“I don’t need to be on television,” I argued.
“For somebody who claims to not want attention, you certainly get plenty of it,” she grumbled.
She was right. I did get international recognition. I took on some crazy things that most normal people would never volunteer to do. “It’s always for a good cause. Most of the events I do are for charity.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “And the rocketry company?”
“I do that for myself, and hopefully it will someday benefit future generations. But most of the things being done there now are research and development. We need better systems and equipment before we can do test runs.”
I was determined not to lie to Jade again. I sensed that she’d appreciate honesty a whole lot more. Not that I was all that good at being candid, but there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do to get Jade in my bed.
Starting at the top of her dark head, my eyes roamed over her to try to figure what it was about this woman that had my dick tied in knots.
Jade had an earthy beauty that had captured me at first glance. Her mass of thick, dark hair was secured in a ponytail at the back of her head, but the simple style just made her blue eyes brighter. Her body was curvy, but extremely fit, a form I was quickly becoming drawn to much more than any thin model had ever tempted me.
I liked every single thing about her, even her inherent bullheadedness.
“I won’t go easy on you,” she warned.
Jesus! I was pretty sure that Jade could use me any way she wanted, and I found that rather perplexing.
I like control.
I need control.
Yet something about this particular woman had made me want to throw my desire for self-discipline out the damn window.
Keep the crazy going!
I grimaced as the words ran unwanted through my brain.
Maybe I did keep doing things that some people thought were the mad stunts of an out-of-control rich guy, but none of them knew just what I was made of underneath.
I was calculated.
I was careful.
I planned everything out in advance.
I really wasn’t that big of a risk taker. I was just confident in what I could and couldn’t do.
Maybe I needed that mastery of myself to balance out the crazy, and I did what I had to in order to stay sane.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I told her.
“What survival experience do you have?”
I shrugged. “I survive in a world of business sharks.”
She shook her head. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
“Not as much as you have,” I confessed. “But I’m fairly handy to have around. I like working with my hands.”
I saw a momentary hesitation flicker in her eyes, but she quickly masked it. Was she trying to decide if my words were actually an innuendo?
They were.
But she was obviously trying to give me a pass because she wasn’t quite sure.
Behind Jade’s brave front, I could see her vulnerability. She was probably much too naive in some ways, but I kind of liked that, too.
For some reason, I really hated the game we had to play right now. Although it worked well in business, I didn’t like to see the wary look in her beautiful eyes when she glanced at me.
She was leery, and I couldn’t say I blamed her. Honestly, my beautiful butterfly should be running as fast as she could to get away from me.
“We usually start with foraging and looking for anything that will be helpful as we locate a water source,” she said carefully. “Did you bring the required items for the class?”
“Yep. Right here,” I said as I picked up my backpack.
“Did you check it yourself?”
“No,” I admitted. “My assistant got everything together for me. I was on a tight schedule.”
“First rule of survival . . . check everything yourself. Nobody cares more about your life than you do.”
Okay. I could live with that. I usually did check everything myself, because I was pretty much a perfectionist. Nobody cared about my conglomerate more than I did, so I stayed involved on all levels.
She continued, “Check your stuff and drop your backpack inside. Then we’ll move out.”
I went inside without an argument because what she said made perfect sense.
I smiled as I riffled through the items that had been prepared for me. Jade was bossy, and not unlike a diminutive, lovely drill sergeant when she was in her element.
I suddenly frowned as I realized even that made my dick hard.
CHAPTER 4
JADE
A few hours later, I began to realize that Eli had some standard skills.
He’d surveyed the landscape, using the basic signs to find a small stream where we’d filled up water bottles. We still had to boil the water, but Eli had managed to use his knowledge to find it.
Grudgingly, I had to admit that he really was interested in primitive survival.
I’d taught him some advanced skills, like how to make an underground still if he couldn’t find an obvious source of water, and a few more ways to get drinking water in other climates.
He listened, which made my irritation with him fade away a little.
I’d expected him to scoff at everything I said or the things I tried to teach him. Instead, it had been exactly the opposite. Eli Stone seemed to suck up knowledge like a sponge, and he asked a lot of intelligent questions.
“What are these?” he asked as he stopped on the hiking path we’d been following back to camp.
I came to a halt next to him, reaching for his hand as he went to touch the small fruit bush. “Be careful,” I warned as I gripped his fingers lightly. “These are really thorny. They’re Natal plums, and the red fruit is edible, but the stems and leaves are toxic.”
I let go of his hand and plucked one of the bright-red fruits from the tree. Pulling the knife I was carrying from its sheath on my belt, I carefully cut an edible portion and handed it to him.
The fact that he didn’t hesitate to eat it, obviously trusting my knowledge without question, made me smile as I popped a piece of fruit between my own lips.
Rather than being a pain in my ass as I’d completely expected, Eli was a perfect student, and I’d been intrigued by the sensible facts he already had stored in his head. Not that I, in any way, thought he was a nice guy, but he wasn’t as bad as I imagined him to be.
Unfortunately, that sexual tension in the air was ever-present, making it uncomfortable at times.
If I wasn’t so damn attracted to him, I could probably enjoy his company.
“It tastes kind of like a cranberry,” he said after he’d swallowed.
I nodded. “Sweet and sour.”
He shot me a grin. “I find that flavor very tempting lately.”
The flesh of the plum almost got caught in my throat, but I forced it down. I knew he was still playing his cat-and-mouse game, and that he was referring to me as the sweet and sour he found appealing. Unfortunately, the visual image his words conjured was automatic and vivid.
What would it be like to be devoured by Eli Stone?
I didn’t want to have imaginary images of that unlikely occurrence flash through my brain, but I couldn’t seem to control my errant thoughts.
I busied myself with cleaning my knife on nearby leaves and then shoved the blade back into its sheath. “We should get going,” I said breathlessly.