Page 8 of Twins for the Secret Prince (Even More Babies #8)

EVA

E va grumbled to herself as she hooked her fingers into a groove in the rock face and pulled herself up to the area where just half an hour earlier, she’d found the firewood.

She was glad that Pete was unharmed; of course she was.

But she couldn’t help but feel annoyed with him for disobeying her.

Hauling his wet body out of the river had hurt her shoulder, and even though she’d never admit it to him, she wished he would — or could — take a turn fetching wood for the fire.

Her clothes hadn’t even had time to dry through before she’d set out in search of more wood, and a chill had seeped into her bones, making her feel like she’d never be warm again.

Meanwhile, he was lounging by the fire, staying warm and drinking some of her precious tea supply.

She knew she should feel more magnanimous about the situation, but instead, she felt annoyed and grumpy.

And tired — she felt tired enough to sleep for a whole day and night.

As Eva made her way back to their temporary camp, she slipped on the wet rock edge and fell with a thud onto the rocks below.

She lay there for a moment, stunned and out of breath, then checked for any signs of broken bones.

Fortunately, it seemed like she was only winded.

She picked up the pieces of wood she’d dropped and carried on, limping slightly with a shooting pain in her right ankle.

When he saw her approaching, Pete rushed over and tried to take the firewood out of her arms.

“No, don’t. I’ve got it balanced. You’ll just make it worse,” Eva said, anger palpable in her voice.

“Thank you, Eva. I’m very sorry I’m not of more use to you.” Eva could feel his eyes on her as she added some wood to the fire, and then he asked, “Did I see you limping?”

“I slipped on the wet rocks coming down. Nothing serious.”

“Let’s get your leg elevated to try to keep the swelling down.” Pete made as though to put his arm around her waist, and Eva stepped away from him quickly. Pain shot up her leg.

“We need to keep this fire going. The wind’s picking up, and I don’t want it to go out.” She practically spat the words out, she was so angry.

“Okay. Please take this,” Pete said, holding out the foil blanket. “I know you haven’t had the chance to dry your clothes or warm up since we got here.”

Too tired to argue, Eva took the blanket and wrapped it around her body. “Are you hungry?” she asked after a minute.

“I’m always hungry,” Pete replied, and the wistfulness in his voice made Eva smile.

“It’s not exactly cordon bleu, but I have a pouch of chili in my bag.”

“Chili? You have actual chili?”

“It’s dehydrated, but we can boil some water on the fire.”

“What do we cook it in?”

Eva nodded in the direction of the rocky overhang under which she’d set her thermal pot. Pete went to retrieve it, and she watched as he walked back to the fire, inspecting the flat pot.

“Pass it over,” Eva said. Pete handed it to her, and Eva quickly assembled the flat metal disc into a small cooking pot. “Ta-da.”

“Why have I never, ever seen anything this beautiful before?” he asked, looking at the pot in wonder.

“Haven’t you ever done wilderness survival training?”

“I have, but they never gave us equipment like this.”

Eva surprised herself by laughing. “It is a really amazing thing to have. You keep it in your survival bag, flat against your body, but then when you need it, hey presto, you can put it over an open flame.”

She filled the pot with rainwater, which took just a couple of minutes because it was raining heavily. Eva boiled the water, poured in the contents of the chili pouch, and stirred.

“I only have one spoon, so we’ll have to take turns eating,” she said.

“You go first,” Pete said. “It’s your food. I’ll just stand here salivating.”

“Gross,” Eva said, taking a mouthful of chili. She ate half of the food, then passed it to him. “Go on, you can finish it.”

Pete didn’t argue. He wolfed down the rest of the chili, then held the bowl out to Eva and said, “I don’t suppose you have another pouch in your bag? That was truly delicious.”

“I do have another meal,” Eva said. “But I think we should save it, just in case we’re still here tomorrow.”

“Will this storm let up soon, do you think?”

“This will clear,” Eva said, craning her head to look up at the sky. “We’ll get back to camp.”

“Of course we will,” he said. They stood watching the storm for a couple of minutes under the cover of the rocky overhang, and then he asked, “I don’t suppose you have an energy bar in your bag, do you?”

“Even better,” Eva said, retrieving her bag. “I have chocolate.” She pulled out a foil-wrapped bar of dark chocolate with a mint center. “Pure fructose and sucrose. A little bite of this, and we’ll feel like we’ve had a bottle of champagne.”

“I knew I liked you the moment I met you,” Pete said, taking a bite of the chocolate bar.

As the sugar hit her bloodstream, Eva’s energy returned and she found herself staring at him, mouth hanging open. “You acted like I wasn’t even worthy of being taken seriously as your rival for promotion! Your complete lack of respect was insulting.”

Pete stared at her like he was shocked by her words. “Really? That’s how I came across to you? I know I don’t always make the best first impression, but that’s really bad.”

“Well, how do you think you come across when you say things like you’re looking forward to the challenge of going after the same job I have my eye on?”

“I did say that, didn’t I?” He looked pained. “I’m a highly competitive jerk, Eva. What can I say?”

“There’s nothing you can say to make it better.

I’ve lived my whole life meeting men like you, who coast along on their privilege.

They expect everything to be handed to them on a plate because it always has been.

It never occurs to them — to you — that women have to fight tooth and nail just to even be seen , never mind taken seriously. ”

“You’re right,” he said. “I have no idea what life is like for you. All I can say is that I am aware of my privilege, and I’m trying to address that in my own life.”

“Is that so? What, by practically sneering at a woman when you’re told she’s going for the same promotion as you? Way to be self-aware, Pete.”

“If it seemed like I was sneering at you, Eva, I apologize. I honestly didn’t mean to. Put it down to bravado, I guess.”

“Sure, male bravado, the perfect excuse for any bad behavior. It must be nice to be able to play that card whenever you need it.”

“Eva, I’m sorry. Please accept my apology. I’m sorry I offended you and came across as such a jerk. I want to try to make it up to you.”

Eva threw her arms up in frustration. “Excellent! Why don’t you start by listening to the person who tells you she’s had experience of wilderness survival? Oh wait, too late for that!”

“I really am very grateful that you saved me today. I owe you, Eva. If you hadn’t pulled me out of the river, I’d have been alligator bait.”

“ Alligator bait ? Are you serious? Do you have any clue where you are?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Eva saw the corners of his mouth pull up at the edges.

“Giant salmon bait?”

Eva’s rage abated, and she found herself shaking her head. “Seriously, have you never been on a camping trip before?”

“Of course I have. Give me another bite of that chocolate and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Take two bites if it means you’ll be entertaining me with talk of alligators and giant salmon.”

His mouth still full of chocolate, Pete asked, “Did you ever cook a banana with a square of dark chocolate in some foil on the campfire?”

“Yes, I loved that!” Eva enthused. “I thought it was just our family who did it!”

“No, we did it too. Those little bites of heaven.” They both sighed and then laughed.

“Did you go camping a lot when you were young?” Eva asked.

“Not as much as I would have liked. But I guess it made those camping trips extra special.” He was quiet for a minute and then asked, “What about you?”

“Oh, we practically lived outdoors when I was a kid. We camped out in the backyard almost all summer long. My parents preferred it because they had the house to themselves. When my older brothers could drive, they took me to the lake and we camped there. It was amazing.”

“There’s nothing quite like the freedom of camping, is there? That was when I first found out what I was made of. What things scared me, how far I would push myself, even when I was scared.”

“How little you listen to the advice of your more experienced campers.”

“That too. I’ve always had a rebellious streak. Although my parents would call it disobedient, I’m sure.”

“Did your parents like camping too?”

“No, not at all,” Pete said, an edge to his voice.

“So who did you go with?”

“My older brother, and some people who were hired to take care of us.”

“Like babysitters?”

“You could say that.” Pete shrugged his shoulders.

“Where did you camp?”

“Oh, nowhere that you would know. Nowhere around here.”

Eva moved a little to get more comfortable. “So this is your first camping trip in Alaska?”

“Right.”

“First impressions?”

“That if I’d been caught alone in the landslide, I’d have hypothermia — or worse.”

“Haven’t you done survival training in the military?”

“Oh yes, but it was nothing like this. Snow, ice, subzero temperatures — but it was a cakewalk compared to this.”

Eva nodded. “We had to do that too. You can’t see them from here, but there’s a mountain range to the west of us. We pitched our camp there and had our winter survival skills tested by throwing ourselves off the mountain and using an ice pick to stop our fall.”

“That’s not the kind of test you want to fail.”

“No. Someone did, though. His ice pick slipped out of his hand before he could stop his fall.”

“Did he die?”

“No, but he was pretty badly injured.” Eva grimaced at the memory.

“Ouch. This conversation has taken a dark turn. Just a minute ago, we were talking about our blissful experiences camping in childhood.”

“That’s the thing about the wilderness, Pete. It can take a dark turn in the blink of an eye. You’d be wise not to forget that.”

“Yes, ma’am. Although I think I lived it when I threw myself into the river a few hours ago.”

The rain had eased slightly, enough that they could see twilight hues in the sky. Somewhere close by, owls called out to each other. “It’s a beautiful night,” Eva said. “So peaceful.”

“It is. You don’t get this kind of peace on a military base, do you?”

“I don’t realize how much I miss it until I come out into the wild and spend a night like this.” Eva sighed.

“Do you ever regret joining the military?” Pete asked. “Maybe wish you lived a peaceful, less complicated life?”

Eva didn’t take any time to think before answering. “Nope. It’s the perfect life for me.”

“Apart from all of the male privilege,” Pete said.

“Yes, that I could do without. But I knew what to expect going in. It’s just going to take a long, long time to change things.”

“Things will change one strong woman at a time.”

Eva gave Pete a sidelong look. “Are you being sarcastic?”

“Not at all,” he said. “I can’t imagine the things you’ve been through.”

“You mean like being looked through most of the time by superior officers who only seem capable of seeing other men? Or the lewd comments and gestures that I’ve just had to try to ignore?

Or the fact that, no matter how hard I work, I’m always almost guaranteed to lose out on a promotion to a man?

” Eva gave a little huff, realizing the man she might lose the latest promotion to was sitting next to her.

“That’s terrible. I’m sorry to hear it, Eva. And I’m truly sorry, as a man, to know how much we take for granted when you’re going through hell.”

“Tell me the truth,” she said. “Did you ever really stop to think about what it was like for women in the military before?”

Pete shook his head. “Not really. Just superficially.”

“Well, even that’s a start. Try to really see the women you work with. They might have had the same experiences as I’ve had, or maybe not. But it’s a pretty safe bet.” Eva stoked the fire with a stick.

“I agree.”

“And stop looking at us in deficit terms — what we can’t do compared to men. Or what you think we aren’t as capable of. You might be surprised.”

“Again, I can’t argue.” Pete sucked in his breath and added, “I would be very surprised if you could beat me at arm wrestling, though.”

Eva gasped in outrage. “Tell me you didn’t just say what I think you said!”

Feigning innocence, he said, “I have no idea what you think I just said.”

“Right. That does it. Pete Billings, I challenge you to an arm wrestle, right here, right now.” She looked around them and said, “Over there — on that flat ledge of rock.”

Pete held his hands up. “I surrender! I’m sorry. It was meant to be a joke. I have no doubt you could beat me.”

“I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back. And don’t forget that I hauled your sorry ass out of the river earlier, so my arm muscles are a little sore.”

Pete followed Eva over to the flat rock, and they both extended their arms. Eva’s fingers tingled when she laced her fingers through his, and she told herself to smarten up; there was no way she was going to let him win.

Two minutes into the arm wrestle, Pete’s arm was bending back the non-winning way, and Eva was sure she had him.

In a flash, Pete pulled his arm away and moved quickly around to Eva’s side.

“Hey, what are you doing?” she said. “What’s wrong?”

Without answering, Pete pulled her body up against his. In the next second, his head had dipped low and his warm mouth was on hers. Eva felt her body softening in his embrace, almost like she was swooning.

Oh no, she thought. You’re in real trouble now.