“I don’t plan on getting myself shot any time soon, so you can cut out the scare tactic crap.”
She stuck out her chin, but not before he saw the minute ripple that went through her when he’d mentioned Jack. And Robert knew he’d struck the nerve he’d been aiming for. He hadn’t enjoyed seeing her go pale. But he damn sure wasn’t sorry for making her think twice about what she was doing. And he’d be damned if he was going to keep his mouth shut and play nice while she walked into the sunset with a madman.
“You may be a good journalist, but you don’t have the training for something like this, Lily.”
He saw the walls go up in her eyes. He’d seen that look a hundred times in the months he’d known her, and he knew she was shutting him out. Damn her for being so stubborn.
“I’m not going to change my mind,” she said.
“I’m not going to condone a suicide mission.”
The low rumble of thunder punctuated the words with an ominous finality that raised gooseflesh on his arms.
Shaking her head in impatience, she rose. “It’s late. I need to get some sleep.”
Robert knew it wasn’t a good idea to touch her. Not when he was angry and frustrated and still reeling from the shock of seeing her alive. But he crossed the short distance between them anyway. Her eyes widened when he stepped into her personal space, but her surprise wasn’t enough to stop him. “We’re not finished talking about this,” he said.
“You know I won’t change my mind.”
“And you know I won’t give up.”
“Touché.”
“We’re going to talk about the other thing, too, Lily.”
She paled a little, then stepped back as if suddenly realizing she needed to put space between herself and something dangerous. “I can’t talk about that,” she said.
“I can’t ignore it.”
“You don’t know everything, Robert. Don’t push.”
He tried to bank the swift rise of anger, but it was much too powerful and slammed into him like a rogue wave. He glared at her, feeling more than he wanted, remembering more than he should, wanting something he knew he could never have. “You’re brave enough to face off with DeBruzkya, but when it comes to us you turn tail and run.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she returned evenly.
“I deserve an explanation.”
She hesitated for an interminable moment, her eyes large and startled. He waited for an answer, but he knew it wouldn’t come. She wasn’t going to talk to him. Not now. Maybe not ever. Still, he waited. For what, he hadn’t the slightest idea. She stared, and he knew she was waiting for the same elusive thing.
“I have to go check on Jack.” She turned away, but stopped halfway to the hall, her head tilted slightly toward him, her back ramrod straight.
Even in profile she was lovely. It unnerved him a little to realize that after all the months of pain he was still attracted to her.
Robert couldn’t take his eyes off her and cursed himself for letting what should have been a quick and painless briefing turn into something a hell of a lot more personal. He’d only been in the cottage an hour and already she was messing with his head, making him remember things he was better off forgetting, making him want things he was a fool for considering.
But he was only a man. A man who’d been alone for a long time. And so he drank in the sight of her silky red hair and slender shoulders and felt the heady pull of lust. He studied the fragile lines of her profile, the mouth that had lied to him so easily, the same mouth that could drive him insane with need.
Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, revealing the delicate line of her jaw. There was worry in her eyes, but those amazing hazel eyes could still suck the breath right out of a man’s lungs, even if there was an ocean of anger standing between them.
Abruptly, she turned to face him. Their eyes met, her hazel clashing against the blue of his. Robert felt the impact like a fighter jet flying low and plowing into him at Mach 1. The back of his neck heated when she licked her lips, and he felt another stir of lust low in his groin. He tried hard not to remember how many times he’d kissed that mouth, how many times she’d kissed him back, how good every single one of those kisses had been. But he did and his body responded with a vengeance that stunned him.
Cursing himself for letting the moment stretch, he stepped back. “I’m going to turn in,” he said woodenly and started for the little room off the kitchen.
He heard her moving behind him, but he didn’t stop. The last thing he wanted was close proximity. Damn it, the last thing he wanted to do was spend the next few days lusting after a woman who’d made her feelings for him crystal clear. A woman who’d shattered his heart and then moved on to another man before the wounds she’d left behind had even had a chance to scab over.
The tiny room was in dismal condition, but clean. Robert was still searching for the light switch when Lily came in with a candle.