Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
When we finally broke apart, Archer’s arm stayed locked around my waist. His eyes blazed dark sapphire, and his warm breath danced across my lips.
“Lo,” he whispered.
I put my fingertips on his lips, finally remembering that Nutter was nearby filming us.
“Later,” I whispered back.
He nodded. “I should let you eat.”
His arm fell from my waist then, our contact broken. My pulse still pounded with excitement, but I had to hide it. Our lapse in judgment would have the Exiled producers giddy in their control room. The drama. The intrigue. The lovers-turned-enemies-turned-lovers-again storyline they’d been waiting for. It would make for good television, but this wasn’t a game to me. It was my life. My heart.
Archer and I weren’t lovers yet. Why had I thought that? We’d kissed and that was all. His thoughtfulness had touched me and I’d kissed him. So what?
Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
“Tell me about finding the chest,” I said, eager for us to get back to normal.
“That’s not all I found,” he said.
He told me about the waterfall as I ate, and when he said he wanted to take me to see it, I was grateful I had a mouth full of fish so I couldn’t even consider kissing him again.
“Thank you,” I said as I finished the food.
He reached over and took my hand. “I missed you.”
I squeezed his hand. “I missed you, too.”
“How was Maks?”
I shook my head. “Awful. They don’t have any firewood; they just drag a log in from the forest floor when they want a fire. So I dragged one in, because I wanted to help around camp, and I almost passed out.
“Lo.” Archer lowered his brows in a critical look. “That’s hard labor. You can’t be doing that when you’re weak from not eating.”
“All of us are weak.”
“Maks is an asshole for even letting you do it.”
I smiled, glad that that whole team swap experience was over with. “Well, he let me use the soap and shampoo at least.”
“I thought your hair looked different.”
“Give it a few days and it’ll be gross again.”
“You’ve never looked gross,” he countered.
I laughed. “What about when I fell in the mud?”
He shook his head, his eyes sparkling. “You make mud look good.”
“When I ate a hairy spider?”
“Adorable.”
“You’re sweet,” I said.
The lightness between us ticked away in seconds, the air feeling thicker and charged with electricity. Archer’s gaze was like a smooth caress, sending a tingle from the tip of my spine to the base.
“We can’t,” I said, reading his mind.
I’d never sounded less sure of anything in my life. Hell, I’d never been less sure.
“I’d never do anything you don’t want, Lo,” he said, his voice low and raspy.
“I don’t think…we’re sure what we want, you know?” I said. “Maks was awful and from the way Irina flipped you off on her way out of here I assume it didn’t go well with her either. I think the swap messed with our heads. Made us overly appreciative of each other…don’t you think?”
“Or…it gave us an awareness we didn’t have before.”
“We’re stranded on an island. I’m literally the only woman who’s an option.” I laughed nervously.
“You know me, Lo.”
I did. I knew that Archer Holt could be the only man in the company of ten thousand women, and he still wouldn’t try to get with one of them for the hell of it. Feelings mattered to Archer. They mattered to me, too. That was why this moment scared the hell out of me.
I couldn’t kiss him again, though. And I sure as hell couldn’t do more than that. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t fall under his spell again. I was keeping that promise.
“I’m going to rinse off my dishes,” I said.
He nodded, not even trying to change my mind, because that was who he was. Archer would never try to persuade a woman to give into his charms. And damned if his integrity didn’t make him even harder to resist.
“I’m going fishing,” he said. “Look out for any jellyfish while you rinse your plate and stuff.”
“I will.”
I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to clear my mind. Jellyfish were definitely not what I needed to look out for right now. It was my own damn feelings that were going to get me stung.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Day Eighteen—Seven teams remaining
Archer
The sun had almost finished sliding below the horizon, which meant I needed to get back to camp. I’d been sitting alone in the shallow water near the shoreline for more than an hour now.
Gentle waves lapped against my chest as I leaned back on my hands, thinking about the workout I planned to do tomorrow.
I needed to focus on shoulders, so I’d do push-ups on the beach and pull-ups on the tree branch I’d found in the jungle that was the perfect height. Fuck, that kiss earlier had been hot.