Page 469 of Hidden Depths
I looked toward Storm.
She stood with her sisters beneath the damaged mast, sunlight catching in her dark hair.
“Yes.”
Rose smiled.
“I knew you would.”
Frank lowered his voice.
“Did you kiss her yet?”
“Frank,” Rose said.
“What? It’s been three weeks.”
I glanced toward Storm.
“No.”
Frank looked appalled.
“You went through bullets, kidnappings, fires, and an underground gate, but you’re afraid to kiss a woman?”
“I’m not afraid.”
Rose patted my arm.
“Of course you are, dear.”
They walked away before I could defend myself.
The truth was more complicated.
I wasn’t afraid Storm would reject me.
I was afraid she wouldn’t.
Once I kissed her, there would be no returning to the man I had been before her.
The man who could leave after a charter.
A man who could go home alone.
Who could convince himself that duty was enough.
Tonya had called twice since Hawaii.
The first time, she apologized again for ending our engagement by phone.
The second time, she told me she had met someone else.
A man she had known for years.
Hearing it didn’t hurt.
It gave both of us closure.
