“You don’t have to sound so surprised, you know.” She feigned a scowl and pretended he’d hurt her feelings. “I do have other talents outside the realm of technology. I can cook, catch and clean fish, play the piano, change a tire, sew on a button?—”
“You play the piano?” Digger seemed to marvel a bit at that particular revelation.
“Since I was five. I took lessons for several years, but once I got into high school, my obsession with using computers to uncover deeply hidden information overshadowed pretty much every other interest I had at the time. But I still tickle the ivories now and again.”
She waggled her fingers in the air as if they were striking an invisible piano’s keys.
“Impressive.” The sexy man nodded, sounding genuine in his sentiment.
So naturally, Shadow had no choice but to take advantage of the rare moment.
“Oh, that’s nothing.” She leaned forward, lowering her voice to a deeper, sultrier tone. “When it comes to these babies”—she lifted her hands again with a playfully arched brow—“my talents are endless.”
Digger choked on the sip of water he’d been attempting to swallow, barely managing to keep the liquid from spewing from his mouth. Though she wanted to burst out laughing at his reaction, Shadow offered him a napkin from the small stack she’d carried in from the kitchen instead.
“Was it something I said?”
Rather than answer, Digger grabbed the napkin and wiped the beard around his lips dry. “Do you ever take anything seriously?” he challenged with a frustrated frown.
She swallowed back the bubble of laughter working its way up her throat. “Of course, I do. I just don’t takeeverythingseriously. You know, studies have shown that smiling and laughing are very good for your health.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s true. Scientists have proven that smiling and laughing triggers the reward part of your brain which, in turn, releases endorphins. Everybody knows endorphins help with pain control. They serve as mood stabilizers and can do wonders for stress and anxiety.” Then, because she couldn’t help herself, Shadow added a quipped, “You should give it a try sometime.”
“I laugh,” he argued, even as the dip of his dark brows grew deeper.
The unladylike snort that came from her body practically echoed off the cabin’s thick walls. “Sorry to be the one to break it to you, big guy, but a grunt does not a laugh make.”
Digger opened his mouth to no doubt pop back with some sort of grumbly, grimaced retort. But at the last minute, he closed those lips she hadn’t had enough time to really taste and went for another taco, instead.
After what felt like a very long, very uncomfortable silence, the former SEAL continued the conversation by opening up to her in a way she’d never expected.
“I don’t know how you do it.” His deep rumble was quieter than usual.
When he didn’t elaborate, Shadow wasted no time prompting him for more.
“How I do what?” She abandoned the partially eaten taco in her hand, setting its remnants down onto her plate.
“Ignore it all.”
“Umm…you’re going to have to give me a little more than that.”
His brown eyes lifted from his empty plate to her. The intensity in his gaze as it became locked with hers caused a tightness within her chest.
“All you’ve been through…what happened with your mother, and then having your entire life uprooted to move to Charlotte by a dad who lied to you about what he and your mother both did for a living…”
“I’ve known about my father’s past work as a government spy since I was a teenager.”
“But you only just found out about your mother being in the CIA a few hours ago.”
“What’s your point?”
He leaned forward, resting both elbows on the table. “My point is, you get hit with some pretty big news, and yet you’re sitting here cracking jokes as if this were any other day.”
“It is any other day, Digger.” Her expression became serious. “Think about the work we do. The things you and your team have been forced to see and endure. If you let all that bad mojo screw with your head, you’d be about as useful in the field as a toddler with a squirt gun.”
“So what, you’re saying all the jokes and smartass responses are your way of coping?”
