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he was there watching the pair. Andrea moved around the fire to drop into the canvas chair next to him.
    “He’s beautiful… your Danie,” Andrea leaned over whispering. “I wouldn’t mind a man like that in my bed every night. You’re a lucky man, Geo.” He pulled the lens cap off the camera and started framing shots in the lilac haze of twilight. It really was beautiful here. The thorn trees stood in silhouette against a lavender sky still slightly-pink where the clouds drifted, and the grasslands had turned an antique-gold color glowing with the last kiss of daylight.
    Andrea turned the camera on him, letting the shutter fly in a quick burst. Geo could feel himself frown.
    “Why do you do that?”
    “Do what, caro?” Andrea had turned his lens back across the vast savannah.
    “Take my picture all the time.” Geo leaned back in his chair, his tin cup cradled in his hands.
    “You won’t let me help, caro. So I practice my shots. You never know when a wild animal will walk across your path. Or an exotic bird.” He purred the last and stroked a finger down Geo’s arm, sending shivers across his skin.
    “I’m anything but exotic,” Geo protested, folding his arms on his chest.
    “If I brought you to my home, all the boys would follow you down the street begging for your attention.”
    Geo snorted in disbelief. “Unlikely. They might follow me down the street just to pull me in an alley and beat the crap out of me. That I’d believe.”
    “No, I’d never let that happen, caro. You will always be safe with me. You just need to trust me, like you trust Danie. But maybe you don’t trust Danie?”
    “Danie? Of course I trust Danie. I lo―” he began, stopping himself, but not in time to avoid the self-satisfied smirk from the other man. Andrea lifted the camera to his face and squeezed off another shot of Geo.
    “So Danie is wrong. He says there is nothing between you.”
    “There isn’t!” Geo snapped back
    “Well, then, you won’t mind if I keep you company tonight while Danie stands guard and keeps us safe? That’s all he does for you, right, Geo? He’s just here to keep you safe?”
    Geo froze, unsure how to respond. He looked over at Danie, who was now leaning against their disabled Rover, glaring at them.
    “So we’ll let him keep your body safe while I keep your heart.”
    Geo stiffened. “Why would you say that?” he demanded.
    “Because, caro, I have spent years travelling from place to place, and I can recognize the rare and valuable treasures found only in the most remote places. I’ve made a career on my luck, and guts. It’s only fitting that I find love the same way.”
    “You’re insane!” Geo was pissed.
    “Why? Because I can see a lifetime when I look at you?”
    “Because you don’t know me, Andrea! How can you know a man in a day? Not even a day?”
    “You can know a man’s heart, Geo. You showed me yours last night, and I want it. Danie showed me his as well.”
    “But you don’t want his?” Geo was horrified at the thought that anyone wouldn’t value Danie. Danie was perfect.
    “Did I say that, Geo?” Andrea cocked his brow. “Danie might be the only man whose heart could come close to your own. But his is closed, and yours is as open as the African sky at dawn.
    “I’m drawn to beauty, caro, and your heart is the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in a very long time.”
    “You’re delirious,” Geo huffed through the heat in his cheeks. Wide African sky or not, he felt closed in and cornered at the moment. Rising, he walked over to Danie.
    “Make me feel better, Danie.” He leaned against the Rover, brushing shoulders with the man.
    Danie stared at him for a few moments. “We’ll be fine, Geo. We always are. This is just a temporary thing. Christiansen will be here in a couple of days. It’s just like we’ve moved base camp. We’ve done it a million times, Geo. More than a million times.”
    Geo pondered that. “It doesn’t feel the same