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“You like fresh fruit?” Kate asked.
“Love it. I should probably wait until dinner anyway.” I knew I looked disappointed because Kate took my hand and pulled me away from the table with a look of determination.
“I’ll find you something,” she said as if she were making a vow.
We walked out into the jungle away from camp, and she looked off into the trees. “Are you trying to find me a coconut?” I asked with a chuckle. “Because really, you don’t have to.”
She gave me a sideways look. “Coconuts do not grow here. I mean, there might be some planted by settlers near the cities, and I’m pretty sure they might be found in some markets in the cities, but you won’t find coconuts in the wild here.”
I felt kind of silly, but then, she was the expert, not me. “Oh, so what then? Bananas?”
“I’m not looking for bananas, but I might stumble across some.” She walked over to a large tree that had been taken over by a vine. “Here. This is what I am looking for.” There on the vine were dark, oval-shaped fruits. “Avocados?”
“No, passion fruit. Have you ever had it?”
“I’ve heard of it, but no. Is it good?”
“It’s delicious.” She took a knife from her cargo pants and opened it up to cut the fruit from the vine.
I didn’t know what impressed me more, her carrying a knife or the fact that she’d just foraged for fruit.
She cut the thing in half and handed me a piece. “Here, try it. It’s even better than Mrs. Pramell’s apples back home.”
I couldn’t believe she remembered that. We had stolen the old woman’s apples from her orchard and eaten so many we both had belly aches by the time we walked home.
“I can’t believe we did that.” I couldn’t believe she remembered.
“Try it,” she said again, egging me on.
The fruit had a gelatinous pulp inside with the seeds, and I bit into it carefully as the flavor exploded in my mouth. “Wow. That’s good.”
“Does it cure your sweet tooth?” She bit into her half, the juice spilling down her chin, and she looked so sexy, I just couldn’t help myself.
I moved to kiss her fast, putting her against the tree. Her arms went around my neck, and she hitched one leg up around my waist.
I wanted to fuck her right then and there, to take her hard and fast, just as feverishly as she kissed me, but then, I heard Ben’s bullhorn sound.
It was time to go back to work.
I looked into her eyes, regretful to pull away. “We’ll have to finish this later,” I said, taking another bite as I walked away.
“There’s a whole lot more where that came from,” she said, standing in front of the loaded vine.
“Oh, I wasn’t talking about the fruit,” I said.
She gave me a sly look. “Neither was I.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kate
I had such a good time with Jake that I had almost forgotten about my interview, but as I lined up the next shot, watching Jake prepare to spring into action at Ben’s command, Arthur approached.
“Ms. Bridges, I’d like to speak with you now if you are ready?”
“Of course,” I said.
“I thought we could sit in the dining cabin. It’s nice and quiet there right now.”
“Yeah, I’m sure Roxie would give us some privacy. She’s probably not preparing for dinner just yet.” It hadn’t been too long ago that she had set up snacks.
“Right,” he said with a sniff. “I’ll let you lead the way.”
“Of course,” I said. I took one last glance at Jake and the others as they prepared for the scene, and then I led Arthur to the dining area. “Would you like something from the snack bar?” I asked. “Roxie put out a lot of stuff a bit ago.”
“No, it’s okay. The only thing I’m hungry for is information.” He gave a jolly laugh that seemed a bit ingenuine.
I didn’t let it put me off. Instead, I gave him a big smile and waited for the first question.
Arthur poised his pen and looked me in the eye. “Tell me a bit about yourself, Kate. How does a beautiful woman like you find yourself in a place like this? And an expert, no less.”
“Well, it’s because I’m an expert on the Amazon that I was sent. I studied anthropology at the University of Wisconsin, and after getting my degree, I did a local study here in the rainforest with a group of my peers. Then I was fortunate to teach for two years. Then, I was put in touch with Ben Malcolm through UCLA, for whom I had just returned from another Amazonian study. Ben hired me to come out here and work for his film as a consultant.”
“So, what does a consultant do exactly?” he asked, his pen never touching his paper.
