“No.” Which didn’t mean the receiver couldn’t be on the seat next to him. “But why would they even suspect I’m here? The tracker only has a range of five hundred feet, so they can’t have caught the signal from the research center. Besides, if they had, why would they merely be doing a drive-by?”
“Maybe the signal was weak or intermittent. Maybe they want to be sure before they cause a fuss.” He shrugged. “Either way, it looks like we’ll need to go do a bit of sightseeing.”
I blinked. Why did this man always do that to me? “What?”
“Hiding in the open is always a good policy. People just don’t expect it. So, we’ll wander up to Urquhart Castle and spend the day there mingling with the tourists and remaining well out of any tracker range.”
“Then let’s get out of here.”
I walked into the bedroom and grabbed our bags. Mine mightn’t hold much more than clothes, but I wasn’t about to leave anything behind that they could examine. It might only confirm any suspicions they had that I was here.
Because if they were anything more than just suspicious, they’d surely be doing a whole lot more than cruising past.
He took the bags from me and slung them over his own shoulder.
“The cottage hasn’t got a back door,” I said, “so we’ll have to use one of the rear windows.”
Amusement played around his mouth. “Considering the size of my . . . ego, do you think I’ll get through them easily enough?”
“Just,” I said dryly. I walked back into the kitchen and pushed up the window. “How about this time you go first?”
“You just want equal ass-viewing time.”
“And is there anything wrong with that?”
“Hell, no.” His words were solemn, but the twinkle in his eyes was very evident. “I am a very sexy guy with a very sexy ass, after all.”
“And I think Carly Simon sang a song about a man just like you.”
He grinned. “Impossible. I am unique.”
I was tempted to say “Thank god,” but given his mood, he’d probably take it as a compliment.
He tossed the bags through the window, then climbed out. After a quick look around, he turned and offered me his hand. I hesitated, then placed my f
ingers in his. The warmth of his flesh encased mine and sent a crazy tingle rushing across my skin.
My feet had barely hit the ground before he was drawing me toward him for a quick, tantalizing kiss.
“You keep doing that and we’re going to get ourselves into trouble,” I muttered, trying to ignore the excited pounding of my pulse and the aching need to melt back into his arms and just keep on kissing him.
“But it’s a good kind of trouble,” he said with a grin.
I whacked him lightly. “Behave. This is serious business.”
“So is the two of us.” His grin faded a little as he picked up the bags and slung them over his shoulder. “You ready?”
I nodded. “Are you sure this is going to be safe?”
“I doubt they’ll expect us to be playing tourist up at the ruins, and if even the tracker has a range double what you were told, we should be well enough away from them.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Because a crowded tourist spot didn’t exactly provide a whole lot of places where we could run and hide.
As it turned out, I was worrying over nothing. The sun tracked its way across the sky and we made like regular tourists, examining the ruins and having lunch and afternoon tea in the new visitors’ center.
It turned out to be a good day—a slice of everyday normality in a life that had been far from normal. At least for the last eleven years. Egan and I had been lovers, but it had been out of necessity and the need for companionship more than anything else. We’d never had the chance to do any of those things lovers normally do. Not even share after-sex small talk, because Egan had always been too aware of the scientists and their insidious monitors.