Page 106 of Hidden Ascent

She brought up the image, and he watched for her reaction. The one he saw was confusion and dismay.

“That’s how I looked?”

“The camera doesn’t lie.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Why do you need to say anything?”

“I should explain myself.”

He had to tread lightly. “Isla, we don’t have to talk about it right now.”

“I think we do.” Her voice had raised. “I mean, I look like I’m in love with Whitlock.”

“Yeah, you do. It’s perfect. It’s exactly what we need to fool Sharpe.”

“I’m not in love with you.” She was practically yelling now.

“Okay.” He kept his voice soft. “I don’t understand why you’re so upset.”

“We shouldn’t have done that. You shouldn’t have kissed me.”

“You kissed me back.”

“I didn’t want to.”

“I was there, and it was very clear that I wasn’t the only one hanging on for dear life.”

“You think this is a joke?”

“Of course not. Calm down. I don’t understand what you’re so upset about.”

“I’m upset because it was a mistake, and I don’t want you to misunderstand my feelings. You made a mess of everything.”

“Imade a mess? Isla, what are you so afraid of?”

“I’m not in love with you.”

“Yeah, I heard you the first time. I get it.”

“Do you? Because you’re not the sort of man I should be falling for.”

He couldn’t win with her. “We’re back to this, are we? The black and white? I’m an outlaw and you’re not? Is that it? There’s no room for the fact that everything you try to squash down into a nice tidy box that works only for you won’t stay there anymore?”

“We are what we are.” Her voice had dropped to a cold calm as she stared out the window. “Let’s just go. We have work to do.”

Jay scoffed but didn’t speak. There was nothing to say. It was clear she was determined to sabotage any chance they had because of his past.

When he had seen the way she looked at Whitlock, his hope had grown. He’d allowed himself to imagine a future with her. But he couldn’t keep fighting against her preconceived ideas about him.

When this job was done, he’d be gone out of her life so she didn’t have to fight against herself so hard.

Chapter23

John Sharpe walkedthrough the halls to his office while perusing his messages. He stopped and smiled when he saw the one he’d been waiting for.

“Beth, could you hold—” He looked at his secretary’s desk. “You’re not Beth.”

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