She hesitated for more than a moment. “What if I fall in love with you?”
Her words were a direct hit to his gut and if he wasn’t sitting, he’d have fallen over from the sharp impact.
“You told me you would never love again.”
“You said that I might not love the same way but love was still possible,” she reminded him.
“I also said that fate would have the deciding hand in it.”
“My fate has been sealed,” she said sadly.
“If you are so certain, then why worry about falling in love with me?”
Her blue eyes glazed over with tears he was certain she would not shed. Her slight cough to clear her throat confirmed for him her battle to contain them.
“Because…” She hesitated and looked away from Burke. “Because if I did fall in love with you, I fear the pain of bidding you farewell when all of this is over.”
Chapter 25
Storm pushed away from Burke and fought back the tears that threatened to ravish her. She would not cry in front of this man. Tears only served to demonstrate weakness, and she didn’t intend to have Burke see her as weak.
Burke leaned forward and took hold of her shoulders, turning her to face him. “If we should, by chance, by fate, fall in love, why do you think I would ever bid farewell to you?”
“What choice would you have?” she asked bravely and maybe with an ounce of hope. Would he possibly consider remaining in Scotland and making his home there with her?
“I want to take you home to America with me where you’d be safe.”
Hope vanished in a flash and she made herself clear once again. “I will never leave Scotland.”
“You are an outlaw here with no hope of a normal life.”
“Exactly,” she said, his words confirming her future.
“In America you wouldn’t be an outlaw. You’d be a free woman with no fear of being hunted, imprisoned, and executed.”
“You forgot torture,” she reminded caustically.
“No, I didn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to even consider such a heinous fate for you. However, it would be all the more reason for you to leave Scotland and make a new home in America.”
“My home is and always will be Scotland.” She didn’t bother to suggest he remain in Scotland with her. He would just continue to argue that America offered her freedom. If she chose to have an interlude with him, she would have no choice but to keep her heart out of it. Could she do that? Of late, it was a question that haunted her.
He cupped her face in his hands. “When you love, home is where that love resides.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“It is. America is a safer place for you, and therefore the wisest choice.”
Reluctantly she pulled away from him, his hands falling away from her face. “The wisest choice would be for me not to fall in love with you.”
“Love, my dear stubborn Storm, is not left to us mere mortals.”
“We shall see about that,” she challenged.
Burke grinned. “I wouldn’t tempt fate if I were you. It’s my experience that fate is always the victor.”
Storm didn’t respond. She simply resumed her position against the rock, Burke joining her. Without preamble he took her in his arms once again. She didn’t object. She settled against him as before, comfortable in his embrace.
Only this time she silently warned herself repeatedly that their time together would be brief and he soon would be out of her life forever. She intended to prepare herself for the inevitable, burn it into her heart and soul so that she wouldn’t feel the pain of his farewell.
