LITMIR.BIZ

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I get all my equipment pulled together. Appreciate the ride, such as it was.”

      “Anytime.” John grinned as they shook hands. “See you the other way in…what? Six months?”

      “That’s the plan, unless I have to leave earlier to make sure my next grant gets approved. See you then.”

      Zeke headed to the lounge to make sure he got one of the sandwiches, since he suddenly realized he was hungry, not having had much for dinner. An empty stomach in stormy seas wasn’t a good thing, but neither was a full one, and he’d tried to find the right balance before he’d headed to bed.

      Thinking of how he’d startled awake with a pounding heart when he’d heard Jordan slam against that wall, then cry out, had him wanting to check on her again. Except she’d made it clear she didn’t want that, so he planned to do the next best thing, which was to be a considerate guy and grab a sandwich for her, too. After getting sick last night, and everything else, she was probably starving.

      The moment he walked into the lounge, his gaze went straight to the tall, slender woman with shiny dark hair to her shoulders. She was standing next to the rows of wrapped sandwiches, and his heart did a strange little pit-a-pat to see her there.

      Apparently, he’d been right. Jordan was indeed hungry.

      He moved to stand next to her, leaning down. “I’m a fan of the Reubens, but the turkey with bacon is good, too.”

      “I thought about getting the veggie, but saw it has raw onions. Yuck.”

      The way she cutely screwed up her face in obvious distaste made him smile. “I’m with you. Raw onions on a sandwich is a solid no for me.”

      “Yes. A solid no.” Her mouth relaxed into a wide grin, and he realized it was the first full smile he’d seen from her. He liked the way it made her deep blue eyes twinkle, and a dimple poke into one cheek. “Any idea when we’ll be docking?”

      “Captain Stewart said about forty-five minutes. Less than that now. So before we do, I want to take a look at your head. How’s it feel?”

      “Honestly? It hurts. Way more than last night. But that’s to be expected of a gash and bruise like that.”

      “Let’s go out on the deck so I can see it.”

      “It’s fine.”

      “You just said it hurts.”

      “Like there’s something you can do about that? Just needs time to heal, that’s all.”

      “So, when you have a patient that refuses to let you follow up after their treatment, you nod and are perfectly okay with that? I just want to look at the glue job, and see if it seems to be holding well.” He wasn’t sure why he felt so frustrated at her stubbornness. She was a surgeon, after all, and knew all about wounds and derma glue, and if she wanted to deal with it herself, what was it to him?

      Maybe because the sound of her hitting that wall in the middle of the night had woken him from the terrifying dreams he sometimes endured, and he still felt a little unsettled by all of it. Wasn’t it normal to want to check on her now, to make sure she was really okay?

      For long seconds, her gaze clashed with his, until she released an exaggerated sigh. “Okay, fine. But can we please find a place where not everyone on the ship is going to be coming up to us and asking what happened?”

      So he’d been right that she wouldn’t want John, or anyone else, making too big a deal of her injury, and what happened last night.

      “I know a good spot.”

      He nearly reached for her hand, but was pretty sure she wouldn’t appreciate the familiarity, even though they’d shared an unusual closeness last night. He stuck his fist into his coat pocket instead. Most people were at the bow of the ship to see Antarctica in the distance, so Zeke led the way to the back of the boat and around a corner where they’d be alone.

      Wind whipped her soft hair into her face and she reached back to gather it into a ponytail behind her head. He tried not to get distracted by the beautiful line of her jaw that he’d noticed in the low light of her cabin last night.

      He drew in a breath and put his hands on either side of her head, tipping it slightly down. Moved her hair gently out of the way so he could see the wound. A raw, red line spanned the bruised lump that resembled a miniature purple eggplant just above her hairline. But the edges of the gash seemed firmly closed together, and it obviously hadn’t bled during the night, so it seemed the glue had done its job.

      “Looks like it hurts like hell. But the good news is the wound is still nicely closed, so unless you whack it again, it should heal just fine.”

      “I thought it felt secured, but couldn’t be sure.” She gave him a twisted smile that showed she knew her stubbornness a moment ago about her dealing with herself hadn’t made a lot of sense. “Thanks again for patching me up.”

      Shocked by an urge to press a soft kiss to her head, he dropped his hands and stepped back. “I’m going to check with the captain, see when it would be okay to go below and start to gather my gear, which is going to take a while. If I see you, I’ll give you the heads-up on how close we are so you can pull yours together, too.”

      “Thanks. Appreciate that.”

      An awkward silence fell between them, and he gave her what he hoped was a relaxed smile before moving to the bridge to get the information he needed from John. He wished he had eyes in the back of his head to see if she was watching him go. Because he sure as hell knew if she’d been the one walking off, his attention would have been riveted until she was out of sight.

      Jordan Flynn was a beauty, no doubt about it. But he hadn’t had any kind of real relationship since he’d broken it off with his last girlfriend after the worst week of his life, and didn’t plan to go there ever again.

      John gave him the go-ahead, and he went below to the cargo area to search for the boxes of dive equipment and everything else he needed. Being one of the first to get his gear on the shuttle meant it wouldn’t have to follow him during the next round of supplies-toting when the shuttle got full, and he began stacking everything onto several carts.

      A cardboard sign caught his eye as he moved his first cart to the huge exit doors so he’d be at the front of the pack. Large letters printed in orange noted the multiple boxes that held medical equipment for the clinic and hospital.

      He hesitated. Should he help Jordan out by stacking it on some of the empty carts and getting it ready so her stuff would be on the first shuttles out, too? Being a newbie on these expeditions, she wouldn’t know that it could be another full day before the medical gear got delivered to the station if it didn’t go out on the first round.

      He shook his head at himself. Being helpful when someone needed it was all well and good, but at what point did it border on being a busybody, or even a creep? No, his own stuff was plenty to deal with right now. The crew was there to help Jordan. If he ran into her while they were both still on the ship, he’d give her the heads-up about how things worked around here. Otherwise, he’d mind his own business, and concentrate on work, like he always did.

      With the ship nearing shore, Jordan hurried to the bow with dozens of others wanting to admire the scenery before they disembarked, so excited to get her first glimpses of the place she’d be calling home for the next six months. She’d seen so many photographs of the shoreline, and the icebergs and sea creatures that could be sighted, and each one had seemed more incredible than the last. She nearly had to pinch herself that she was about to experience it for real.

      Standing on the open deck with the cold wind on her face thankfully much less ferocious than the day before, Jordan grasped the handrail and wondered if Zeke Edwards was somewhere within the crowd, too. Though why she couldn’t get her mind off the man, she had no idea. Whether she wanted to or not, though, she’d

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