If she never let anyone get too close, no one could ever let her down. What an unrealistic expectation to set for herself and for any man—perfection with never a misstep. Of course she'd been the one to misstep.
He'd told her he loved her. And she'd hid in that mental bunker like a scared kid rather than take his face in her hands and thank him for the beautiful gift of his heart.
Even if she couldn't pull her own messed-up head and heart together enough to be the woman he deserved, she should have kissed him. At least been brave enough to tell him the truth, that, yeah, she was halfway there to being in love with him, too. She should have given reassurance that with his patience she could kick down her own walls and join him.
After twelve years of closing herself off, maybe it was finally time to let someone inside. Let Max inside.
Starting now.
Darcy slipped on a clean flight suit and laced up her boots. Heading out the door, she prepped her mindset for battle. Losing wasn't an option when the stakes were forever.
Steam radiated up from the parking lot even in the middle of the night. She strode down the open walkway, dim lights tracking her way toward her rental car while stars dotted the sky overhead.
Halogen lamplight silhouetted a man lounging on her trunk, his back stretching a preppy, blue polo shirt.
"Perry?" Darcy called.
Max's assistant straightened and spun to face her. "Hello, Darcy. The boss sent me over to pick you up. He said you didn't need to be driving after all you went through yesterday with the emergency landing and all."
That sounded like Max. She started to argue and assert that she could drive herself.
How ridiculous and recklessly prideful. Why not take the ride? She could use the time to settle her emotions before she faced him again, rather than climb behind the wheel with shaking hands.
One brick at a time. Pull those walls down and quit being so frigging defensive. "Thanks. I appreciate the thoughtfulness."
Night silence echoing, Darcy stepped around to the passenger side and slid into the sedan. The air conditioner blasted her with arctic air. No wonder Perry looked so crisp without even one stray hair mussed in spite of the hundred-plus degrees outside. "You must be eager to get back to your wife and kids. How much longer do you expect to be in Guam?"
Streetlights whipped past the windows, haloing his blond preppy perfection. "Not long at all. We've just about wrapped everything up."
"Good." Which meant Max would be free sooner. Her stomach performed aerial maneuvers.
Perry braked the car to a stop at the sign in spite of the nonexistent traffic, before turning onto a narrow road behind an oversize cinder-block building. "Too bad you can't go diving with Max since you just flew. Wouldn't want to risk an air embolism."
"Huh?" Darcy yanked her attention away from concerns about how she and Max would handle trying to make a relationship work in the real world. "Even once the time restriction wears off, I'm not so sure we'll be wanting to dive together anytime soon."
She stared out the windshield and steadied her breathing by counting fence posts in the distance, a fence with wire mesh tubes strapped to catch tree snakes. Spotlights showcased one long carcass trailing from the end of the tube.
She shuddered.
"That sure was a close call for you and Max, all those divers coming after you." A smile picked at the corner of Perry's mouth. "Good thinking on your part, using that red coral to your advantage."
Red coral? How did he know?
A tingle iced up her spine so cold it canceled out even the a/c blast. Surely she and Max would have recognized Perry as one of the divers attacking them.
Had she or Max told anyone about the red coral?
She couldn't remember for certain. But if she hadn't, Perry could only know by hearing from someone else who'd been there.
The tingle flamed to a burn.
Trust instincts.
Darcy reached for the door handle and eyed the approaching stop sign. She didn't care if it looked silly, her falling out on the sidewalk. Crusty and Perry could tease her later if she was wrong. After the week she'd had, no way was she ignoring her instincts.
Instincts fired to full alert.
Screw waiting for the next stop sign. She yanked the door handle. The door wouldn't move.