The Treasure by Jennifer Lowery Page B

reason, the stubborn man. How could he sum up his life so abruptly? Why did she want to know so badly? Brody made it clear he wasn’t interested in her. But that didn’t stop her heart from aching for him.
    “Will it stop raining soon?” she asked and let the subject drop before he pulled away physically as well as emotionally.
    “Maybe.”
    “We’ll walk from here, right?”
    “Yes.”
    “How long do you think it will take us to get there?”
    “Day and a half without trouble.”
    “And we’re expecting trouble,” she sighed.
    This time Brody sighed. “I’ll handle the trouble. You worry about getting sleep so we can move out when the rain stops.”
    “Right. My bodyguard,” she murmured and settled against him once again. He didn’t protest or push her away so she wrapped an arm around him, laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

Chapter Nine
    Once Amelia fell asleep, Brody gently lifted her off his lap and on to the floor. She shifted, sighed, but didn’t wake up. Grateful, he rubbed a hand over his face. When she started shivering in her sleep, he’d relented and moved her beside him for warmth. She climbed on his lap and wrapped herself around him like a blanket and he let her stay there. Now, her questions had him thinking about things he didn’t want to think about. Things he’d put behind him a long time ago.
    His parents didn’t want him. Why would he seek them out? He had considered them dead his entire life and Amelia Sawyer was not going to make him second-guess that. He had enough problems right now. Adding his past into it would only make things harder. The situation was complicated enough.
    Amelia thought he was a good man. She trusted him. And he was going to betray her if they found
Paraíso
.
    The thought settled uneasily in his gut. He needed a buried treasure to bail him out of a dangerous situation, but part of him hoped it didn’t exist so he wouldn’t have to hurt the pretty redhead sleeping soundly next to him. She risked her life for him when she pulled him out of the plane. She was going after her dream with the same determination he’d seen in Pandora. Amelia thought she was a coward, but her actions showed him differently. Not everyone could do what she did.
    Studying the delicate lines of her profile, Brody groaned.
    Like it or not, it looked like she just might be his type after all.
    A complication he didn’t need.
    • • •
    “Give me your hand.”
    Amelia poked her head out of the plane and the earthly scent of wet rainforest hit her full on. Brody stood in a puddle of murky water a foot away, hand outstretched. His pack was slung over his back, his shirt already damp from the humidity.
    Sunshine filtered through the heavy canopy above, driving up the early morning temperature to an uncomfortable level. It had rained through the night. When Amelia woke this morning, she was lying on the floor. Alone. She didn’t let herself think about what that meant.
    Thick air entered her lungs. Putting her hand in Brody’s, she let him help her out of the plane. Her boots splashed in water, though she tried to jump over the puddle.
    “Don’t bother,” Brody said. “The entire jungle floor is saturated.”
    She hitched her bags higher on her shoulder and let go of his hand so she could pull out her map. Turning it right side up, she studied it, searching for their location. After a few moments Brody spoke.
    “Need help?”
    “No, I just need my compass.” She wasn’t about to ask him for help. He’d never let her live it down if she couldn’t read the map. Besides, she wanted to do this on her own.
    She dug in her bag and found her compass, then turned until she faced north. Then she looked at the map again. Now what? So she knew which direction was north. It didn’t help her pinpoint her location on the map. What she needed was a GPS. But getting a signal out here would be impossible.
    “We’re here,” Brody said, pointing a finger on the map.
    “I