I knewexactlywhat I wanted, and I frowned at myself. I’d have to force those thoughts from my ridiculous mind.
No mixing business with your personal life, remember? That includes the American sitting behind you.
The wide Land Cruiser sped across a sandy path through the short trees and bush. The CB radio mounted below the dash buzzed with Afrikaans or another language I didn’t know, and Phillip snatched up the receiver, gave a short reply, and returned the receiver to its rest.
“There’s a pride of lionesses hunting a kilometer from here,” the South African said.
The vehicle lurched forward as he stepped on the gas. The landscape changed quickly around us. One minute it was thorny, dense bush, and the next it was open, grassy plain.
“Giraffe,” I said to no one in particular, pointing down the hill as we flew by. The lanky animal stood on its long legs,eating leaves from a treetop, and paid no attention to us.
“And zebra,” Phillip replied, although he pronounced itzeh-bra. “Giraffe and zebra are old friends. You usually see them together.”
I didn’t care what the men thought of my reaction, it was impossible not to be dazzled seeing something I’d only seen behind fences at a zoo. “He’s beautiful.”
“She, actually,” Phillip said. “They are elegant, no?”
“Yes.” Elegant was the perfect word.
We crossed over a dry creek bed, and the Land Cruiser scaled the rocky hill on the other side, leading us to where another vehicle sat, the logo of a different lodge displayed on its side. The vehicles were similar in style, but the back of the other one was full of passengers, all with camera straps slung around their necks.
Phillip pulled alongside the driver and chatted with the burly man, in what sounded like friendly conversation. Then, as we parted, Phillip yelled to the other vehicle’s passengers, “Make sure you ask him why he’s called Gentle Creature!”
The driver gave an embarrassed smile when he pulled away.
“Why is he called that?” I asked.
“Johannes used to be a tracker for us. One day he came into a clearing and startled a rhino bull. The firing pin of his rifle jammed, so he said he had to talk the rhino out of charging him.”
“How’d he do that?”
“Johannes told the rhino that he was a gentle creature and meant it no harm. We can’t let him get by without teasing.” He moved the gearshift. “Hang on, we’re going in.”
I wasn’t quite sure what he meant until the tires turned off the path and into the bush. Then Phillip drove right over a large sapling. I latched on to the bar over the seatback in front of me.
“Everyone down,” the South African warned over the sound of tree limbs snapping beneath the undercarriage.
It was because now he was going under a low-hanging tree with two-inch thorns on it. I flattened myself against the center seat as the thorns dragged and scraped over the hood and continued relatively harmlessly over the shirt on my back. The problem with this was it brought me face to face with Giovanni.
I sat up quickly, but he asked me something. Nathan’s deep voice came from behind.
“He wants to know if you’re all right.”
“Buono, grazie,”I said, nodding. I’d secretly been trying to learn Italian since taking the job but had been flying so much I’d only learned a handful of phrases. Giovanni seemed pleased to hear me speak his language, and now I wished I hadn’t done it.
Then the Cruiser pitched violently to the right on the uneven land and Giovanni was on top of me.
He scrambled to sit up when the vehicle righted, but his hands fumbled over my body, one brushing my breast. It happened so quickly, I didn’t comprehend it until it was over. Nathan had grabbed the back of Giovanni’s shirt and yanked him off me, hurling the Italian back into his own seat.
Giovanni sent a slew of angry words at his employee, who replied indifferently.
I glanced over my shoulder, stunned at this risk he’d just taken. Our boss didn’t like being pushed around.
“He’s sorry,” Nathan said. “He didn’t mean to put his hands on you.”
I blinked. What a total line of bullshit. “He said that, huh?”
His eyes were two black holes, pulling me in, making it difficult to breathe. “No, but he’s less likely to do that again.”
