Page 23 of Tasting Fire
“That was never my intent. The TMT will fail if we’re not a unit. If I quit or try to undermine you, I’m actively hurting the people we’re supposed to help.” Cash sighed and picked at the red and yellow label on his bottle of Gaelic Ale.
She sat back and looked at him, really studied him. So long that the tops of his ears went hot and he hoped like hell she couldn’t tell they were pink. “Prove it.”
“What?”
“You have to make it clear that you support my leadership completely.”
Now the back of Cash’s neck was burning and he fought the urge to rub it. By force of will, he shoved back the part of him that was still pissed off.
“You say you want this team to work.”
“Of course I do.”
“Then it needs to be cohesive, and we have to trust one another implicitly.”
“And you think I can get inside people’s heads and make them act a certain way? Believe certain things?”
“Can’t you?” The soft way she asked the question made him wonder if they’d just taken a sharp detour into the past.
Grady broke the tense moment by walking up with two plates piled high with fries and burgers. He set them down, and Emmy’s eyes widened at the amount of food in front of her. Grady grinned and said, “To-go boxes are pretty popular around here.”
“I can see why.”
Grady made his way back to the bar and by then, whatever tension had hovered around Cash and Emmy had dialed back a notch. She cut into her burger and hefted a half. “No wonder this place is so popular.”
While they ate, they dropped the discussion about the team. Instead, Cash filled Emmy in on some of the changes the town had undergone in the past few years. “But you probably knew a lot of that. Jonah is nothing if not thorough when he wants something. And you’re smart, so you wouldn’t have taken his offer without all the details.” Which brought them back around to why she was here if the future Mr. Dr. McKay was still up north. “So… When’s he moving down?”
“Who?”
Cash wiped his mouth to cover up his frown. “Your fiancé.”
