Read Online Seven Nights with Her Ex by Louisa Heaton - Free Book Online Page A

asked him a question.
    He looks weary.
    She wasn’t used to seeing him look worn down. He’d always looked sprightly. Ready for anything. Raring to go.
    Had today done that to him? Had she ? She didn’t like how that made her feel, how uncomfortable she suddenly was, and her stomach squirmed at the notion.
    Perhaps there was more to this situation between them? Something she’d not been aware of because she’d never thought to look for it. Was it something obvious? Was it staring her in the face? Like the stars—always there, but not always seen?
    Was I so wrapped up in the wedding that I forgot to focus on us?
    Beau threw her stick into the fire and watched as it got swallowed up by the flames. She knew with certainty now that this week was going to be one hell of a learning experience.
    And not the kind that she’d been expecting.
    * * *
    Beau had spent an uncomfortable night in her tent. Before the trip she’d bought a decent one, and a groundsheet, a sleeping mat and a sleeping bag, and had thought that would be enough for her to get a decent night’s sleep. But the ground had been hard and unforgiving and she’d tossed and turned, worrying about being away from her patients, being here with Gray—not to mention the possibilities of insect invasion—before she’d finally fallen into a broken sleep at about five o’clock in the morning.
    Unfortunately Mack had woken them all up around seven by banging a tin bowl with a rock right by the entrance to her shelter, and she’d woken blearily, feeling as if her body was bruised all over.
    â€˜Okay, okay...I’m awake,’ she’d moaned, rubbing her eyes and blinking thoroughly until they seemed to operate correctly.
    Now she sat up, stretching out her back muscles and rolling her stiff shoulders and noting, with some small satisfaction, that her tent had not filled with ants overnight. Perhaps it’s safe to sleep on the ground after all? Then she pulled herself from her sleeping bag, put on a fresh set of underwear, the clothes she’d worn yesterday, and put her hair up into a ponytail and unzipped her tent.
    â€˜Morning, Beau.’
    Gray was already up, looking freshly groomed, his eyes bright and sparkly.
    She groaned. Used to her normal schedule, Beau was not a morning person. She needed a good-sized mug of coffee, a Danish pastry and a blast of loud music in her car to wake her properly before she got to the hospital, and she guessed she wouldn’t get that here.
    She peered gloomily at the pot that Barb was in charge of. ‘What’s for breakfast?’
    â€˜Oatmeal.’
    â€˜Porridge? Great,’ she replied without enthusiasm.
    It wasn’t exactly a buttery, flaky pastry delight, but never mind. It would have to do. She warmed her hands over the fire and then ducked back into her tent to grab her toothbrush and toothpaste. She stood and cleaned her teeth and rinsed her toothbrush with the last of her bottled water.
    â€˜I’ve got a pot of boiled water cooling down already,’ Barb said when she returned. ‘Have you got your purifying tablets?’
    â€˜I’ve got a filter.’
    â€˜Brilliant.’
    Beau was quite pleased with her state-of-the-art filter. It meant that she could collect water from any source, pour it through, and all protozoa and bacteria would be removed, including giardia and cryptosporidium, the two biggest causes of infection in water. It saved having to boil water and wait for it to cool before it could be put into containers. It had been one of her new purchases, thoroughly researched and tested, and she’d even looked up reviews from previous customers to make sure it was the best for the job.
    After she’d put her toiletries away, she stretched her back once again and took in the view. Now that she was more awake, she could appreciate where they were. High up on a mountainside, on a grassy plateau, surrounded by