Defending Harlow (Mountain Mercenaries #4)(39)

Come to think of it, there’d been no reason for him to bring her to do the bike ride this morning either.

“I can come by the shelter later and talk about the things I was going to discuss with you this morning.”

And just like that, the excitement of the morning crashed and burned.

This wasn’t a date.

It had been way too easy to fall into the mind-set that it had been. But Lowell wanted to talk about the situation at the shelter with her, and she’d gone and made more out of the outing than there was.

“Right,” she said after the silence had gotten too weird between them. “That sounds good.”

Lowell didn’t say anything, but Harlow could feel his eyes on her. She watched with way more interest than the situation warranted as the last of the bicycles were loaded up. When they all climbed back into the fifteen-passenger van, she maneuvered herself so she was sitting on the end of one row of seats, and he had to sit in another row behind her.

She knew he wasn’t pleased, but he didn’t say a word. Once they arrived back at the Challenge Unlimited building, she waited patiently by his car while Lowell tipped their guides and said his goodbyes.

Feeling let down was stupid. He hadn’t said it was a date, and she’d told him over and over that she wasn’t interested in dating. She felt like a petulant six-year-old but couldn’t shake her funk.

As usual, Lowell opened her car door and waited until she was settled in the seat before closing the door behind her. He came around and climbed in on his side. He started the car and headed down the road without a word.

The silence was excruciatingly awkward, but Harlow didn’t know what to say to break it. It took about forty-five minutes because of traffic to get back to her apartment. Forty-five minutes where she wanted to cry every second.

She held herself together long enough for Lowell to walk around and open her door. “I guess I’ll see you later,” she said breezily, ignoring the frown on his face. “Thanks for the new experience this morning. I never would’ve done something like that on my own.”

“Harlow—” he started, but she interrupted him.

“I had fun. Thanks.” And with that, she turned to flee.

But Lowell caught her by the elbow. “Text me before you head out. I’ll meet you at the shelter and walk you in.”

Keeping the tears from falling by sheer will, Harlow nodded. She would’ve done anything at that moment to get away from him before she embarrassed himself. He’d want to know why she was crying. And there was no way she could explain the riot of emotions swirling inside her. Disappointment. Embarrassment. Sadness.

Luckily, he dropped his hand, and she immediately turned and walked blindly toward the apartment complex. She opened the door and went inside the lobby without looking back.

If she had, she might’ve felt a little better at seeing the equally unhappy look on Lowell’s face.



Black was in a piss-poor mood. His morning had been amazing. One of the best dates he’d ever been on. Harlow had been nervous at first, but once she’d decided to embrace the experience, she’d gone all out. He’d loved seeing the smile and pleasure on her face. None of the stress he’d gotten way too familiar with seeing had been in evidence.

They’d watched the sun come up, and he’d felt a true connection to her. He hadn’t been able to stop himself from kissing her. Of course, he’d wanted to feel her mouth under his, to taste her, but he’d controlled himself and only given her a peck on the cheek. The vanilla scent that he so associated with her drifted up, and it was all he could do not to lay her down on the ground and take her right there.

Black couldn’t remember a time he’d been this worked up over a woman. Couldn’t remember because he’d never been this interested in someone. The thought had startled him, and he’d screwed up. He’d tried to make their outing seem less like a date and more like a break from business, and the second he’d mentioned the shelter, she’d clammed up.

All the enjoyment had leached out of her face, and she’d closed herself off from him. He’d given her room in the van to hopefully get over it, but it had just increased the awkwardness between them.

He’d hurt her. And that thought killed him. He hated that his off-the-cuff remark had done the opposite of what he’d wanted it to. He’d thought reminding her that it wasn’t a date would make her feel more comfortable.

The tears in her eyes when she’d turned to walk into her apartment had slain him. He wanted to kick his own ass. He should’ve just kept his mouth shut. No woman wanted to be told that a man was only spending time with her because of work, no matter how much they protested dating. Especially after the kind of morning they’d had. He was an idiot.

The only thing that made him feel better was the fact that she’d felt anything about what he’d said. She might not be ready to admit she wanted to date him, but her actions spoke louder than words.

Making a vow right then and there to not bring up work when they were together, except when they were at the shelter, Black mentally planned his next steps. He’d have to be careful; she was extra wary now. Any trust she’d had in him had taken a hit, and he needed that back. Needed it more than he’d ever thought he’d ever need a woman’s trust.

They weren’t knee deep in a jungle rescue or in the middle of a shoot-out in some pissant country. He wasn’t rescuing her from a drugged-out sex trafficker and wasn’t trying to smuggle her across the border to reunite her with her family. But the need for her trust was still there. Was just as important as if they were in the middle of the ocean awaiting rescue.