Read The Pleasures of Winter for Free Online Page B

mutter things about nut intolerance, but he ate them. There was only one unopened bottle of water left, so they shared that, then he filled their empty bottles at a small stream and dropped in water purification tablets.
    He carefully didn’t touch Abbie when he handed her bottle back to her. That night of sharing a hammock with her, of having her lush behind pressed up against him, had been worse than he had expected.
A hard night any way you thought about it
. So much for his vaunted self-control. He had been reduced to pretending to be asleep to get Abbie to relax and had battled an erection for hours. Too bad his control slipped when he slept.
    Waking up next to her, feeling her cuddled into his arms with her ass tight against him, that was too much to expect him to take without reacting. He knew his reputation, but he was only human, and Abbie Marshall’s ass would tempt a saint. A dead saint. He had to stay away from her. Or make sure she stayed away from him.
    Jack saw Kev’s glance slide from Abbie to him and back. He obviously wanted to know what, if anything, had happened last night. They went back far enough that Kev would know when he was interested in a girl.
    Not a girl, he reminded himself. A journalist, and a woman cut from the same cloth as Sarah O’Brien-Willis. Sarah had almost destroyed his life. He wasn’t going to let Abbie Marshall do the same thing. And she would. He had no doubt about that.
    He grinned. Oh, he knew just how to keep her pissed at him.
    ‘Anyone still hungry?’ he asked casually.
    Zeke and Abbie both said they were. ‘Not if it has wheat in it, though. Wheat gives me mucus,’ Zeke said.
    ‘Oh, I think I can guarantee there won’t be any wheat in this,’ he said. He noticed that Kev had guessed what was coming and was keeping his mouth firmly shut, but his eyes were alight with devilment.
    Jack moved to the side of the small clearing and listened to the branches of fallen trees. The second one sounded promising. He broke off a piece of bark and pulled out a couple of large wriggling larvae. ‘Breakfast is served. Wheat free.’ He offered one to Zeke and one to Abbie.
    Zeke backed away so fast he would have fallen off the log he was sitting on if Abbie hadn’t put out a hand to balance him. Kev, who had known what was coming, had his phone out and captured the horrified expression on the agent’s face, no doubt planning to upload it to YouTube as soon as they were home. Zeke was so occupied with the grub, he didn’t even notice.
Nice one, Kev. A little retribution for allowing Abbie to stay behind on the plane.
    Abbie surprised him. She didn’t scream or back away. But she did look closely as the larvae writhed in his grip and said, ‘Ten dollars says you won’t eat one of those.’
    ‘You’re on.’ Jack popped one into his mouth and bitdown. The creature wriggled for another half-second before the juices squirted out into his mouth. It was vile. It took every ounce of his acting skill to keep his face straight and keep chewing.
Next time, I’m cooking it first.
But it was worth it for the revolted, disbelieving expression on all their faces. With a final effort, he swallowed.
    ‘Ah, jungle food at its freshest. More protein per pound than grass-fed beef. Are you sure you don’t want one?’ He held out the other squirming larva to Abbie.
    She shuddered. ‘Not in a million years.’
    He gave her a knowing grin. ‘You’ll eat them soon enough.’
    ‘I’ll pay you ten dollars a time to eat them for me,’ she told him.
    He held out his hand, waiting. She stared at him in disbelief before fishing a note out of her pocket and slapping it in his hand.
    Well, that was one way to make her keep her distance.
    He had been putting off the job he dreaded, but it had to be done. ‘Kev, come on. Let’s go down to the plane and bury the pilot.’
    With Jack and Kevin gone, and Zeke Bryan lying back against a tree dozing, it was Abbie’s first opportunity to take stock