked like a captain at the helm of his ship as he studied the nest through the binoculars. “Look at that! Shoving the other one out of the way. Hey, you, you’re supposed to share!”
Naomi smiled. She’d had the same thoughts, but hearing them come out of Luke’s mouth made her realize how silly they were. Wildlife researchers couldn’t afford to anthropomorphize their subjects. Giving them human attributes might work for Disney, but not for science.
Speaking of science, she’d better start making notes instead of watching Luke watch the eagles.
“Here comes the dad.”
Yikes. She’d completely missed seeing the male eagle fly overhead. “If you’ll describe what’s happening, I’ll just take down what you dictate.”
“He came in with another fish, and that’s definitely a trout. I think we’re safe to say they’re having trout for lunch. Now Mom’s flown off and Dad’s feeding the kids. Damned if that bigger baby isn’t getting more of the second course, too.”
“It happens. I’ll bet you’ve seen it with puppies and kittens. They compete for the food. The most aggressive ones get the most food.”
“Yeah, but when that happened with a litter my dog had, I supplemented so the runt didn’t die.”
She gave him points for that, too. “But these are wild creatures. If you tried to interfere, the parents might abandon both of them. I wouldn’t worry too much. There are only two babies. I think they’ll both make it.”
“I hope so. How long before they can fly?”
“If all goes well, less than two months. They’ll be on their own by fall.”
“Then your job will be over?”
“It will, but this is only a stopgap until I get another full-time state job, or maybe something with the national parks.”
“It’s a pretty cool temp job, though. It would be exciting to see those little ones fly for the first time.”
“I hope to. If I don’t personally catch it with my still camera, I’m hoping the webcam will. Is the father still there?”
“Yep.” Luke shifted his weight and the platform creaked. “But I think he’s about done with the feeding routine. There he goes. Now the babies are huddling down.”
“Unless the mother comes back, there won’t be much to see for a while.”
“No sign of her.” Luke lowered the binoculars and crouched down next to the webcam. “So this is on 24/7?”
“Yes. Fortunately it has a zoom, so the pictures are pretty good, but quite a few researchers prefer to mount the camera on the tree where the nest is.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her. “How the hell would you do something like that without freaking out the eagles?”