Page 86 of How To Tempt A Bodyguard

"No, Matthew, that's not—"

"I'm trying. I don't know how to do this, but I'm trying, and you're laughing at me."

"I'm not laughing at you." She pressed her fingers to her lips, trying to contain the impossible tangle of emotions in her heart. "I'm laughing because I think I finally understand."

"Understand what?"

"This is how you love, isn't it?" She dropped her hand. Looked up at him. "Not with words. With... this. Asking what to do. Trying to learn. Fighting for me even when you don't know how."

His expression shifted from uncertainty to cautious hope.

"Is that... Is that enough?"

She didn't answer. Couldn't. Because she didn't know.

But the tears had stopped. And the tightness in her chest had loosened, just slightly.

"I made you laugh," he said quietly. Almost to himself. "That's something."

"Don't congratulate yourself too quickly. I might still strangle you."

"Fortunate for me, I haven’t taught you that technique yet, though I'd deserve it." The corner of his mouth curved upward. "But let us focus on the fact that you laughed."

She shook her head. "You're impossible."

"So I've been told."

For a moment they stood there in the wet grass, a fragile truce suspended between them. Not resolution but the beginning of understanding.

Then Brennan approached. His face grim.

"Riders on the northern ridge. Tam spotted them. Could be nothing, but we're not waiting to find out."

Matthew's posture shifted instantly. Soldier again. "Plan?"

"We split. Two groups. Tam and I take your wife north through the hills. You and Duff take the main road, draw their attention."

Florence's stomach dropped. "No."

"It's sound strategy, Lass. If one group is captured— "

"I know the strategy." Her voice came out sharper than intended. "That doesn't mean I have to like it."

She turned to Matthew, expecting—wishing—he would argue. Would refuse to leave her. Would for once put her feelings above the mission.

A muscle ticked in his jaw. "Brennan's right."

"Matthew."

"If Carrick catches both of us, he wins. If he only catches one, the other has leverage." His eyes met hers. "You know this, Florence. You've made this calculation a hundred times."

"For other people. Not for us."

"There is no 'us' if we're both dead or captured."

She knew he was right. She knew the logic was sound.

"If Carrick takes me," Matthew said urgently, "you negotiate. Use the evidence. Get those girls free. And if he takes you," his jaw clenched, "I'll burn everything he has until I get you back."