sorry. You’ve never brought a woman with you?’
‘Not a female doctor, no.’ He uncrossed his arms and straightened. ‘But we can talk more about it later. You must be tired.’
‘A little, but I’m okay. Is there something you want me to do?’
‘Not at the moment. Tiago and Nilson are pretty proprietary about the day-to-day boat chores. If you try to pitch in, they’ll be offended. Let me think …’
He smiled suddenly, his eyes crinkling as he motioned toward one of her bare arms. ‘You could always lie on deck and work on your tan. Try to blend in a little more.’
She laughed, the tension between them defusing. ‘Nice try, Tarzan. With three guys roaming the place? Hardly. Besides, as you can tell by my vampire-like skin tones, the sun and I are sworn enemies. Even if I could tan, baking in this heat doesn’t really appeal to me.’
‘There’s a wall-mounted fan in our … in the bedroom. You can read, then, or relax. Unpack.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘Go over the navigational charts with Nilson.’ He tugged at a chain around his neck and retrieved two keys from beneath his shirt. Unhooking one of them, he held it out. ‘This is to the exam room. You’ll need to put it somewhere safe. The door and medicine cabinets are keyed alike, so it works on both. The crew members can be trusted but, because of the drugs we keep on hand, it’s better not to put temptation in anyone’s way. So you and I will have the only copies.’
Her fingers brushed over his palm as she took the key from him, shivering as she noted the metal was still warm from resting against his skin. When he allowed his own key to slide back beneath his polo shirt, the image of steel pressed against a hard wall of flesh caused her to take a quick step back.
‘Do you have a chain to hang it from?’ Matt’s gaze slid to her chest, and then jerked back to her face.
Had he just pictured the key nestled between her breasts? That would actually be a relief considering her response a few seconds ago. How humiliating would it be for her to nearly swoon over the stupid heat of a key and not have him notice her at all?
She glanced at his face, looking for confirmation.
Nothing. There wasn’t a hint of interest behind those cool blue eyes.
The pendulum swung back toward humiliation. What kind of woman broke off her engagement and immediately started checking out every guy in town? Well, technically she was only checking out one guy in this particular area, but still.
She curled her fingers into her palms, allowing her nails to dig into her skin. ‘I have something in one of my bags. I’ll use that.’
‘I’ll leave you to it, then,’ he said.
At her nod, he turned and walked away, and she couldn’t help but notice the loose-limbed gait, which spoke of easy confidence, or the way his muscles flexed as he gripped the top of the door-jamb and ducked beneath as he headed down the hall.
As soon as the dark recesses of the boat swallowed him completely, she sagged against the railing and held the key to her chest.
What on earth was wrong with her?
Once they reached the first village, she’d be far too busy to think of anything but her patients. At least she hoped so.
Her mouth twisted. She’d forgotten to ask where Matt and the crew lived between trips down the Amazon. Surely they didn’t stay on the ship year round.
And if they did? Could she live aboard this boat … in the same room with Matt … for the next two years?
Oh, boy. She didn’t think so.
Because if she thought he was attractive now, when her instincts were on high alert, what would happen if she let her guard down even a little?
I don’t run.
The words she’d thrown at him swirled around her, calling her a liar. Because if she couldn’t get her silly libido under control, that’s exactly what she was going to do.
Run.
CHAPTER FOUR
Matt awoke to something nudging his side. He opened one eye and squinted sideways, encountering a worn pair of flip-flops.
Tanned skin, calloused feet.
Not the creamy white toes sporting pale pink polish that had driven him from his hammock in the middle of the night. He’d decided it was safer to remain on deck.
‘Why are you sleeping here, Mateus?’
Ah, yes, the question of the century, and one he’d prefer not to answer at the moment.
He shoved back the mosquito netting that was now tangled around him like a shroud and found Tiago, who stood with one hand scrubbing the top of his head, obviously still half-asleep.
‘It’s cooler,’ Matt muttered.
The young man snorted. ‘Really? On the Amazon, it is not cool anywhere.’
He had a point, but Matt chose to ignore it. ‘It’s still dark. Why are you up so early?’
‘I heard a noise on deck and wanted to make sure everything was secure.’
Hmm … that would have been a better answer than his own response. ‘Everything’s fine.’
‘Why do you not just stay in my quarters?’
Because Matt hadn’t been able to resist answering Stevie’s subtle challenge. She was adult enough to stay in a room with someone of the opposite sex, therefore he was determined to do the same. Only it hadn’t worked out quite like he’d hoped.
He sat up and rubbed his hand over his face, trying to erase the image of that smooth white calf and ankle that had appeared over the side of Stevie’s hammock and dangled close enough to give him nightmares of a different sort. And that damned sparkly polish on her toes hadn’t helped. He’d nearly fallen out of bed in his rush to put some distance between them.
He sighed, trying to disguise the sound. ‘Your quarters are cramped enough as it is.’
‘What about the infirmary?’
‘I’m fine.’
Tiago frowned. ‘I know you want to keep the germs out, but you can’t sleep on the hard deck for two weeks. What about your back? I can see it still bothers you.’
That was something Matt didn’t want to talk about either. ‘I’ll survive.’
‘But if you hurt it again, you might have to—’
‘Go back to bed. We’ll figure something else out in the morning.’
The other man tsked, but nodded. ‘I’ll at least hang the netting, so it does not strangle you in the night. Besides, the mosquitoes can feed right through it.’
The thing was so tangled, it probably provided a pretty good barrier, but he got up and helped Tiago suspend the midpoint from some fishing line and tack it to the wooden railing next to his makeshift pallet. Tiago was right, the netting was better this way.
Saying goodnight, Matt watched as the other man trudged back down the dark passageway to his own comfortable hammock, passing the quarters where Stevie was currently sleeping. Was her leg still on decadent display?
Forget it. He scooted beneath the netting and flopped down onto his blanket. That was another thing. He was used to sleeping in the buff and without the benefit of blankets. The additional coverings made him feel claustrophobic and hot. What had Tracy been thinking?
She hadn’t been. That much was obvious.
But would it have bothered him as much if Tracy herself had come and stayed on the boat? If they’d shared a room?