Still, stretching felt good. Thank goodness for all those yoga classes over the years.
“Love this view!” Evan proclaimed from behind her as she pushed up from a prone position into downward dog.
He’d better mean the valley, she thought, willing herself not to drop back to the ground. When she shifted into a new pose, however, she saw he most definitely wasn’t looking at the vista below them. She faltered, but continued with her routine.
He’s just trying to make me nervous. I can’t let it work.
Still, a few minutes later she gave up trying to reclaim the calmness she’d felt at the beginning of her stretching. Evan’s frank perusal of her body sent waves of heat through her until she wobbled in her poses. Best to stop before she keeled over and hurt herself. She joined him at the firepit where a crew member fed her coffee and a breakfast burrito. Mmmm. Maybe today wouldn’t be so bad.
Three hours later, however, she conceded that today would probably turn out to be worse. She, Evan, Jake, and a platoon of camera crewmen and assistants stood on the banks of the Athabasca River while a woman named Jessie outlined basic kayaking safety procedures. When she was done, Jake took over.
“Welcome to day two of Can You Beat a Billionaire . Bella, Evan, I hope you slept well?”
“Like a baby,” Bella said. She thought she was getting the hang of this acting enthusiastic thing.
“Evan, we noticed you were rather restless during the night. Any specific reason for that?”
A muscle in Evan’s jaw twitched. “I like sleeping out under the stars.”
“Without a mattress pad or even a sleeping bag?” Jake widened his eyes theatrically.
“I like roughing it.”
Jake shrugged theatrically, and returned to his spiel. “You’ve already hiked for several hours. Your first challenge this morning involves kayaking. You will need to use strength, skill and accuracy to collect five plastic fish along the kayaking route we’ve made for you on the spectacular Athabasca River. Notice the poles.” He waved at the river behind him where a series of differently colored poles stuck several feet out of the water. “Keep the yellow stripes to your right and the green stripes to your left and you’ll stay on track. If you leave the course you are disqualified. You may not turn around at any time. Put your fish in the nylon pouch attached to your kayak. Each fish is worth one point. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Evan said.
“Yes,” Bella echoed. The river water seemed to be traveling awfully fast, however. How were they to control their kayaks with one hand on the paddle and grab a fish from a basket with the other? This was all too similar to yesterday’s beanbag toss—only worse.
Much worse.
“Evan, you reached the challenge ahead of Bella, so you go first,” Jake said. “Good luck!”
Bella wasn’t sorry Evan was to go ahead of her, even though he’d only beaten her to the river by a few steps. They’d hiked together for the most part, talking little as the day warmed up and they worked the kinks out of their muscles. Too much of her time was spent considering the way he’d furtively squeezed her hand last night under the covers. What had he meant by it? And why had he abandoned the tent halfway through the night? It couldn’t have been comfortable sleeping outside without a sleeping bag.
When he approached the river, Jessie handed Evan a wetsuit and ushered him toward a makeshift changing room the crew had rigged up nearby. A few minutes later, Bella watched him squeeze into the kayak and Jessie snap him in. The woman made him practice rolling the kayak and flipping himself back to vertical several times, and Bella was relieved to see six other men and women joining him in the water in their own kayaks. Apparently there would be plenty of help should something go wrong out on the river.
She bit her lip as Evan fought the current to get away from shore. A guide kayak led him upstream far enough
“Love this view!” Evan proclaimed from behind her as she pushed up from a prone position into downward dog.
He’d better mean the valley, she thought, willing herself not to drop back to the ground. When she shifted into a new pose, however, she saw he most definitely wasn’t looking at the vista below them. She faltered, but continued with her routine.
He’s just trying to make me nervous. I can’t let it work.
Still, a few minutes later she gave up trying to reclaim the calmness she’d felt at the beginning of her stretching. Evan’s frank perusal of her body sent waves of heat through her until she wobbled in her poses. Best to stop before she keeled over and hurt herself. She joined him at the firepit where a crew member fed her coffee and a breakfast burrito. Mmmm. Maybe today wouldn’t be so bad.
Three hours later, however, she conceded that today would probably turn out to be worse. She, Evan, Jake, and a platoon of camera crewmen and assistants stood on the banks of the Athabasca River while a woman named Jessie outlined basic kayaking safety procedures. When she was done, Jake took over.
“Welcome to day two of Can You Beat a Billionaire . Bella, Evan, I hope you slept well?”
“Like a baby,” Bella said. She thought she was getting the hang of this acting enthusiastic thing.
“Evan, we noticed you were rather restless during the night. Any specific reason for that?”
A muscle in Evan’s jaw twitched. “I like sleeping out under the stars.”
“Without a mattress pad or even a sleeping bag?” Jake widened his eyes theatrically.
“I like roughing it.”
Jake shrugged theatrically, and returned to his spiel. “You’ve already hiked for several hours. Your first challenge this morning involves kayaking. You will need to use strength, skill and accuracy to collect five plastic fish along the kayaking route we’ve made for you on the spectacular Athabasca River. Notice the poles.” He waved at the river behind him where a series of differently colored poles stuck several feet out of the water. “Keep the yellow stripes to your right and the green stripes to your left and you’ll stay on track. If you leave the course you are disqualified. You may not turn around at any time. Put your fish in the nylon pouch attached to your kayak. Each fish is worth one point. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Evan said.
“Yes,” Bella echoed. The river water seemed to be traveling awfully fast, however. How were they to control their kayaks with one hand on the paddle and grab a fish from a basket with the other? This was all too similar to yesterday’s beanbag toss—only worse.
Much worse.
“Evan, you reached the challenge ahead of Bella, so you go first,” Jake said. “Good luck!”
Bella wasn’t sorry Evan was to go ahead of her, even though he’d only beaten her to the river by a few steps. They’d hiked together for the most part, talking little as the day warmed up and they worked the kinks out of their muscles. Too much of her time was spent considering the way he’d furtively squeezed her hand last night under the covers. What had he meant by it? And why had he abandoned the tent halfway through the night? It couldn’t have been comfortable sleeping outside without a sleeping bag.
When he approached the river, Jessie handed Evan a wetsuit and ushered him toward a makeshift changing room the crew had rigged up nearby. A few minutes later, Bella watched him squeeze into the kayak and Jessie snap him in. The woman made him practice rolling the kayak and flipping himself back to vertical several times, and Bella was relieved to see six other men and women joining him in the water in their own kayaks. Apparently there would be plenty of help should something go wrong out on the river.
She bit her lip as Evan fought the current to get away from shore. A guide kayak led him upstream far enough
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