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That certainly explained her side of it.

His? Well, hell, he was male. Sex was on their minds from the minute they opened their eyes in the morning to the minute they closed them at night.

So, back to the obvious question. Why had he walked away?

Sudden impotence? Alessandra almost laughed into her coffee cup. Not with the enormous bulge she’d seen behind the fly of his Jockeys.

A change of heart?

His heart had not been involved.

Then again, neither had hers.

Last night had been about lust, plain and simple.

And, really, what did it matter why he’d walked away? He’d walked. End of story. And it was a damn good thing he had or she’d surely have ended up hating herself this morning.

When it came to doing something that was hell on your self-image, the only thing worse than a one-night stand would be the morning after. And she wasn’t going to take the easy way out, either, because that was probably what he’d expected. An angry scene. Tears and accusations.

What for?

What had happened last night was finished. Finito. Now, all she had to deal with were a few more hours of trekking through the rain forest and she’d never have to see Lieutenant Tanner Akecheta again.

That would be something to celebrate!

He’d turned away. She watched as reached for the machete and sliced open two coconuts.

The weather was, as always in this part of the world, hot and humid, and he was sweating. His cotton T-shirt clung to him, defining the play of muscles in his shoulders and biceps.

Such a waste that a man so spectacularly beautiful should be such an arrogant bastard.

He stood up and swung towards her. She looked away as quickly as she could, but not quickly enough. Their eyes met, and then his slid over her.

Dammit.

She was sweating, too, and though the shirt she wore—one of his—was several sizes too big, she suspected it would not hide the sudden peaking of her nipples under his cool gaze.

Except, his gaze wasn’t cool.

It was hot and dark when it finally met hers again, and it stole away her breath.

What would last night have been like if he hadn’t walked away?

Her heart thudded so loudly that she was afraid he could hear it.

“That coconut looks good,” she said, just for the sake of hearing something other than the pulsing of

her own blood.

A muscle danced in his cheek.

“Yes.” His voice was low. “It looks incredible.” Their gazes met again and he held out his hand. “Take what you want.”

She hesitated. What kind of game was he playing? She wouldn’t be taken in. Not again.

She took a piece of coconut and said “thank you” the way she’d have said it to a server who’d offered her a menu.

When they’d finished eating, he made two cups of instant coffee and handed one to her along with an antibiotic capsule. He turned his back and swallowed something, too. It wasn’t one of the antibiotics. In fact, it looked a lot like something her mother had once been prescribed for pain.