Bri didn’t soak for hours. She remained in the water only until it got cold. Then she turned on the shower to rinse off before shampooing her hair.
Feeling wonderfully clean and refreshed, she returned to the bedroom, dressed and went in search of food. After a satisfying lunch, she hit the bed. It was beginning to get dark when a light tap on the door and Tanner’s voice woke her.
“Brianna? I’ve rustled up some supper for us. Are you hungry?”
“Starving,” she answered with the sudden realization. The exercise of hot sex and emotional upheaval must have activated her appetite. “Give me five minutes.”
“Take ten.” Laughter danced in his voice. “It will keep.”
Nine minutes later, Bri entered the kitchen dressed in socks and the wrinkled but clean blue jeans and T-shirt she had put on after her bath. “What smells so good and spicy?”
“Pasta with marinara sauce.” Tanner smiled. “I poured you a glass of Chianti. Help yourself to the pasta.”
The meal was delicious, the Chianti the perfect complement to the pasta. The fresh-brewed coffee afterward was wonderful, and the slice of apple pie Tanner had found in the freezer and baked was just the right finisher.
“We’ll leave first thing in the morning,” Tanner said when they’d finished.
Bri was relieved he didn’t suggest they start out that night, as she was still feeling tired and sleepy. It had been a long time since her last trek.
Together, they cleaned up the kitchen to the spotless condition Hawk kept it in, then shared a final glass of wine, exchanging mundane conversation until, rising and stretching, Tanner said he was ready to turn in. As Bri was every bit as ready, she washed their glasses and he dried them.
They were so tired they slept in separate beds that night.
Tanner woke her early the next morning. There was one difference, though. This time she was ready to get up, and most of the aches and stiffness were gone. They were on the road less than an hour later.
Bri was glad to be going back. At least that’s what she told herself. In truth, though, with each passing mile she felt more and more deflated, depressed. It was probably the sudden release of the tension of the hunt, she reasoned. It had nothing at all to do with her leaving Tanner and very likely never seeing him again.
“You’ve been awful quiet,” he said as they parked by the side of the road to rest and eat lunch. “Is something bothering you?”
“No.” Bri shook her head. “I, uh, I’ve been thinking about going home.”
“Oh.” He was silent for a moment. “I guess you’re anxious to see your sister and parents.”
“Yes, of course, even though they’ll have heard the news of his capture by know, I suppose.”
“Yeah.”
The conversation between them was less than scintillating, more like desultory. Bri had a stupid urge to cry, which didn’t make a bit of sense. She was going home at last. She should be feeling elated, not darn near morose. Shouldn’t she?
Their lunch finished, Tanner didn’t start the SUV; he just sat there, gripping the wheel.
“I love you, you know.” His voice was flat, stark with an astounding note of pain.
Bri stopped breathing. When she could take in air again, she raised her head to look at him in wonder. He was so beautiful it made her heart ache. “I love you, too, Tanner.”
“It can’t work.” He looked and sounded sad, regretful.
Tears rushed to Bri’s eyes. She had to swallow before attempting to speak. “Tanner, couldn’t we find-”
He silenced her with a rough shake of his head. “No, Brianna, and you know it as well as I do. You belong back east, doing research in your quiet library. I belong out here, somewhere, wherever. I’m not going to change. I am what I do.”
“Couldn’t we work together?” she asked, a pleading note in her voice. “Was I such a drag on you?”
He gave her one of his gentle smiles. “No, love. I enjoyed having you along. But this was a short, fairly easy hunt. Most of them aren’t. And you were aching by the time we caught him. Sometimes I’m gone weeks, not days. It simply couldn’t work for us.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Tanner…”
“Brianna, don’t. You’re tearing me apart inside.” He pulled her close, shutting his eyes against the pain. “I wish it could be different, but wishing won’t change anything. This time with you has been wonderful, more than I probably deserve. But it’s over. We live in two different worlds, and mine is too dangerous to risk hurting the woman I love.”
Accepting his word as final, Bri remained still, miserable throughout the rest of the drive into Durango, with barely a word spoken between them. What more was there to say? It was late when Tanner pulled up to the Strater Hotel, where they were holding Bri’s room for her.
Her throat was tight with emotion she refused to reveal to him. She grasped the door release and softly said, “Goodbye, Tanner. I’ll have your check for a million dollars delivered to you tomorrow.”
“I don’t want it, Brianna. This one’s on me.”
She gave a quick shake of her head. “No. The bounty is yours. You earned it. Don’t bother sending it back. Remember, my father is a banker. It would be easy for him to have it deposited into your account.”
“Okay, you win.”
Right. Bri wanted to weep. She didn’t, though; she turned to the door. He stopped her by curling one big hand around her nape and turning her to him, claiming her mouth with his own. His kiss was deep and passionate and tasted of urgency, desperation. When he let her go, he moved back behind the wheel, his face once again carved in stone. “Goodbye, Brianna.”
Bri almost stumbled out the door. Tanner’s voice stopped her as her boots hit the pavement.
“Take care of yourself.”
She couldn’t look back at him. “You, too,” she said over her shoulder and went striding for the entrance doors. As soon as she stepped inside, she heard his SUV drive away. Knowing he was taking her heart with him, she kept moving, not looking back.
Eleven
Bri was back in her own apartment two days, and the pain was still unbearable. It had seeped beneath her skin, soaking her insides, drowning her in misery. She had given in to tears again when Tanner called her.
“Hi, Brianna. How are you? And how was your flight back home?”
The sound of his voice, low, intimate, even asking such innocuous questions, set her pulse thumping. “I’m fine and so was the flight,” she answered, telling herself to grow up, while trying to catch her breath. “How are you, Tanner?”
“Fine.”
Bri frowned at the handset. Was that all he had to say?
“That’s good,” she replied. What else could she say, anyway? Make an ass of herself by admitting she missed him so much she ached? What good could come of that? He’d told her a relationship between them wouldn’t work.
“How is Boyo?” she asked, knowing she should have thought of the dog at once.
“He’ll be fine. He’s still in the hospital, but they removed the bullet, so all he has to do now is heal. And here’s more good news. His pups were born yesterday morning. Seven of them.”
“Lucky number. I’d love to see them. Have you?”
“No, not yet.” He paused. “How is Dani?”
“Better. At least she unlocks her bedroom door and joins our parents for meals. But she doesn’t go out much, and never alone.”
“It’ll take time.” Again he paused, as if having run out of things to say.
“I know,” she said. “One good thing-she has agreed to get professional help.”
“That’s good.” He paused again. “Uh, besides wanting to know how you were doing, I called to tell you I’ve accepted another job.”
