“You’re awfully prepared,” she said.

“I keep extras for my brothers.” He half smiled. “Never know when we might get stuck somewhere.”

Like right now, huh?

The tents weren’t that small, but— “I can see how you wouldn’t want to share with Bull.”

He snorted, then pointed to her tent. “Set up your shit.”

Leaving the door unzipped, she crawled in, inflated the pad, and laid out her sleeping bag.

Over by the stream, Hawk doused the fire before disappearing into the trees. When he returned, he handed her a small tote bag.

She peeked in to find an unopened travel toothbrush and paste, a bottle of water, several towelettes, and a flashlight. The surge of happiness made her laugh. It really was all about the little things in life. “This is awesome. Thank you.”

“Right. Come.” The half-hidden laughter in his voice was a warning.

He led her to where a strand of yellow flagging marked their dishwashing location. “This area is for cleaning up. Watch.” He showed her how to open a bear-proof container. “Leave your tote bag in the container. Garbage goes in this sack.”

Bear precautions, right. “Got it.”

Hawk patted a pile of clothing. “Wear these. Your clothes’ll go in the helicopter for the night.

“Sure, but…why?”

“Best not to sleep in clothes that were around food.” He pointed to an area farther away with red flagging. “That’s the latrine.”

Easy enough to find. “All right.”

“Clean up. I’ll hear if you yell.”

In other words, he’d be close enough to help, but far enough for privacy. “For a deadly mercenary, you’re awfully thoughtful.”

In the dim twilight, his teeth flashed in a grin. “Mako had rules about women.”

How sexist—and how reassuring.

When he walked away, she hurriedly brushed her teeth, then stripped down and did a thorough job of washing up. The towelettes’ peppermint fragrance sure beat smelling like wood smoke and sweat.

The spare clothes were obviously his. The drawstring on the sweatpants kept them up, but she had to roll the legs up. The soft t-shirt and sweatshirt were huge and still smelled faintly of laundry soap.

After she returned to the tents, Hawk took her dirty clothes to the helicopter.

Standing in front of her tent, Kit wrapped her arms around herself as she looked around. The twilight was fading into black, and the shadowy trees around the clearing were closing in. Anything could be hiding in the darkness.

A shiver ran through her.

Her tent sat right next to Hawk’s and still seemed awfully far away.

“Problem?”

She jumped. Hawk stood in front of her. He’d approached so silently. Did bears walk that quietly? Or cougars? Or…

“Can I sleep with you?” she blurted out.

He chuckled. “I’m less scary than bears?”

Looking down, she shook her head. How cowardly could she get? “Nevermi—”