Erin Kern - Along Came Trouble

Why wouldn’t she have been? She’d been waiting for an opportunity like this for years. But after the first day, Elisa had understood what Professor Harper had meant. Shooting wildlife and natural wonders was not for the fainthearted. Nor was it for people who were out of shape or couldn’t climb stairs without becoming winded. After several hours of the relentless sun, constant walking, and stopping just long enough to take a drink of water, Elisa had started to wonder what she’d gotten herself into. They didn’t stop from sunup to sundown.

And they were supposed to do another eleven days of this. But in all honesty, no matter how grueling, she needed the activity. The distraction of Professor Harper’s last-minute offer couldn’t have come at a better time. Her calves may be quivering from the walking and her shoulders burning from carrying the equipment around, but her mind was getting the relief it needed.

Her trip to Mongolia was just around the corner, and the idea of hanging around Trouble, possibly seeing Brody, had been giving her near-panic attacks. Professor Harper hadn’t even gotten to the details of this trip before she’d already accepted his offer. Just the idea of getting away, if only for a few weeks, had been too appealing for her to say no.

The hours outside exploring South Africa had taken her mind off Brody and the possibility that he’d all but rejected her—that his demons had been too much for him to overcome. Elisa could no longer compete with his past. How many opportunities had she given him? How many times had she asked him to ask her to stay? A person could only take so much humiliation before enough was enough.

She’d given Brody her whole heart, and she’d walked away with nothing. Just as she’d suspected would happen.

Twilight had descended on the Northern Cape, but the heat hadn’t subsided. The Kalahari Gateway Hotel, the accommodations the magazine had set them up in, was a lush retreat with every amenity she could imagine. Her room was huge with a whirlpool tub that she made good use of every night. The jets did wonders on her sore muscles.

They would especially come in handy tonight. After another all-day trek, all she wanted to do was kick off her shoes and soak in the tub. Then figure out what to do after Mongolia.

She walked through the opulent lobby of the hotel, then down the hallway to the elevators. The air-conditioning was cool and brushed over her heated skin like a sweet caress. It was a heavenly feeling after a full day in the sun.

She pushed the button on the elevator and stepped into it when it arrived.

Although she adored her house, the first major purchase she’d made, Elisa had come to the decision to sell it. She couldn’t have the kind of career she wanted from Trouble, although she supposed she could use it as a home base. But what was keeping her there? Certainly not a man. Returning to that house, that street, day after day, would be remembering what she once had with Brody. How she’d caught a glimpse of what deep love was really like, and the kind of life she and Brody could have together.

For the most part, her time here in South Africa was pretty good at helping her deal with the hurt that still lingered in her heart. The hardest time of the day was when she was alone—alone in the elevator, alone in the tub, and alone in her bed. There were no cameras, no colleagues, and no endangered animals to pull her mind in another direction. All she had were bittersweet memories and her own regrets for company. It was a maddening, lonely time for which there was no cure. She hated Brody for not giving them a chance.

But most of all, she hated herself for listening to her heart instead of her head.

The elevator reached her floor, and Elisa stepped out. Her room was around the corner, all the way at the end. This evening the walk seemed so much longer than it actually was, but the thought of climbing into the tub kept her going.

Just as she rounded the corner, all thoughts of soaking the day away abandoned her and turned her good feeling into disbelief.

And bewilderment.

Not to mention shock.

And definitely some desire, because the whole reason she’d left Trouble was standing outside her hotel room. She stopped in the middle of the hall and glanced around, certain someone was playing a joke on her. Or maybe a Brody lookalike had the wrong room. However, a simple lookalike wouldn’t affect her the way the real Brody always had.

So, she kept going, mentally trying to prepare herself or come up with something to say to him. He was just leaning against the wall, staring down at his phone as though he belonged there. Or she was supposed to be expecting him.

His hair was a bit longer than the last time she’d seen him, as though he hadn’t taken the time to get a haircut. Tan cargo pants fit loosely around his long legs, and the black T-shirt he had on only reminded her how in shape he really was. She’d never seen him look so… unkempt. Yet at the same time, it was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.

She’d come here to get away from him and the way he’d made her feel. Her heart needed time to mend. How could she accomplish those things if he kept invading her space like this?

He must have sensed her, because he glanced up from his phone and pinned her with those piercing gray eyes of his. Eleven days away hadn’t done anything to lessen the impact he always had on her. In fact, the time away had made her want him even more. She just hadn’t realized it until laying eyes on him again.

He straightened away from the wall, and the breath she’d been holding left her in a rush. As she came to a stop in front of him, she tried to steady her breathing and act like seeing him was no big deal. Like seeing him was like seeing any other regular Joe. As if her heart hadn’t just kicked up when she’d laid eyes on him.

She licked her dry lips. “What are you doing here?” Had she sounded too eager? Because, the hell with it, she was so happy to see him.

“I thought of a reason for you to come back,” he responded in that deep voice that she’d been dreaming about.

“And you flew all the way to South Africa to tell me?”

“Yeah,” he said with a laugh. “Two tickets to South Africa damn near cleared out my savings.”

Her eyes widened. “Two?”

He gestured behind her down the hallway. “I brought Tyler with me, but he got bored waiting so he went back to our room.”

So many sensations were hitting her at once, not to mention questions about his sudden appearance. Elisa closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to make sense of everything. “You’re staying here in this hotel?”

His grin turned sheepish, and it was the sweetest thing Elisa had ever seen. “We sort of decided to make a vacation out of it. I brought Tyler with me so Kelly could focus on getting her mother settled. Plus I wanted to be close to you.”

Those last words created a shiver down her spine and an unsettled feeling in her belly. Had he really come all this way just for her?

“So, do you want to hear my reason or not? I promise you it’s good.”

More than anything she wanted him to scoop her in his arms and tell her he couldn’t live without her. She wanted him to admit the time apart had been just as hellish for him as it had been for her. Just the fact that he was here was hope enough, but Elisa refused to get too wrapped up in her emotions.

“Go ahead,” she said after swallowing.

“Well.” He rubbed the back of his neck, as though working out the tension. “Tyler and I got this dog, who’s with my brother Noah and who we named Brinkley Junior by the way, and we don’t really know what we’re doing with it. And you seem to know how to nurture an animal…” His words trailed off. “Oh, hell, that’s not the reason.” He reached into his front pocket and pulled out a box.