Page 20 of Inevitable
“It’s weird, right?” she asked in a contemplative voice. “All this time, we knew a lot of the same people, but we never ran into each other again.”
I shrugged. “Maybe not so weird. I live in San Diego. You live in Michigan. I almost never leave San Diego because I like to be near Last Hope headquarters in case something comes up. I’ve never been to Cherry Cove. I’ve only seen our Michigan team in person on their infrequent visits to San Diego.”
“Yet I’ve heard Wyatt describe you as the most intelligent person he’s ever met, and I never knew he was referring to you,” she replied. “That’s weird for me.”
It was odd for me to hear that Wyatt had said that to her.
I guess I’d never really wondered what my guys said about me when I wasn’t around.
“I’ve been to San Diego,” she mentioned. “My mother retired there a few years ago. She has friends there, and the winters in Cherry Cove were getting to her. I get there as often as I can.”
“It’s a big city,” I reminded her. “It’s not unusual that we’ve never run into each other. I spend most of my time at headquarters or at home. I’m not exactly a social kind of guy.”
“What about dating?” she asked in a curious voice. “You haven’t had a serious relationship?”
“Negative,” I told her. “I’m about as eager to marry as you are. Never married. I never wanted to get married. I’ve watched every single one of my billionaire partners in San Diego lose their shit over a woman before they married their spouses. I’ve never had the desire to be in their positions.”
Emma sighed. “I think Brock, Nate, Gage, and Seth feel the same way. But I think they’re all lonely. I wish they’d find women who could make them happy.”
“Why does everyone assume that a bachelor is lonely?” I questioned drily. “Maybe we just prefer our own company.”
“I’m not saying all bachelors are lonely,” she corrected. “But I know my friends. I’ve known them all for years, and I do think that they’re lonely.”
“Most of their spare time is probably consumed by Last Hope,” I observed. “They’re my most active team.”
“They do disappear a lot,” Emma observed. “I worry about them every time it happens.”
“They trust you,” I said. “But it’s always been policy not to share information about Last Hope with anyone except significant others or kidnapping victims. It wasn’t their fault. If it helps, those guys save a lot of lives when they disappear.”
“It helps,” she said earnestly. “I’m almost glad I didn’t know that they were disappearing into dangerous situations.”
I wanted to tell her that what those men did wasn’t that dangerous to make her feel better, but that would have been a lie.
Every operative knew what they were getting themselves into when they went on a mission for Last Hope.
They knew the dangers, and they took them on willingly.
We took every precaution we could, but I couldn’t say that it wasn’t dangerous.
I handed Emma another packet from the MRE and decided to just remain silent.
Just like I always did.
I was a man of few words.
I’d discussed more personal things today than I had in years, and it was probably better to keep my mouth shut.
Chapter 7
Emma
“Sleep, Emma,” Colin insisted later in the day. “You’re going to need to be rested for tomorrow.”
We’d spent the rest of the day catching up on trivial things, but at some point, I knew Colin and I had to have a serious talk.
Now wasn’t the time, but I’d made him promise that he wouldn’t just disappear before we had a chance to have a discussion like he’d done the last time.
He’d agreed before we’d stopped talking to try to get some sleep.
