“You didn’t contact anyone?”
She shook her head. “I was going to send my mom an e-mail, but I remembered what you’d said.”
He was biting his tongue. She knew he must have a sarcastic reply to that. But nothing. What was wrong with him? “I know you’re pissed. You don’t need to hold back. Your no-sugarcoating special way with words is one of the things I love—”
She stopped with a sudden gasp, realizing what she’d been about to say. Love. One of the things I love about you. Which wouldn’t have been a big deal if she just hadn’t made it a big deal. Now the half-spoken word just sat there between them like a pink elephant—huge, awkward, and impossible to ignore.
His expression hadn’t changed, but she wasn’t as good as he was at hiding his emotions. She could feel the heat burning in her cheeks.
The silent pause that followed extended the cringe-worthymoment. She rushed to cover up the gaffe, but only made it worse. “You know what I meant,” she babbled. “It’s an expression. Of course I’m not...”
She stopped again, gazing up at him helplessly.
Ground. Hole. Swallow. Now.Please...
The steadiness of his gaze as he stared at her only seemed to make it worse. “I know what you meant, Annie.”
Did he? She wasn’t sure.Shewasn’t sure what she meant. Her feelings for him were unsorted. But strong. Far stronger than they should be, given what she knew—and didn’t know—about him.
“What were you looking up on the Internet?”
She would have been relieved by the change of subject, but she suspected he wasn’t going to like this any better than the e-mail. “Your tattoo.”
He was good at the stone-faced no reaction, but she was watching him close enough to see the slight tic and whitening of his mouth. “Why?”
“I thought it might be some kind of Special Forces insignia.”
He looked around to make sure no one in the café had heard her. But she’d picked a table in the corner overlooking the window for that reason. “Why in the hell would you do that? I told you what it was.”
“You did. But you know what’s interesting? The SEAL trident is referred to as a Budweiser. Apparently they look alike.”
If she thought he was mad and controlling it before, it was nothing like now. He was positively apoplectic. She was glad they were in a public place.
But far worse than the anger was the iron curtain that dropped down to replace it. The wintry blue of his eyes made her feel as if she’d just landed in Siberia. Brr. Whatever connection she’d felt between them was cut in two. He couldn’t have cut her off any more clearly than if he’d walked away and never looked back. She had a feeling that was exactly what he wanted to do.
He stood, and her heart shot to her throat.
“Wait. I’m sorry. Don’t—”
“We should get going.”
She heaved a heavy sigh of relief. He wasn’t leaving her. At least for now. But it was clear she’d stepped over some kind of invisible line, and he wasn’t in any kind of mood to talk about it.
Not that now was the right time for talking. She sensed the change that came over him as soon as they left the café. Watchful didn’t quite cover it. He was on guard. Highly tuned. Ready.
If she hadn’t guessed he was military or Special Forces before, she would have known it then. He moved just like all those guys on TV and the movies—as if around every corner was a bad guy waiting to take them out.
Even once they were on the ferry—the various-sized blue-and-white ships were a familiar sight moving throughout the islands—he didn’t let down. There was a large inside room with tables and seats where passengers could enjoy the crossing in relative comfort, including the requisite cup of tea and snack bar, but after checking it thoroughly, and positioning her in a seat near the exit door, he stood watch outside in the wind and cold. For three hours.
It was evening by the time they docked in Oban. Other than issuing her instructions on sticking close to him as they left the ferry, “Dan” wasn’t any more talkative on the short walk to the train station than he had been on board. They stuck with the group of about thirty passengers who were doing the same. Annie didn’t see anything unusual, but admittedly, she didn’t know what she was looking for.
Dan was in his hypervigilant Special Ops mode and didn’t look as though he was going to relax anytime soon. She was surprised he didn’t insist on coming inside the ladies’ room with her, but after three cups of tea, no, she couldn’t wait any longer.
She sensed the change the moment she emerged; she could see it in the darkness of his expression even before he spoke.
“We have a problem.”
Twenty-eight
