“Did you ever use your talent to perform a healing on someone with major injuries, someone who needed surgery but wouldn’t make it to the hospital if you didn’t help them right there?”
Her lashes lifted again, and her eyes looked directly into his. “These questions are beginning to sound like an interrogation again, Rubin. They’re very specific. Would you mind telling me where you’re going with them? I’m beginning to feel very uncomfortable.”
“That’s because my brother is out there with a rifle and scope,” Rubin said.
“I’m very aware of that,” Jonquille said. “He followed you. He’s been outside watching me the entire time. I made sure to give him a good target so he doesn’t get trigger-happy.”
He could definitely fall in love with her. She was so cool under fire. She hadn’t let on in any way that she’d known Diego had followed him out and was up in the crotch of a tree with a sniper’s scope making certain Rubin was safe. Knowing a sniper of great skill was watching her intently didn’t seem to bother her enough to show concern. She exuded that much confidence.
“I’m trying to determine whether you have the same talents I have.” That was honest enough without giving too much away.
She sent him a faint smile. “You’re concerned that Whitney may have paired us the way he likes to do when he’s playing god. He does like his little games.”
“That’s exactly what I think he’s done. In spite of his genuine insanity, he does have a gift for pairing couples that can indisputably make a good match, physically and emotionally. They fit and they end up loving each other. He pairs them because he thinks they’ll make a good team as soldiers in the field, but he never considers the emotional bond that builds between them. What do you think, Jonquille? Do you believe there’s a possibility that he put us together?”
She dipped her head to one side and her wild blond hair spilled in an unruly riot of waves to her chin. “There isn’t a doubt in my mind, Rubin, not if you’re attracted to me. You’ve got brains and you’re gorgeous. Why would you look at someone who can’t get out of the woods and be around anyone? You mentioned how my skin smells. No one else would notice. Your brother didn’t and he was sitting close at the same table. I’m afraid Whitney did, the bastard, and I’m sorry about that. That’s one more burden for you to carry.”
That didn’t tell him anything about whether or not she felt the same way. She was careful to keep her emotions to herself. He didn’t want that. He wanted to know everything there was to know about her. At the same time, he couldn’t give her anything back, and there was no fairness in that. He was in the military, in a top secret program. He didn’t have the luxury of talking about what he was or what he did.
“You aren’t a burden to me, Jonquille, not unless you decide I’m not worth sticking around and taking a chance on.” He just put it out there. Tossed it out like he wasn’t saying the most ridiculous thing in the world. He hadn’t thought about it or discussed it with his brother. The offer just came flying out. He was pragmatic. He wasn’t a man who would go out on dates like Diego might. If this woman was paired with him, then why should he fight fate? Why shouldn’t they just accept what was in store for them and begin to build a relationship? He wanted that. He wanted the chance to get to know her. To have her get to know him. The only way for that to happen was if she stayed.
Her gaze went electric blue again. He loved the blue of her eyes, but now that he’d seen that silvery-blue sheen, he thought that was just as beautiful, if not more so.
“I could never be with a man like you, Rubin.” Her voice had gone soft and gentle. “I can’t ever be in public. You go to these big medical conferences and the ones on lightning for weapons as well as manipulating lighting for the purposes of keeping the strikes from hitting anything important. You need a match that can be an asset to you. That will never be me, as much as I wish it were.”
He heard the very real ring of sadness. “You can’t know that. You have no idea what two people can do together. We haven’t even begun to talk about our gifts and how they might complement one another. To just dismiss a pairing when every single other pairing has been dead-on would be a major mistake. That heaviness I feel weighing me down, I feel it in you. We’re both intelligent. We have no idea what we can think of or do together unless we at least give things a try.”
Jonquille glanced into the woods. The clouds had turned a darker shade of gray at the bottom, leaving their fluffier tops lighter so they appeared almost as if they had an ombré effect. As the clouds floated across the sky, driven by the slight breeze, they blocked the light of the stars and moon completely, turning the woods and stream into an ominous, dark, shadowy underworld. She didn’t flinch away from it or appear to be spooked by the sudden change.
Rubin studied her face as she contemplated how to answer him. She never seemed to feel she had to answer right away. She wasn’t pushed into anything. She turned things over in her mind before she decided what to trust him with.
Around them, the trees began to moan as the wind picked up. Branches rubbed together to make the mournful sound. The frogs and katydids changed their tunes, singing a chorus to match the desolate notes the trees produced.
Get her to go inside, where it’s warmer, Rubin.
She doesn’t feel as threatened out here, even knowing you’re holding a sniper’s rifle on her. I’m trying to get her to admit she’s been paired with me. She isn’t a threat. Go inside and stay warm. We’ll be in as soon as we can.
That’s not going to happen in this lifetime.
Rubin sighed. He’d known that was going to be Diego’s answer. Most of the time he didn’t bother to answer at all.
“There’s no doubt that he paired us, Rubin. I feel an almost overwhelming attraction to you, and that doesn’t come easily to me. I’m certain we have many of the same psychic traits. In any case, those I don’t have, you would complement, and vice versa. That seems to be how it works. I’ve never actually seen a couple in person, but I’ve seen them when they’ve been online and Whitney managed to get a recording when they were unaware.”
He flashed her a grin. “At least you’re willing to admit you’re attracted to me.”
“I think that was pretty clear when I didn’t shoot you for watching me shower.”
“You didn’t shoot me because my brother had you dead to rights, just like he does now.”
She gave him her sassy smile. “There is that, although I did consider whether or not I could hit the floor before he got the shot off. I didn’t want to risk it. He has a bit of a reputation. And don’t let the admission of my finding you attractive go to your head or make you think Whitney did that to me. Any woman with eyes would find you attractive.”
He remained silent while she frowned, thinking over what she’d said. She laughed, those little bells skipping over the water in the sound he’d heard before when she realized what she’d said. He did like the sound of her laughter.
Her eyebrows drew together and for a moment she looked as if she was pouting. “That didn’t come out right.”