I pulled my face back and ran my hands across his face. “Will we be able to drive?”
He followed my lead and ran his hands through my hair. “We’ll have to cover our faces the best we can, the dirt will be overwhelming, but, yeah, we’re only about an hour away from Masego.”
A small tear fell down my face. “We almost died, Ian.”
He wrapped his arms around my frame and brought my head to his chest. “We’re alive.”
“But...”
“Shhhh,” he spoke into my hair, “I told you I’d protect you, didn’t I?”
“You did,” I confirmed into his shirt.
“I would never let anything happen to you, Soph.”
Clarity came to me in that second because I believed him.
“Thank you,” I whispered, bringing my face near his. “It’s not enough, but I have to say it. Thank you for saving my life.”
“It was my absolute pleasure.”
I giggled despite myself. “So polite.”
“Trust me, Soph, I am trying really hard to be polite right now.”
My brows furrowed. “Why?”
“Well,” he cleared his throat. “You’re, uh, you’re sitting on my lap.”
“Oh.” I blushed. Actually blushed! Sophie Price, who hadn’t blushed since she was a schoolgirl, felt embarrassed!
I scurried off his lap and he stood, offering his hand to help me up. He reached into his glove compartment again and pulled out a flashlight, lighting up our small area with a click. We examined the damage. Since most of the windows were down except one of the back passenger windows, none shattered but that one and the windshield. There were bullet holes riddling the sides of the jeep but when Ian lifted the hood, the engine appeared to be unscathed.
“Thank God,” he breathed.
“Agreed.”
Ian rounded the side of the jeep and picked up his guns, placing them back in the glove box and the back of the vehicle. He grabbed an old t-shirt in the backseat and effortlessly ripped it in two.
“Here,” he said, handing me one half of the shirt, “tie this ’round your mouth and nose.”
I grabbed it and nodded. Following his lead, I wrapped it around my face and cinched it as tightly as I could behind my head.
“We look like we’re about to rob a bank,” I told him.
He chuckled and the corners of his eyes creased with the smile I so rarely earned. It was a shame I couldn’t see it for myself. He sighed loudly and opened my door for me. I hopped up and buckled myself in.
The drive to Masego was terrible, dirt flew in so badly it created a thick coating on our skin and clothing but we could breathe at least, despite how difficult it made it to see. It took twice the amount of time to get home because Ian had to drive slowly enough that rocks and debris couldn’t harm us too badly.
It was after eleven when we got home, so no one was there to let us in. I got out with Ian this time and helped him open and close the gates.
“I don’t want to scare Karina with the sight of this truck, so I’m going to park it where it’s semi-hidden.”
“She’s going to see it anyway,” I mused.
“Yeah, but hopefully she’ll see me first and it’ll give me a chance to explain.”
“Ah, I see. Should we go ahead and wake them up?”
“I don’t see the point. The plane won’t be here for another two days. Let them sleep.”
The grounds seemed peaceful and that made my heart and soul quiet down a bit from the night’s near catastrophe. Ian brought the truck behind our hut, out of view from Karina and Charles’ cabin and we got out. He removed his half of the now filthy t-shirt. I struggled with mine so he came around and helped work through the knots.
“Good Lord, Soph, how did you do this? Your hair is caught in it.” He laughed again.
“Note to self,” I said out loud, “Ian is happiest when in dangerous situations.”
He whipped my body around and his mouth gaped open, but it still couldn’t hide his grin. “What does that mean?”
“You’ve laughed twice tonight. That’s the most I’ve seen you laugh, especially if none of the kids are involved with their daily shenanigans.”
“So you watch me then?” he flirted, edging closer.
“About as much as you watch me,” I flirted back.
“I-I, uh-,” he stuttered.
“That’s what I thought,” I teased.
“Are you to grab a shower?” he asked.
“No, I am not to grab a shower. I was hoping to swim in this filth all night.”
“Sarcasm noted.”
He smiled and it was the most glorious thing I’d ever seen. I fought the urge to grab him and run my tongue along his teeth.
“Grab your stuff,” he continued. “I’ll meet you there.”
He startled me, but I didn’t let it show. I hurried to my half of the hut and tossed my shampoo, body scrub, etc. into my bucket before grabbing my robe. I practically ran to the showers and caught Ian mid-sweep.
“I knew you did this, by the way,” I told his back, stunning him still.
His shoulders sagged and he turned around and smirked. “How?”
I wasn’t about to rat Karina out. “It’s shockingly free of creepy crawlies every day, Ian?”
“I suppose that seems a bit lucky.”
“Thank you,” I told him quietly.
“At first I did it because I didn’t want to hear you complain.”
I approached him and blocked him into the stall. “And now?”
He swallowed but looked me dead in the eye. “Because I want to.” The intimacy of his stare shocked me silent, my mouth gaped. “I’ll be right back,” he told me.
I stepped aside, against the edge of the wood stall, to make room for him but his massive body still slowly grazed mine, stealing my breath away. I locked myself in and undressed, tossing my clothing over the side and setting my bucket on the stone beneath my feet.
I turned on the water and immediately began rinsing off my face. The water was cool but not cold. I welcomed it as I could feel the dirt leaving my body. It trailed down my legs and pooled near the drain in an orange haze. I closed my eyes and let the water rinse away the night. I turned my face from the stream and began to wet my hair. When I opened my eyes, Ian was in the stall across from mine astonishing me yet again for the umpteenth time that evening.
He was staring at me, the water slicing down his head and down his shoulders. The stalls were too high to expose anything more. He could only see my face and top of my head but just knowing we were both naked and within ten feet of one another was enough to make me flush from head to toe. He was breathtaking. Breathtakingly sexy. Breathtakingly beautiful. Breathtakingly real. Just breathtaking.
“Hi,” I choked out.
“Hi,” he said, flirtatiously smiling.
I couldn’t look at him anymore, so I bent to grab my shampoo. After pouring a handful, I stood and purposely avoided his eyes, though the heat of his gaze was enough to make the water boil. I worked the soap through my hair from root to tip twice before almost losing it or worse, giggling uncontrollably. I ducked under the running water to rinse and caught his stare again.
I smiled the largest smile I owned because I just couldn’t help it anymore.
“I’d give anything to wash your hair for you,” he said suddenly, rocking me to my core and wiping that silly grin right off my face.
“I’d give anything for you to do just that,” I told him candidly. This time he smiled and grabbed his own shampoo bottle.
He shampooed his hair and I bit my bottom lip to keep from saying something stupid like, “Let me help you” or “Let’s conserve some of this water we’re wasting.” I blushed once more and he noticed.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said, turning to my bucket and grabbing my face soap.
I scrubbed my face much more thoroughly than I suppose was necessary, but I just couldn’t look at him anymore. He was torturing me just by existing. I rinsed the soap from my face and grabbed my conditioner, applying a generous amount and letting it set in my hair while I used the loofah on the rest of my body. My smile just kept getting bigger and bigger and embarrassingly bigger. I tried to avoid looking at him but his laughing did nothing to help matters much.
Finally, when I’d rinsed every last drop of soap from my body, I stood underneath the shower and began to rinse the conditioner. I looked his direction and it was obvious he was done but he was sticking around for the free show.
“Still here?” I asked.
“If the situation were reversed?” he countered.
I closed my eyes. “I’d still be here,” I told him, smiling again.
When I opened my eyes again, he’d rested his forearms on the top of the edge of the stall, the water still cascading down his incredible skin. We kept up eye contact until the conditioner was long gone, no trace of it whatsoever anymore, but I continued longer than I should because it was Ian Aberdeen and his royal hotness was just as enthralled with me as I was with him. Eventually, I turned the water off and he followed my lead. I began to towel dry my hair and he wrapped his around his waist. I slipped on my robe and flip-flops.
We both stood there waiting for the other to get out. Neither of us wanting the incredibly frustrating but totally exhilarating past few minutes to end. Finally, Ian made a move, unlocking his stall door. I followed his lead and met him in the center of the stone walkway between our stalls.
“Hi,” he said, peering down at me.
“We’ve done that.”
“We have?” he asked, distracted.
“Yes,” I said, my eyes riveted by his lips.
He breathed heavily out his nose. “I’ll walk you to your side of the hut now.”
“’Kay.”
“I’m going to escort you.” He paused, staring at my face. “Any second now.” Another pregnant pause as his eyes guided down my neck. “Just as soon as I can uproot my feet from this stone, I’m going to walk with you.” He smiled taking in my face again.
I fought a smile of my own when he grabbed the lantern hanging on the hook above us, his broad chest expanding right in front of my face. We stood still for a minute.
“Come on,” I told him, walking away first.
He quickly caught up with me and held the lantern ahead of us. We didn’t say a word on the short hike to our hut. We didn’t even glance each other’s direction. I walked right to my side and went inside, turning to say goodnight but he’d already gone into his side, leaving me disappointed and just a teeny bit pissed.
I lit the small candle on my washstand and dressed in yoga pants with a long-sleeve fitted tee. I draped my wet towel at the foot of my bed and tossed my robe on its hook. I kept my flip-flops on because it was Uganda and you never took your shoes off ever. I’d just finished brushing my teeth and hair when I heard a faint knock on my door.
My heart leapt into my throat. “Yes?” I barely choked out.
“It’s me,” Ian said quietly. “Can I come in?”