Page 47 of Surviving Love

“I was too, although I didn’t realize it.”

“People can survive just about anything if they have a clean water source.” He crossed his long legs, sitting angled so that his torso was near me and his feet near the door.

The clean scent of him and the heat of his body was comforting. Maybe we’d had our differences, but right now, he was the most important person in the world for me. Jack was the only thing keeping me safe. I wasn’t too proud to admit that.

To myself.

Chapter Ten

The hours stretched with the wind howling and shaking the lean-to violently. Somehow, the bamboo structure held, and while we weren’t dry, we were sheltered from the worst of the storm. We finished off the water, and Jack put it back outside to capture more for later.

I kept hoping someone would come to help us, but no one did. By the time night fell, I had to accept that we were truly on our own for now. Maybe tomorrow the storm would have passed, and we’d be able to make our way across that swollen creek. Of course, we had no idea if anyone was even still on the island but us.

It was odd to think the man sharing the shelter with me was the same mad I’d loathed when we’d first met. There was no sign of his usual arrogance. If anything, he was kind. Attentive. This was a side to Jack I hadn’t seen much until now.

“So what made you come onDevious Island?” Jack asked suddenly.

I couldn’t see him clearly. He was simply a dark, bulky shadow next to me. I’d actually thought he was asleep until he’d spoken. “I don’t know,” I said softly.

“There must have been a reason. Everyone has one.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to share my reason with him. Instead of answering, I deflected. “What about you?”

He hesitated. “You don’t want to answer?”

My face warmed because he obviously knew what I was doing. “I’m simply curious about your reason.”

“I see.” He sounded skeptical. “Well, my reason is because I want to expand my business. A million dollars would come in pretty handy.”

“Your survival business?”

“Yeah. I’d like to branch out to the West Coast. A lot of my clients come from California, and I’d have even more business if people didn’t have to travel so far to get to me.”

“Makes sense.” I frowned. “But how would you be in two places at once?”

“I’d stagger things. Plus, I’d be able to hire more people.”

“Sounds like you’d be busy.”

“I like keeping busy.”

I smiled. “I can see that about you. Sometimes you literally buzz with energy.”

“Do I?”

“Uh-huh. Around camp, I can see your wheels are usually turning.”

“Well, especially in this game, you always have to be one step ahead of everyone else.”

I sighed. “I feel like I’ve been two behind the whole time.”

“I don’t agree.”

I shrugged but didn’t say anything.

He must have decided to let my self-deprecating comment go because he went back to his idea of expanding. “I could grow without the prize money, but if I won the money, I wouldn’t need to take on any debt.”

“You’ve obviously given this a lot of thought.”