Absently smacking at a bug crawling into the bag, Robin continued to stare after them, a diversionary plan creeping to completion. The wait wouldn't have to be so boring after all.
Unnerving one little "wren" would be far more effective than a direct threat to Max. Upset Renshaw to upset Max. Thanks to insider intel on background checks for all parties involved, Robin knew just how to start.
Luckily, plenty of pests for unsettling an airborne wren scurried right on the ground.
Darcy charged up the carved-out dirt steps as fast as her tennis shoes would carry her. Her brain refused to focus on anything more than returning to her room in the VOQ, Visiting Officer's Quarters.
One little kiss and she was a mess.
Okay, so it wasn't exactly a little kiss. It had been more like a double-time scramble takeoff, from dead stop to airborne in less than five minutes.
She'd expected to enjoy it—a lot. She hadn't expected to have her mind flipped, as if that incredible takeoff had gone rogue in a heartbeat, inverting into tailspin. Even now, she couldn't tell up from down as she stumbled along the path toward the vine-covered Spanish bridge arching over a stream.
And more than anything, Darcy did not like being out of control.
Max's steady steps and breaths kept pace behind her. The heat of his chest radiated a constant reminder of the fire of his response. Her experience might fall short of her sister's, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to conclude Max had been attracted, too. Impressively so.
Not that he seemed particularly happy about it. The ill-disguised horror in his eyes when he'd heard she would be staying for three weeks relayed an oceanful of his real feelings on the subject of taking that kiss any further.
How flippin' humiliating. What had she been thinking? She'd thrown herself at the guy like some sex-starved maniac. Now that her frustration and anger at her father had cooled to a simmer, she viewed her blatant come-on to a man she barely knew with something akin to self-disgust. And that there had been a witness to her humiliation standing a few yards away...
Ugh!
Darcy plucked at her clammy shirt, still damp from the dolphins' dousing. She just wanted to make it back to her room with her dignity in tact. Soak in a hot shower. And slowly die of mortification.
Her rental car waited just beyond the lush line of trees. Time was running out if she wanted to close the book on the mess she'd made without more witnesses.
Darcy turned to walk backward. "About the drink thing. We should probably just skip it."
Max cocked his head to the side, studying her like some mysterious new organism under his microscope. "If that's what you want."
Hello!
Of course it wasn't what she wanted, but she'd already ruined any chance for easing into something simple. The real kicker was that she'd enjoyed talking to him, and now she'd blown even that. Nothing left to do but save face and cut him loose before she embarrassed herself further.
Or weakened and hit on him again. "You were right about not starting anything since we live on different coasts."
Max watched water bead from Darcy's slicked hair, down her neck and into her T-shirt. What he wouldn't give to dive right into that drop of water.
Damn, but he had to get his head on straight and quit thinking with his libido. If this woman had that much power over him with one near-innocent kiss, diving completely into that whirlpool of heat would level him.
The hell of it was that while he should keep his distance, he also wanted to keep tabs on her until she left. Like dribbling water on a parched man's tongue.
Another drop beaded from her hair, down her brow, falling, catching and holding on her lips.
Better not think about water. "Sure. And it's not like either of us has a flexible work schedule while we're here."
"Absolutely, and back home I'm TDY all over the world two-thirds of the year," she answered, jumping all over the line of excuses.
Too bad he still wanted to jump all over her. "I'm always in class, in the lab or on the road."
"Real workaholic." She backed along the dirt path.
"So I've been told." He picked up her lead, following with his words as well as his steps.
"Hey, that's how it is when you love your job."
"Uh-huh." He reached to swipe a drooping branch out of her way. The lean brought him too close. A couple inches farther and he would taste Darcy and the lingering salt of the sea and her sunflower seeds.