Lost & Wild: A Joshua Brown Story

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 -

When Bam heard the voices of Harper and Matt fade away towards the back of the boat, he set his jaw, shaking his head. The brothers had made an agreement to not be flirty with Harper. None of them wanted to be throwing the others under the bus over a girl. He had been skeptical from the start though, knowing full well his brothers were all eager to find a girl of their own. Hell even he was ready to find someone to bring home and settle down with. But this girl, while he found her attractive and had enjoyed talking to her at their first meetup in Seattle, was probably not the one for him. Following basic instructions seemed to be too much of a challenge and let's face it, he was too much of a hot head to try and be too patient with anyone.

He sighed as he thought back to a few moments ago. All of the Jameses were from the lower 48, smack in the middle of the country in a land locked state. She'd probably never even been on a boat like The Integrity - and being on a boat like this repeatedly was about the only way to really know what you were doing. He hadn't taken any time to at least explain simple basics, like 'port', 'starboard', 'deadheads'...none of that. He hadn't mentioned how sensitive the rudder was. He had been too impatient to get on the water, too proud of his skills thinking that he could manage it all even with her inexperience, he'd been too eager to try and make a good first impression with her.

Who was he kidding? He hadn't stop thinking about her since the first time they met in Seattle for the pretrip interviews. Each cousin had been randomly matched up with a Brown family member. Harper had interviewed alongside both Billy and Matt. Bam had skulked around on the set, not really knowing why, until he saw Harper and Matt sitting next to each other while being filmed. He now realized he had been jealous. When he'd seen her again on the dock, hearing her laugh, seeing her goof around with her cousin's in the mud, he'd gotten really excited at the thought of her being around.

The truth was, he was slightly intimidated by Harper. She was a pretty independent chick. She seemed to be more or less the 'leader' of her group. She was very outspoken, she cussed, she made dirty jokes. She was always outside and off having adventures when most women he knew were the ones that stayed home and took care of the homestead and did the more menial chores. Not that those jobs were in anyway less important. He had a lot of respect for the women out here in the busy that took on those jobs. He doubted if that was a day to day that Harper could maintain. He didn't know if 'settling down' was something she was capable. She seemed so in-control, so alpha. That he wasn't sure he liked. He wanted to be the alpha, he wanted the control. And the prospect of taming her was exciting him, more than he wanted to admit.

He didn't want any part of a competition though, and it appeared Matt was already working himself into her line of vision. Bam loved Matt, they were brothers after all, but they so rarely saw eye to eye. And they could hardly be more different. So far Harper hadn't seemed to favor any of them more than the other, but if she was more inclined to Matt's personality, Bam didn't see how he would stand a chance.

Below deck, Matt continued to lead Harper along the narrow dim path towards the din of voices. He tried not to grin too much, but he was liking the feeling of his bush worn fingers intertwined with the smooth, soft skin of her hands. He stopped short in the hallway next to a door. He could see the camera crew with their backs to him up ahead.

"Hey, wanna see the engine room?" He whispered, turning to face her. She shrugged, looking the door up and down.

"Sure, why not?" She said, releasing his hand so he could open and unlatch the door. He regretted suggesting something where he had to let her hand go, but smiled again and he ducked into the engine room and felt her palms against his back. He let her steady herself against him as she too stepped into the cramped room. She was in awe that this many pipes, wires, and engine components could fit into this space. She followed the length of the pipes all around the room and refocused on Matt when she felt him touch her shoulder. She looked from her shoulder to Matt, cocking an eyebrown.