Dex grabbed the notebook and tossed it on the ground. “I get that you’re a teacher’s pet, but focus on my voice.”
She frowned but did as he said. For some reason, showing him that she could complete this little mission of wilderness training was important. If only to shove it in his smug, way too handsome face later. Man, if she could get a man like Dex’s respect, that would be the icing on this cake of crap she’d been dealing with.
“Look around you,” he said. “What could you use as a tool?”
“Well…” She glanced around, and then her eyes landed back on him. “I see a giant tool standing in front of me.”
His chin dropped, and his folded arms squeezed together tighter. “Cute. Too bad this tool won’t help you survive tonight Miss I-can-handle-the-wilderness-in-my-sweater-set.”
“It’s not a set. It’s a cardigan,” she snapped back. “And maybe if you stop being so grouchy and actually teach me something, we could be better friends.”
He scoffed. “I’m not looking to be your friend, princess. My job is to make sure you can keep yourself alive if you ever did find yourself in a situation like this.”
That admission hit home. He was trying to help her. Teach her something. Clearly he was capable at what he did. Likely good at it. She wondered how many people he’d saved in the past.
“Forgive me,” she said, apologizing for her earlier comment. “I’m ready to learn.”
He looked at her, like he was half in disbelief, then his shoulders relaxed a touch. When he spoke again, his voice was less gruff.
“Find me a tool you could use and explain how it would help you in the situation you’re in right now.”
She looked around quickly, then bent down and picked up a little stick and held it out with pride.
“This could be the start of a shelter,” she said. “Or maybe I could—” she stabbed the air “—defend myself against an animal or something with it?”
He pursed his sinfully sexy and full lips together. And without warning, he snatched the stick and broke it in half.
“That’s not stable enough for shelter or as a weapon. You couldn’t fight off a butterfly, much less an animal.”
Okay, that got her anger rising again.
“Then this,” she declared, picking up some foliage. “If you mix it with some mud or water, then you can make a clay substance and build a shelter.”
He patted the underside of her hand, causing her to drop the grassy muck. “Water is precious out here. You need it to drink. You don’t know when you’ll be found or how long you’ll be lost. Don’t waste a drop.”
She glared at him. He was being hard on her on purpose, and she’d had just about enough.
“Now,” he said sternly. “What tool could you use to really help your situation right now?” he repeated.
And then it hit her.
He was a tool, and she could use him.
She could also take the opportunity to check off one thing from her sexy list.
She grabbed the back of his neck, tugged him down, and planted her lips on his. He was tense, obviously shocked, and so was she. She never would have thought she could be so brazen. But “kissing a stranger” was on her docket of things to do. So she stood there. Clutching him and keeping her mouth right against his until…
He opened and traced his tongue against the seam of her lips. With a smile, she opened for him as well, and that was all the cue he seemed to need. Because he wrapped both strong arms around her, grabbing her ass and dragging her into his hard body, kissing her like he was the only air she’d get tonight.
Her whole body felt on fire, and every touch he gave made her even hotter.
She threaded her fingers through his hair, pulling a little, just enough to get out some of the aggression that had built in her. When he danced his tongue against hers, she took the kiss farther and plunged hard into his mouth until their teeth clanged, and she gasped.
The man could kiss.
Hot, wild, and just a little dirty.
Like he was.
Like this whole situation was.
And it was exactly what she’d been looking for.
When he sucked the tip of her tongue, then pulled her bottom lip between his two, she saw stars.
Focus…
Reluctantly, she pulled back, and both of them seemed a little unsteady.
“There,” she said breathlessly. “I used the tools I had to shut you up, which makes my situation better.” She glanced down at the impressive rod tenting his pants. “And it would appear I improved your situation, too.”
She bent down, picked up her notebook, flipped to the sexy list, and crossed off, “Kiss a stranger.”
She popped the notebook shut, put it back in her bag, and smiled. When G.I. Joe realized what she’d just pulled, he didn’t look happy, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d made their situation better, worse, or complicated.
Either way, she wasn’t feeling cold anymore.
Chapter Three