my grandparents’ farm looking for eggs. There happened to be a snake in there doing the same thing.”
“Did it bite you?”
“On the finger. I nearly died before they got me to the hospital.”
A shaft of something not immediately identifiable hit him in the chest. A mingled combination of fear and relief. It took a few seconds for words to surface. “Okay,” Jack said, clapping his hands together. “No walking through the woods for you tonight. Come on, I’ll be carrying you.”
“What?” The question came quickly enough that Jack knew it had caught her completely off guard. “No, that’s all right. I—”
“Piggyback. You’ve already witnessed what a good pack pony I am.”
“Jack, really, I couldn’t—”
But he wasn’t taking no for an answer. “It’s not that far, and you’ll be glad. You won’t have to think about what’s beneath every crunch of leaves.”
She shivered, clearly torn. “Why don’t I just wait here? I could be a lookout.”
“But I need you over there. Come on,” he said, turning around and bending his knees.
“Oh, goodness. Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
There was probably only one thing in the world that would have made Annie climb on his back just then. And the thought of stepping on a snake was obviously it. With reluctant movements, she lifted one leg, clamped it to his waist, then gave a little jump onto the small of his back, hooking the other leg in place. “This is terrible,” she said.
“What’s so terrible?” He stood up, boosted her into place and started walking.
She gave a little shriek and then, “Maybe I should just walk.”
“Your ticket’s been punched. No getting off now.” He could feel the stiffness of her posture. “Annie, you can relax. I won’t break.”
“I am relaxed.”
He laughed. “If I run us into a tree limb, you’re going to break.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted.
A few more strides and then, “Annie.”
“What?”
“I think you’re in danger of toppling. Don’t you want to put your arms around my neck?”
“Ah, no. This is good,” she said, wobbling even as she made the declaration.
“Annie.”
“Yes?”
“Put your arms around my neck.”
She did so with great reluctance.
“I don’t bite,” he said.
So did silence mean she disagreed? He had a feeling she wished she’d risked the snakes.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
IF ANNIE HAD TO SWING from tree limbs to get back to the car, there was absolutely no way she would be getting on Jack’s back again.
“I was thinking we could find a spot on the other side of the loading-dock doors,” Jack said, drawing her attention back to the reason they were here. “There are a couple of big trees up there. I don’t think anyone would spot us if we stay in the shadows.”
Her expression must have put voice to her worry.
“No woods. Just a couple big trees. And besides, did I forget to mention I exude a special snake repellent?”
She smiled. “You don’t smell anything like mothballs.”
“Glad to know it,” he said.
She laughed.
At the edge of the parking lot, he reached for her hand, tugboated her across the ink-dark asphalt and up a short hill to the twin oaks he’d declared snake-free.
“Think we’ll be concealed enough?” he asked, turning to look at her without letting go of her hand.
Annie struggled to concentrate on the question. “The perfect spot,” she said, throwing a glance back at the loading-dock doors, then opening her fingers and releasing her hand from his.
He looked at her, a few things going unsaid between them but clearly understood, nonetheless. They weren’t touching, stood a good two feet apart, and yet a connection remained.
Annie backed up and stepped on a fallen limb. The resounding crack jolted her forward, where she righted herself a scant couple of inches from his chest. She had to look up, up, to see the half smile on his face. He knew the effect he had on her.
And it amused him. Amused him!
She stepped back again, this time with tentative enough steps that she managed to put a couple of yards between them without embarrassing herself.
“Might as well make ourselves comfortable,” he said, leaning against the oak and sliding to the ground, patting the spot beside him.
It would have looked ridiculous, opting for the trunk of the tree five feet from the one he’d chosen. Smart maybe, but obvious. So she gave her indifference a pep talk and joined him on the ground. She crossed her legs and folded her arms across her chest like a turtle retreating into its shell, no vulnerable parts showing.
“So what do we do now?” she asked, aiming her tone at