Morgan's Wife by Lindsay McKenna

foot on the ground beside her, she slowly stood. "On myself and other members of my team. Sprains are pretty common in our business."
    Jim held her narrowed gaze. He was seeing the professional side of Pepper now, and he admired her coolness and common sense. "If I'd worn that ankle brace as you suggested, I might not have a sprain right now," he groused.
    Pepper realized what it took Jim to admit his mistake and was grateful he'd abandoned his combative attitude. "It's a learning curve," she offered hoarsely, not wanting him to feel any worse than he did already. She wasn't one to rub salt in anyone's wounds. Good leaders didn't berate their people. Instead, she would try to support his decision to wear it next time. "I'm going back up the hill for my pack. I've got a first-aid kit with me. Just lie still" was all she said.
    Jim lay back on the rough ground, feeling pretty damn humbled by Pepper and her forgiving attitude. She had every right to nail him with the fact that he'd not only refused to wear the joint and ankle braces but had openly challenged her idea. Angrily, he rubbed his face. What was the matter with him? He didn't normally act like such a jerk. Never with anyone under his command in a military situation. And why had he reached out and grabbed her? Held her in a hot, powerful embrace that had driven him to the edge of his control? He'd come so close to molding her parted, tear-stained lips against his mouth. So close. What the hell was happening to him? Looking up, he scowled at the horizon. The sun was rising, the sky turning a pale, translucent pink and yellow.
    Pepper, he decided, was her own woman—and he wasn't used to dealing with a woman with such a high confidence level. He had some thinking to do about women, he conceded. He was just beginning to grasp the full weight of their potential. Pepper was a role model, a stunning example of what could be. Perhaps that was what made her different in his eyes, and explained his unexpected attraction to her. He had no direct experience with a woman like her—at once feminine and vulnerable, yet shored up by an incredible confidence that radiated from deep within her, translating into every action she took or decision she made.
    Jim knew men like that. Hell, he was like that himself. A sour smile pulled at his mouth as he made the realization. If Pepper had been a man, he would never have questioned her experience. And he would have instantly reached out for help as he plummeted from the sky. With a shake of his head, he decided that once they got out of this mess and back to Perseus , he needed to sit down and have a long talk with her. First he would apologize for being such a jerk, as well as for his intimate behavior toward her, which was completely out of line—as sexist in its own way as his initial lack of trust had been.
    Touching his ankle, which had quickly swollen to the size of a ripe cantaloupe, he wondered how he would be able to make the jump two days from now. He'd screwed himself up by rejecting Pepper's advice. Damn. He had a lot of ground to cover with her on their return to civilization.
    "We're in luck," Pepper said as she approached Jim. She held out two small kits. "I not only brought my first-aid kit, but I packed my homeopathic kit, too." She saw him look up, felt his green gaze lock onto hers. For a moment she was speechless. The undiluted warmth in his eyes caught her off guard again. Slowly kneeling at his left side, Pepper fumbled with the first-aid kit, even as she fought the clamoring desire still burning within her. Heat stabbed at her cheeks, and she knew she was blushing.
    "I'm in luck you were along," Jim stated. He saw Pepper's face flame red. The blush made her even more becoming, if that was possible. Her fingers worked the lock on the kit, as an ache built inside Jim's chest, and he fought another totally inappropriate urge to reach out and kiss her. The slightly curled length of her hair, now in disarray from the