Page 69 of Just My Luck

“Who’s this?” Robert asked, looking her way.

Lincoln introduced her. “This is my friend Zara. I don’t know exactly how, but she got dragged into my mess.”

“Which is ironic, since generally I’m the messy one.” Zara’s light comment made everyone smile.

“I always thought Lincoln needed a little messing up.” A slender silver-haired woman strolled over to join them. The harvesting bag slung over her shoulder was filled with plant samples. She looked as if she’d just returned from a muddy walk.

“Sasha!” Lincoln flung open his arms, and the two hugged each other for so long Zara felt jealousy tighten her chest. She despised the whole concept of jealousy, so the feeling shocked her a bit. Her philosophy had always been that if a guy wanted someone else, they should just go, and she would move on.

Was she actually getting attached to Lincoln? What a tremendously bad idea.

“Sasha saved my life,” Lincoln told Zara when their endless hug was finally over. “She’s the doctor here.”

“I did nothing, nature did it all.” Sasha beamed her smile at Zara. “Aren’t you a stunner.”

Zara changed her mind and decided that she quite liked Sasha, after all, especially now that Lincoln was back at her side, putting an arm around her shoulders.

“I really need to talk to Rory,” he told the group. “I promise I mean him no harm.”

“Hey, man.” They all turned to see a tall man with an odd resemblance to Lincoln himself saunter toward them. Zara looked from one to the other, noting differences and similarities. They both had dark hair and a lean build, but Lincoln’s eyes were a deeper green and the lines of his face were more stark. They both showed the influence of an Asian parent. And then there were the intangibles. Rory was just as good-looking as Lincoln, with an easy charm, but he didn’t call to her heart, or body for that matter, the way Lincoln did.

Chemistry was such a mystery. But then again, so was most of the universe.

The two men shook hands, both a bit wary. “I’m not here to make any trouble for you,” Lincoln said quickly. “I’m here to help.”

“Do I need help?” Rory asked dryly. “News to me.” He slung his arm around Mathilda’s shoulders and she nestled against him. They were adorable together, thought Zara. An aura of contentment surrounded them.

“You do. Some people are on their way here. You need to get out. I’m also hoping,” Lincoln eyed the others, “that we can talk privately.”

“Not without Mathilda,” Rory said promptly.

“Fine.”

“Or me,” Zara interjected. She waved at Rory. “Hi, I’m Zara, just a random concierge slash wannabe-lawyer slash fake-wealthy divorcée slash always-up-for-an-adventure tagalong.”

“She’s a lot more than that,” Lincoln said, laughing at Rory’s confounded expression.

Mathilda burst out with a deep belly laugh. “Lincoln, I swear I didn’t know you had it in you. Zara, I adore you already. Come on, let’s go to my tent so we can talk in private.” She turned to address the others. “Spread the word that we need to evacuate the camp tonight.”

Everyone else scattered, and Rory and Mathilda led the way to a wooden platform at the farthest edge of the encampment.

“Where will everyone go?” Zara asked.

“We have an emergency backup plan for situations like this. Ever since Lincoln last graced us with his presence, we decided we needed one.” Mathilda unzipped a mosquito screen and ushered them into the large tent set up under the white canopy.

The tent would have been stuffy without the screened window flaps, which were open. As an added layer of protection, a mosquito net attached to a hook in the canopy was tucked around the queen-sized bed. A bright green gecko clung to the filmy netting.

A simple desk made from two sawhorses and a piece of plywood sat in one corner. On it, a laptop stood open, along with a mobile Wi-Fi device.

“You’ve upgraded, I see,” said Lincoln. “You have internet now?”

“Believe me, it’s controversial.” Rory offered up a wry smile. “But I needed it. They held a group meeting and eventually gave the go-ahead. It’s probationary, but already Bjorn and Cody have dropped in for super-secret research requests.”

“Everyone here is a scientist,” Mathilda told Zara, as she set down her backpack. “This camp is kind of a base for all kinds of field work, which doesn’t usually require the internet. But once it’s here, why not use it when you need to?”

Scientists. Zara felt new respect for the motley crew of folks she’d seen so far.

“How much time do we have?” Rory asked Lincoln, getting down to business.