“But it’s not.” There was a slight tic in the muscles along his jawline. This man really didn’t like talking about himself. Was it was part of his training or did it go far deeper? “You like to keep people at arm’s length, don’t you?”
His expression closed over once again. “Why would you think that?”
“Because any normal person would be terrified by the statement.”
“You weren’t.”
“We’ve already established that I’m far from normal.” My voice was dry, and amusement briefly tugged the corners of his mouth. “Besides, the situation we were in was far from normal. I needed to get out of that place and if I had to use a killer to do that, then I damn well would.”
“That still doesn’t make your statement about me true.”
“Of course it does. You’re too at ease with calling yourself that, so you’ve done it more than once. Add to that the fact that you’ve already said you have no intention of ever getting emotionally involved, and your emotionally barren little world remains nice and secure.”
“You really do like making snap judgments about people you barely know, don’t you?”
“It’s not a snap judgment. And besides, after last night and this afternoon, you can’t exactly say we’re strangers anymore.”
“It makes us intimate strangers, Mercy, nothing more.”
My smile felt tight. “You do realize your strategy is doomed to failure, don’t you?”
He raised an eyebrow. “And why would you think that?”
“Because you are neither cold nor unfeeling, Damon, and sooner or later someone will break through that wall you’ve raised around your heart.”
“I come from a long line of muerte who lost their heads, not their hearts. I expect to be no different.”
“Then you’re selling yourself short. You are not your forefathers.”
“And you,” he said gently, “are reading entirely too much into my actions. I will not fall, Mercy, no matter how great the attraction between us.”
I snorted derisively. “Oh, never fear, I have no illusions when it comes to you and me. You’ve expressed your views well enough when it comes to draman and their usefulness.”
“It’s not because you’re draman.” He reached out and wrapped his hands around mine, squeezing lightly. “I don’t see you as draman. I don’t think I ever have, which is why I was so surprised when you told me you were.”
“That’s not the point—”
“But it is. I won’t have you believing something that isn’t true.”
“Then what is your great truth?” I muttered, suddenly wishing I hadn’t gotten into this whole subject. It didn’t really matter which of us was right, because there was one truth that wasn’t going to change. The magic we’d felt every time we came together—the intimacy and the possibilities—would not be explored once this case was solved. No matter what, he would walk away, and it would probably hurt a whole lot more then than the thought did now.
Because no matter what he said, there was something between us. Something that was worth exploring.
“You were afraid today when you saw that car, weren’t you?”
I frowned. “Of course, but—”
“Well,” he continued relentlessly, “imagine living with that sort of fear daily. Imagine living with me and not knowing at the end of each day whether I’d walk in the door at the end of it.”
“If you love someone, you love the whole of them. And that includes what they are and what they do.”
“It’s easy to say that when you’re not living the situation day in, day out.”
“People do.”
“Yes, and lots of marriages break up over it, too. That’s a statistical fact.”
“The difference between your statistics and what we’re discussing here is two simple words—soul mate. When you meet her, Damon, your dragon will not let her go.”