Page 24 of Over the Edge

“You’ll be completely decent if you help me out with this.”

Exultation that she trusted him enough to ask something like this of him warred with apprehension of what he was getting himself into. “Yeah, sure. I’ll help you out.”

She let out a whoosh of exhaled breath. “Thank goodness.”

“What do you mean when you say your experience with men is mostly negative?”

“How much time have you got?” she grumbled.

“Twenty-six hours and twenty minutes,” he replied dryly. That was how long their flights to Karaken by way of London Heathrow and Abu Dhabi were scheduled to take.

“I don’t know where to start,” she said, sounding wary.

“Start at the beginning. Were the boys all over you in primary school?”

“Oh gosh, no. I was an awkward duck, and I constantly looked like I’d just stuck my finger in a light socket. I was a hot mess.”

“Hot being the operative word?” he inquired.

She smiled ruefully. “Not in the least. I was a skinny kid, all elbows and knobby knees. I used to think no parts of me went together.”

“I find that hard to believe,” he replied sincerely.

“Trust me. Someday, I’ll dig out my school pictures for you, and you’ll laugh your head off.”

“I doubt that.”

She winced, and he prompted gently, “You went to university, yes?”

“Yes.”

“How did that go?”

“Academically, I loved it. I double-majored in psychology and political science.”

“Hence the work in profiling foreign intelligence targets.”

“Correct.”

“When did you get so beautiful?” he asked bluntly.

She stared at him as if the question surprised her. “I wouldn’t call myself beautiful, but I did finally grow into my disjointed parts once I got to college. I became less of an ugly duckling.”

“Trust me, Anna. You’re swan material all the way.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled.

“Okay, so you got gorgeous in college. Why didn’t you learn how to flirt with guys, then? Surely, they were throwing themselves at you like mad.”

“That was the problem. They did throw themselves at me. It was deeply off-putting. And, I had a scholarship, which meant I had grades to maintain. I was there to study, not party.”

He grimaced. “I wish I’d taken my education more seriously.” He asked thoughtfully, “Would you say you’re uncomfortable around men?”

“Absolutely.”

“You haven’t struck me as uncomfortable with the Reapers for the past year.”

“I work with you guys. You’re like brothers to me.”

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