He shot one wary glance at his friend. Was he that easy to read? Would Daisy figure out that he was going to see to it that she failed her survival test? Besides, it wasn’t as if he were going to deliberately sabotage her. He just wouldn’t be offering her any extra help. And left to her own pitiful devices, he had no doubt she’d be finished before the day was out.
“What do you care?” he asked, neither confirming nor denying the man’s suspicions.
Sam gave him a look Jericho hadn’t seen since the older man had been his drill instructor when he first joined the Corps. When he was through with boot camp, Jericho and Sam had become friends and had kept in touch through all of their separate postings over the years. Sam had been a Marine for twenty years when he mustered out and coming here to King Mountain had seemed the logical choice.
The older man had been restless—too young to retire and too old to stay in the Corps—so he’d come here and become a part of King Adventure. He’d had as much a part in making the camp successful as Jericho had and they got along fine usually, two men with like minds, though they were separated by nearly two decades in age.
They were family, Jericho realized. But then, so were all of the guys who worked for him. Misfits mostly—men with no families, nowhere to go. Some had seen combat and didn’t feel comfortable around lots of people. Some had simply yearned for wide-open spaces and a job with fewer restrictions than the nine-to-five route. Whatever their reasons, they’d all come here looking for work and wound up finding a place to call home.
And until this very moment, he and Sam hadn’t butted heads over anything important in years.
“She seems like a nice kid, is all,” he was saying. “And I don’t want to think you’re taking her on the mountain just to break her spirit.”
Jericho felt a rush of irritation swamp him as he looked at one of his oldest friends. The fact that guilt was riding right under that irritation was only more frustrating. Did the man have to read him so well? “Damn it, Sam, I would have thought you’d not only understand but agree with me on this. Did you get a good look at her? You can see for yourself she doesn’t belong here.”
He snorted and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “I see nothing of the kind. I see you trying to get rid of a pretty woman because she makes you twitchy.”
Twitchy didn’t even begin to cover what Daisy did to him, Jericho thought, but damned if he’d admit to it. “Bull. I’m doing this for her, not to her.”
“Yeah, you can say that all you want, but I’ve known you too long to buy into it.” Sam shook his head and smiled knowingly. “That girl in there gets to you and you don’t like it, so you figure to haul her ass out before she settles in.”
Another shot too damn close to home, Jericho told himself and wondered if he’d somehow lost his poker face over the past couple of years of civilian life. Or maybe he was only transparent to people who’d known him so damn long. “It’s not just that—”
Sam snorted again.
“Fine, you want me to admit it? She’s hot. Hot enough that I’ve been on edge since she fell onto the lawn practically at my feet.” He scowled into the distance, where the rising sun was just kissing the treetops. “Hell, she’s a walking forest fire. But it’s more than that. I served with her brother. Her dead brother. Now she’s looking to me to provide a kind of link to him or something.”
“That so bad?” Sam countered. “Everybody needs connections, JK. She lost her brother. Isn’t she entitled to whatever it is she can get from us? From you? Don’t we at least owe her the straight-up chance at getting what she wants?”
Jericho really hated to be lectured. Especially when the lecturer had a point.
“I saw you at dinner last night,” Sam went on, his voice a little lower, filled with what almost sounded like understanding. “And off the subject, the girl cooks a mean pot roast—but I saw the way you looked at her.”
That’s just great, Jericho told himself. He’d gone so far as to be fantasizing over a woman at his dinner table—and doing it obviously enough for others to notice. Just one more reason to get Daisy gone. His legendary control was clearly dissolving, which was something he would not put up with.
“Drop it, Sam.”
“I’m not saying I blame you any. She’s a pretty one. But if you’re thinking she’s one of your weekend types, you can think again.” The older man narrowed his eyes. “That’s a good girl. A nice one. And she deserves better than a quick roll in the hay and a one-way ticket off the mountain.”
He knew that. Knew that Daisy Saxon had “complications” written all over her. It was just part of why he wanted her the hell away from him. He wasn’t looking for complicated. He preferred simple.
“Sergeant Major,” Jericho grumbled, “when the hell did you turn into a nanny?”
“I’m sayin’ what I’m sayin'. And part of what I’m sayin’ is that you owe that girl’s brother better than to treat her badly.” Sam glared at him. “You give her a real shot on the mountain, JK. See if she’s got what it takes to make it here. And be honest with yourself about why you want her gone.”
While Sam stalked off toward the two-storied barn several hundred yards away, Jericho was left to fume in silence. Been a long time since anyone had dressed him down like that and damned if he cared for it.
He made his own rules now. He hadn’t answered to anyone since he left the Corps and he wasn’t about to start now. Yes, he thought, he owed Daisy Saxon something because of her brother.
But was what he owed her a job? Or was it getting her back to the world she belonged in? Off the mountain. Back in the city. He was torn now. Undecided when before it had all seemed so clear. Maybe he was being too hard on her. Maybe he should give her a chance and just learn to live with his body’s discomfort when he was around her. Maybe …
“We’re ready!”
He turned to look at the back door of the house as Daisy stepped off the porch. He sighed. She looked great. And completely inappropriate for the hike they had stretching out in front of them. If he’d had any doubts a minute or so ago, they were gone now. She was very clearly not the outdoorsy type of woman.
Her hair was pulled into a long tail at the back of her neck. Her face was bright as a new penny and wreathed in smiles. She was wearing designer jeans with a red sweater and shiny black boots with a two-inch heel, and she had a duffel bag slung over one shoulder while she cradled her fake dog with her other arm.
Jericho sighed. Nope, he thought. He was doing the right thing.
She just didn’t belong.
Four
Daisy was willing to put up with the backpack Jericho had forced her to wear. She had even thanked him for the heavy jacket he borrowed for her from Kevin, the cook. She had dutifully changed into sneakers when he threatened to break off the sweet heels on her favorite boots. But she absolutely refused to leave Nikki behind.
“Everything’s new to her, and she’ll be afraid without me.” She continued the argument even though he’d surrendered ten minutes ago. She glared at his broad back as he hiked five feet ahead of her through the trees.
He didn’t even turn around to look at her when he said, “That dog has no business on the trail. She’ll get eaten or lost or God knows what.”
“No, she won’t,” Daisy insisted, snuggling Nikki’s cheek to her own. The tiny dog’s rapid heartbeat felt like the brush of butterfly wings against her palm. “I’ll take good care of her.”
“Unbelievable.”
At least she thought that