Operation Date With Destiny (7 page)

“
Maybe it
’
s just you who brings out my inner bitch,
”
she snapped.

“
No, I don
’
t think that
’
s it—
”
he said pretending to ponder the statement thoughtfully,
“
—cause
’
I distinctly remember you had a softer side
in that bar,
back in
Hawaii
.
”

Destiny snorted.
“
It
’
s called acting.
”

“
Nah—I don
’
t buy that. I know acting—
”
he moved closer and Destiny stood her ground determined not to let him intimidate her,
“
—and back in my apartment…when we were getting all hot and heavy in the bedroom…
”
his voice dropped a level and Destiny felt a sprinkle of gooseflesh break out across her skin as
he
lean
ed
closer, so close she couldn
’
t focus on his eyes and instead her gaze lowered to his mouth.
“
That wasn
’
t acting. That was real. You can
’
t fake that kind of electricity
,
darlin
’
,
”
he all but whispered and she felt his breath touch her lips like a feather soft kiss.

“
Destiny, we need you inside,
”
Ponleu
’
s voice acted like a dose of hard, cold reality raining down on her and she jumped back guiltily.

She heard
Johnny
’
s
gravelly chuckle in the dark and gritted her teeth against the knowingness she felt behind it. Damned if he didn
’
t
realize
how close she
’
d been to giving into his sexy damn voice and those clever lips.
“
Get some sleep. You
’
re going to need it,
”
she snapped, stepping away and heading into the main hut, more than ready to deal with any last minute crisis in order to avoid dealing with one very annoying Marine who could get under her skin way too easily.

****

Tupper watched her walk away, biting back an irritated sigh.

“
You stay away from her.
”

He
’
d almost forgotten about
P
on
gfoo
, but knew the look in the guy
’
s eye was not something he should dismiss lightly.
“
Well now, that
’
s going to be a bit hard to do, considering I
’
m kinda stuck here isn
’
t it?
”

“
She
’
s not for you.
”

Until this point he was willing to ignore the fact Destiny had another admirer lurking about on the fringes—but damned if he would stand here and let this little bastard tell him he wasn
’
t good enough for her. He hadn
’
t forgotten he
’
d been the one who
’
d hit him over the back of the head.

“
Who
’
s she for then?
You?
Cause it must have slipped her mind the other night when she was with
me
in
my bed
,
”
he shrugged.

The smaller man immediately launched into a martial arts move.
He was quick. But not quick enough
,
and it felt good to land a punch square on his surly, kung-fooin
’
chin. It didn
’
t last
too long
though and within a heartbeat, Tupper found himself flipped, twisted and flat on his back looking up at the Cambodian,
whose
arm
was
poised, ready to deliver a nasty killer punch to the face. When it didn
’
t arrive—
Tupper
opened one eye and saw much to his relief, Destiny
was
holding the guy
’
s fist, firmly in her hand.

“
Enough!
”
s
he
ordered
.

“
He started it,
”
Tupper grumbled, pushing the guy away from him so he could get to his feet. He bit back a self-satisfied smile when he saw Destiny turn her disapproving frown onto the
other man
.

“
Both of you knock it off. From here on in
,
we work as a team—it
’
s the only way we stand a chance out there in the jungle.
”
She looked from one to the other before her gaze came
back
to rest on Tupper
and she lowered her voice
.
“
Please.
”

For the briefest of moments, Tupper caught an avalanche of emotion behind her plea. Gone was the cool-eyed control freak and in its place was a wounded, desperate look that cut him to the quick. This was what he
’
d seen that night in his apartment—just before he
’
d blacked out. This was the
real
Destiny—he knew it just
as
certain as he knew his own name.
Awww man.
There was no way he could turn his back on that.

****

Destiny hadn
’
t slept. She couldn
’
t; there was too much on her mind. This was it.
God—so much could go wrong
.
She glanced across the room and saw Johnny tightening the straps on his backpack before straightening up.
Don
’
t start thinking about how good he looks!
She warned herself, before hurriedly looking away.
Focus
.

Ponleu had left two of his men back at the compound to monitor the situation until they got up there with Tupperoni, and so far, everything seemed quiet on that front
. A
t least for now. She had to fight the urge to run in and storm the damn place
. T
his thing was too big and far too volatile not to do things right. There wouldn
’
t be any second chances. If they didn
’
t achieve their objective this time—then everything was over
.

Nothing about this situation had been straightforward. The simplest things had become huge problems and just getting there was one of the biggest. To reach the compound they could only hike in. Driving would only take them a short way into the jungle before the vegetation made it impossible to go any further. The
y
could
n
’
t
get dropped
close enough
by chopper
without people
at the compound knowing about it, so surprise was their only ally at this point.

Surprise
…
and Johnny Tupperoni.

The
humidity
was not something she missed
about this place
. The heat in the jungle was a lot more unpleasant than down in the village and it didn
’
t help that she was carrying supplies and gear on her back
,
either. None of that mattered though—all she needed to do was place one foot in front of the other and keep moving.
It wasn
’
t like she
’
d never been in uncomfortable places before,
she scoffed silently. She just hadn
’
t been in them for
a while
.

The pace was a little more grueling because time was of the essence.
They
need
ed
to make it to a spot
where
they could set up
a
base camp not too far from the compound
in order for
Johnny to get a better look and make
any
last minute changes to how he wanted to do thi
ng
s.

Up ahead, she saw Johnny and the men stop to take some bearings and breathed a sigh of relief. She could use a break. The last twelve months stuck in an office had made her soft.
She
really
needed to get back in the damn gym
.
Destiny
unhooked the canteen from her pack and took a sip. When she glanced back up, Johnny was walking towards her.

“
How you holding up?
”
h
e asked and she could almost hate him right then and there seeing that he had hardly raised a sweat.

“
I
’
ll be fine. Everything on schedule?
”

“
Yes ma
’
am,
”
he answered, somehow making even that one simple acknowledgment sound sexy and suggestive.

Stop that! You
’
re letting him get to you and that
’
s unacceptable! Get your mind on the damn job
!
“
Okay. Good.
”
Destiny reached down for her pack, but Johnny beat her to it, testing the weight with a frown.

“
This is too heavy for you.
”

She put her hands on the straps and tugged it from his grasp.
“
It
’
s fine.
”

“
I can move some of the stuff into mine,
”
he said, moving to swing his pack from his back.

“
No.
It
’
s fine
,
”
she stressed once more, slipping into the straps and shifting the weight into a more comfortable position.
“
Look—thank you for playing the chivalrous male—but I
’
m okay with this. It
’
s not my first time.
”

His frown told her he wasn
’
t impressed.
Well, tough
.
She didn
’
t have ti
me to be the damsel in distress
—she
’
d already done that and asked for help. Well, okay, so
technically
she didn
’
t ask, so much as drug, bound and kidnap…but she
’
d still needed his help and that was as far as she was willing to go to admit
some
things were out of her control. She could carry her damn pack—there was, after all, things a girl just had to do. In front of Ponleu and his men, she needed to stay strong. They
’
d never take her seriously if she played the princess out here
.

“
Let me know if it gets too heavy,
”
he told her stiffly, before turning away.

Sorry buddy—but that will be over my dead body
.
She took
a
deep breath and push
ed
onwards, muttering a silent curse when she
realized
he planned on staying behind her in line for the remainder of the trip.
Fantastic.

Chapter
Five

Trying not to get distracted by the shape of her butt as she walked, Tupper
stumbled
over an exposed root and
almost
fell on his face.
Way to be cool, Tup,
he snarled at himself.
Glad all those years of perfecting a jungle hike had paid off.

She glanced back at him over her shoulder and he almost tripped again. Holy Christ, she was hot…and she didn
’
t even have to try
!
She sent him that quick quirk of an eyebrow in that sassy
little
smartass way
of hers
and he had to bite back a curse.