Page 19 of A Rebel's Shot
“What do you say?” He put on a casual air he didn’t feel. “Up for seeing if we can get good Japanese this far north?”
If he could gloss over his obvious Merritt-induced research, maybe she’d forget he ever mentioned it.
“It’ll take me about thirty minutes or so to get Darth Maule here tucked in for the night.” He patted his plane’s wing. “Meet you at Osaka then?”
She nodded and stepped toward her car. “Okay.”
She took another step away, opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, then spun on her expensive heel and marched to her black Escalade.
He needed to take this time to get his priorities straight.
Too bad he finished his post-flight checklist faster than ever.
NINE
Merritt pulled up to the teeny red building with pallets lined along the foundation as a makeshift sidewalk. Her heart sped up in her chest at the thought of seeing Tiikâan again. There definitely had been something electric between them back at the plane.
Or maybe magnetic?
Whatever force had been at work had her hands sweating buckets and lungs gasping for breath like a vapid romance novel heroine.
Sure, the rugged man had looked up the vegetarian options at the restaurant. That didn’t mean he had more in mind than just being considerate.
Though, to be fair, she’d never once looked at dining options for someone else. Didn’t that seem extra?
It seemed extra to her, which brought her right back to the unnamed force that had her checking in her mirror at home to make sure her jeans and flannel shirt looked down-to-earth enough for the no-nonsense pilot.
How long had she been looking through thewindshield at the front of the restaurant, staring like it was a Goliath she had to conquer? With a huff, she rolled her eyes, wiped the gallon of sweat on her palms off on her jeans, and yanked the car door open.
For extra measure, she pushed back her shoulders and chanted Elsa’s line fromFrozenin her head as she made her way to the entrance.
Conceal. Don’t feel.
Except one look at Tiikâan squeezed into a table pushed up against the wall and a fridge, chatting lively with a kid at the table next to him, melted all the cold shell she’d gathered in a rush of heat. She was surprised there wasn’t a puddle at her feet.
He looked over the packed, cramped restaurant, his eyes lighting up when he spotted her. He raised his hand, like her eyes hadn’t latched on to him like a heat-seeking missile the instant she’d stepped through the door.
She was in so much trouble.
There was no way feeding the crush of hers would be beneficial at the moment. Not with the mine starting up and her dad’s possible murder looming over her.
But having a friend could be.
Having someone she could let down her guard with, even for an hour over a meal, could keep her from shattering into a million shards. Because, let’s face it, she hadn’t been coping very well, but these moments with Tiikâan helped.
She just had to keep her attraction in check.
Which would be a whole lot easier if the man didn’t look like the model for Brawny paper towels and ChrisPratt in hisJurassic Parkphasehad their genes spliced together for the ultimate male specimen.
Gah.
Not helping.
She took another breath and threaded her way to him as he tipped his head at her in a nod.
“Hey.” He smiled and the slight impression of dimples showed in his beard.
Double gah.
