Page 41 of Cast in Shadow
“Good thing I’m here then. It’s just about done.”
She closed the lid on her laptop and joined him at the table. The steak was cooked to perfection, as were the vegetables. So much so in fact that she had no problems complimenting him on his culinary skills.
“You are a man of many talents,” she told him.
He smiled smugly. “Glad you think so.”
“Where’d you learn how to cook like this?”
“I worked in a couple of restaurants as a kid. Picked up a few things.”
“Before you went into the service?”
His expression went blank. He grunted and stabbed a thick-cut fry and brought it to his lips.
“Oh, come on. I knew within five minutes of meeting you that you had special training. I doubt you picked it up by watching action-adventure movies.”
“Where did you learn your mad hacking skills?”
She shrugged. “Just comes naturally.”
He grunted. “That’s what I thought.”
“Are you still determined to deliver me to Charley?”
His eyes darkened, making her think of the sky right before a storm. “Yes. Nothing has changed.”
He was wrong about that. A lot of things had changed. Most notably, her unexpectedly strong temptation to throw caution to the wind and spend the next couple of weeks holed up with him, having great sex and learning more about him.
Perhaps it was for the best. Caring about anything or anyone was a weakness that could be exploited and used against her—or more importantly, against the people she cared about.
Another thing that had changed: she was now privy to information she hadn’t had before. Information about him. Information about the woman he was delivering her to. Both presented their share of challenges, but challenges didn’t worry her as long as she knew what she was dealing with.
And now that T also knew, she didn’t worry at all. If anything happened to her, T would rain hell down from on high.
Aggie pushed back the inconvenient pang of disappointment and kept her expression neutral. “You’re right. I should hear what Charley has to say. Should we leave tomorrow morning or head out tonight?”
Zeke narrowed his eyes, suspicious of her easy acceptance, running scenarios in his mind. She knew he was weighing the benefits of staying one more night against the risk that she would slip away.
“The sooner, the better,” he said finally. “If we leave tonight, we can be there by midafternoon tomorrow.”
She nodded, once again disappointed, but not surprised by his priorities. The mission took precedence.
It’s better this way, she told herself. A swift, clean break.
Aggie pushed away the remains of her dinner, no longer hungry, and stood. “All right then. Give me fifteen, and I’ll be good to go.”
His eyes snapped to hers. “I didn’t mean we had to leave right this minute.”
“No sense in prolonging the inevitable, right?” she asked, summoning a small, cold smile. “I’m as anxious to get this over with as you are.”
She wasn’t angry that he intended to complete his mission, because that was the kind of man he was. He did what he said he was going to do—yet another reason why him walking away with a dishonorable discharge didn’t ring true.
No, what bothered her was that had their places been reversed, she would have chosen her priorities differently.
* * *
They were on the road within the hour, borrowing the Range Rover from the garage. Zeke had been apprehensive about doing so at first because it was a “high-profile ride,” but now that she’d made up her mind, she was impatient to close this chapter and move on to the next one.
