“That I sure as hell don’t want to fall into their hands. I like my DNA exactly where it is.”
She laughed. “Me, too.”
Declan pulled his pack closer and dug around inside it, then held out an energy bar. “Here. You haven’t eaten anything since this morning.”
Kendra made a face. “God, I hate these things. It’s like eating tub and tile caulk.”
He lifted a brow. “And you have experience eating tub and tile caulk?”
“After eating these things, the answer is yes, I do.”
“Just eat it,” he said gently. “If you do, I promise to take you out to a real restaurant when we get back and buy you anything you want.”
She eyed him thoughtfully as she tore open the wrapper. “Anywhere I want to go, and anything I want to eat?”
He chuckled. “Yes and yes. But you have to eat the whole bar.”
“If I have to eat, so do you.”
“I’m not hungry,” he said. “I loaded up before the mission, remember? I’m still good for a couple more days.”
Kendra knew that was bull. She hadn’t seen Declan eat anything since the day before the ambush—over forty-eight hours ago. There was no way he could keep going as hard as he had been with absolutely no fuel in his system, bear shifter or not.
She wrapped the bar back up. “Well, in that case, I’m not hungry either. I’ll wait until tomorrow.”
He growled but reached into his pack and pulled out another bar. “Fine, you stubborn woman, I’ll eat one. But we don’t have many of them left. This will have to be my last one for a while.”
She waited until he unwrapped his bar and took a bite. Only then did she nibble her own. Yuck, she really had grown tired of these things. But she was starving.
“I want to go to P.F. Chang’s,” she said in between small bites.
“What?”
“You said you’d take me to any restaurant I wanted and that’s where I want to go. It’s my favorite place to eat.”
He thought about that, then shrugged. “Okay. If that’s where you want to go, that’s where I’ll take you.” Declan took another bite, devouring more than half of the remaining bar in a single chomp. “So, what do you want to eat?”
She didn’t even have to think about it. “Spring rolls.”
“That’s it?” He finished his bar, then stuffed the wrapper in his pack. “I’m taking you to your favorite place for dinner after a week in the jungle, and all you want is spring rolls?”
She laughed. “They make really good spring rolls, but no, that’s not all I want. The spring rolls are just the appetizer.”
“Tell me what else you want.” He gestured to the bar in her hand. “Just don’t forget to eat while you do.”
She looked down to see that she hadn’t eaten much of the bar at all. When she took another bite, it just reminded her why energy bars weren’t on the menu at P.F. Chang’s. She forced herself to eat. Declan was right. If she didn’t keep up her strength, she was going to weaken at the worst possible moment. She opened her canteen and took a swallow to wash it down. Chang’s had about five or six dishes she loved, so it was hard to decide what she wanted—even if this was just in her head.
“Does it take you this long to make up your mind about what you want to eat when you’re actually in the restaurant?” Declan asked.
She grinned. “Most of the time. I don’t know why I have such a hard time making some of the simplest decisions. It’s crazy.”
He let out a deep chuckle. “I’ll remember to eat before we go to dinner, so I won’t rush you.”
That was when it hit her. Declan really intended to take her out…like on a date. The thought warmed her right down to the tips of her combat boots. Would it be too much to hope that it might be the start of something?
Declan took a drink from his own canteen. “If it helps, for the duration of this conversation, the food is calorie free, so don’t feel you have to limit yourself to just one thing.”
She laughed. That would be really cool, wouldn’t it? “Well, in that case, I’ll start with the spicy chicken. You can absolutely never go wrong starting with that.”
He leaned back on one elbow, getting more comfortable and looking sexy as hell. “Go on.”
“From there—since I’m not worrying about calories—I’ll have