Page 107 of Her Reluctant Hero
Chapter Four
Adrian watched Mallory walk out of camp after dinner as the others gathered around the fire, Jacob with his guitar. Adrian had always hated the Kumbaya effect of the campfire, so he made his escape. The sun was going down and Mallory still wore his T-shirt and shorts—not enough protection from the dropping temperature. Good-enough excuse. He grabbed a sweatshirt and headed after her.
He found her on the beach, her legs drawn up, her arms locked around them as she stared out at the ocean. A storm was rolling in, close enough to kick up waves and a good breeze, but far enough away that the increasing flashes of lightning were beautiful rather than deadly.
He dropped a sweatshirt into her lap and lowered himself beside her with a grunt, not as young as he used to be.
“Did you get the dive plan done?” She pulled the sweatshirt on, drawing her knees up beneath the shirt and hugging them to her.
“Yeah, it’s done. But if that comes in, I’ll have to do another.” He gestured toward the storm. “There’ll be no diving tomorrow.”
“What does the weather service say?”
He sifted sand through his fingers so he wouldn’t be tempted to smooth a loose strand of her hair that was being whipped by the wind. “Nothing about that.”
She anchored her hair with one hand and gave one of those wry smiles he used to love. “Nothing’s changed.”
But she was wrong. Gone was the impulsive, adventurous girl. In her place was a cool woman who kept her emotions under wraps. Had he done that to her, hurt her so bad that she’d shut herself off to protect herself?
“You always did love the ocean.”
“I don’t see much of it anymore in Austin.”
He fisted his hand around the sand, let it bite into his skin. “No, you’re pretty landlocked. You should’ve kept the house in Pensacola.”
She didn’t look at him. “I couldn’t stay there.”
Guilt choked him. Of course she wouldn’t be able to. “Not even another house in Pensacola?”
“I had to go where my job was.”
And why that job, working for a multinational corporation instead of working for a museum and doing something with her experience? At least she’d be somehow connected to the life she’d once loved. Yes, she was using her language expertise, but that hadn’t been the part of the job she’d enjoyed. He was afraid she’d chosen this new path because of him, so he didn’t ask. He didn’t want to be the reason she’d turned her back on her life’s work.
“So is it going to be a big wedding?”
She gazed out over the ocean. “Adrian, you don’t really want to hear about this.”
No, he didn’t want to hear. He had to. “I never knew you wanted a wedding. I feel like.” He lifted a hand, dropped it to his knee. “Like I failed you because I didn’t know you better.”
She turned to look at him. “I’m not getting a divorce from you because I want a nice wedding.”
“I realize that.” What he wanted to know but couldn’t ask was why they’d once wanted the same things but no longer did. “I guess I never really saw the girly part of you.”
Another one of those smiles. This one got past his defenses and went straight to his groin.
“You saw quite a lot of my girly parts.”
Memories slammed into him and he shook his head to clear them. “You know what I mean. I didn’t know you were interested in things like weddings. Hell, I never even saw you in a dress till we’d been married a couple of years.” His sister’s wedding. The dress had been a gauzy thing inappropriate for Scotland’s chilly weather, and she’d been buried under a coat most of the time. He’d happily warmed her after the reception. “I never saw you in underwear like you wore today.”
She rested her forehead on her arms, the movement shielding her face. He’d struck a nerve. But it didn’t take long for her to toss her head back and look straight at him. “It’s a recent indulgence.”
“I imagine Jonathan appreciates it.”
Her eyes shifted. “We haven’t reached that level.”
It took him a minute to figure out what she meant. Even then, he couldn’t believe it. “What, no sex?”
She took a deep breath, and for a moment he thought she’d refuse to answer. “No.”
