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She waited for an apology, but it never came. If his body hadn’t been so tense, she might have thought he’d fallen asleep.
Finally he broke the silence by asking, “What is your father going to think when he’s notified about the crash?”
“Oh, my God!” Reflexively, she clutched Cooper’s hand where it still rested against her stomach. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
She could imagine her father’s despair when he heard the news. He’d lost his wife. Then his son. Now his daughter. He would be disconsolate. Rusty couldn’t bear to think of the suffering he would go through, the hell of uncertainty, of not knowing what had happened to her. Hopefully, as much for her father’s sake as her own, they would be rescued soon.
“The guy looked like a real mover and shaker to me,” Cooper said. “He’ll ride the authorities until we’re found.”
“You’re right. Father won’t give up until he knows what happened to me.”
Rusty was certain of that. Her father was a powerful man. He was dynamic and had both the talent and the means to get things done. His reputation and money could cut through miles of red tape. Knowing that he’d leave no stone unturned until she was rescued gave her an optimistic thread to cling to.
She was also surprised to discover that Cooper hadn’t been as withdrawn and impervious as he had appeared to be. Before they boarded the plane, he had kept to himself. He hadn’t mingled with the other passengers. But he’d noticed everything. Apparently her companion was an observant student of human nature.
Nature was having its way with him right now. While she’d been talking, Rusty became nervously aware of his sex snuggled solidly against her bottom. She blurted, “Are you married?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“No.”
“Involved?”
“Look, I get my share of sex, okay? And I know why you’re suddenly so curious. Believe me, I feel it too. But I can’t do anything to help it. Well, actually I can, but as we discussed earlier, that isn’t a very workable solution under the circumstances. The alternatives that come readily to mind would embarrass us both I’m afraid.”
Rusty’s cheeks grew hot and rosy. “I wish you wouldn’t.”
“What?”
“Talk like that.”
“How?”
“You know. Dirty.”
“You just left a big game hunting lodge. Didn’t you intercept a few dirty jokes? Overhear some lewd comments? I thought you’d be used to bawdy language by now.”
“Well, I’m not. And for your information, I went on that hunting trip for my father’s sake. I didn’t particularly enjoy myself.”
“He forced you to go?”
“Of course not.”
“Coerced you to? In exchange for that fur coat, maybe?”
“No,” she grated with irritation. “The trip was my idea. I suggested that we take it together.”
“And you randomly chose the Northwest Territories? Why not Hawaii? Or St. Moritz? I can think of a thousand other places on the globe where you would have fit in better.”
Her sigh was an admission that he had her correctly pegged. On a big game hunt she was as out of place as a rusty nail in an operating room. “My father and brother always went hunting together. Four weeks every year. It was a family tradition.” Filled with remorse, she closed her eyes. “Father hadn’t been hunting since Jeff was killed. I thought the trip would be good for him. I insisted that he go. When he hesitated, I offered to go with him.”
She expected murmurs of sympathy and understanding—perhaps even whispered praise for her unselfish and noble gesture. Instead all she heard from him was a grumpy “Be quiet, will you? I’m trying to get some sleep.”
“Stop it, Rusty.”
Her brother’s voice echoed through her dream. They were wrestling, as only brothers and sisters who either hate each other intensely or love each other intensely can. With Jeff and her, the latter had been true. They were barely a year apart in age. From the time Rusty took her first steps, they had been bosom buddies and playmates. Much to their father’s delight and their mother’s aggravation, they had often engaged in rowdy hand-to-hand combat and always came up laughing.
