Officer, Surgeon...Gentleman!

Which scared her. How could she want Cole when he’d eventually leave her? But what if he didn’t? What if he really did love her? He’d said he did that one night. Okay, so it had only been that once and it had come out on a laugh, but that hadn’t stopped her heart from going thumpity-thump-thump.

Just as it was going thumpity-thump-thump right now. She hadn’t counted on seeing him again tonight, hadn’t counted on getting to steal more kisses.

God, she wanted more than just stolen kisses. She wanted hours and hours of Cole all to herself, no rules, no recriminations, no fear of dishonorable discharge.

But stolen kisses would do. For now. She smiled, planning to walk up behind him and cover his eyes with her hands and have him guess who. Maybe she’d just lean over and kiss his nape.

She noted the tension emanating off him.

He studied the screen, his shoulders a bit slumped, the angle of his head low.

Had he gotten bad news? His mother was the only family he’d ever talked about and she’d died when he’d been a teen. Suddenly worried that something was wrong and wanting to comfort him if needed, she stepped into the room.

“Hey, stranger,” she said, smiling to hide the nervous flutters in her belly. “What’s up?”

He straightened in his chair, taking on a stiff appearance, as if guilty of some dastardly deed. “Everything’s fine.”

He sounded distant, almost as if he didn’t want her there. Something was definitely wrong. She stepped farther into the room, closed the heavy door behind her and moved into his line of sight so she could see his face.

“You’re sure?” She dropped into a chair near his.

He leaned back in his chair, glanced toward the computer screen. “Nothing’s wrong. Just have a few things on my mind.”

She understood. She had a few things on her mind, too, all of which centered on him and how they were running out of time together. Soon they’d have to give whatever was between them a name, make decisions about whether or not they were going to see each other once their stint on the USS Benjamin Franklin ended.

“You seemed tense when I came in.”

He scowled. “There’s not anything wrong, Amelia. Go back to your room.”

Right. Because he always sounded angry with her, always didn’t look her in the eyes when he talked to her, always told her to go to her room.

Enough was enough. There was definitely something wrong and she had a pretty good idea what it was.

“You’re shutting me out, aren’t you?”

His jaw worked in a slow rotation and he raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m not shutting you out. Let it go. I’m really not up for this tonight.”

She put her hands on her hips, not willing to walk away. “It feels as if you’re shutting me out, and I don’t like it.”

What was wrong with him? She’d never seen him like this. So ragged. So rough. So raw.

“God, you just don’t know what you do to me, do you?”

Her breath catching, she met his gaze, held it. “Tell me.”

He laughed ironically. “You make me not care about anything except you, Amelia, about making love to you and holding you and being able to sleep with you in my arms.”

Okay, not a bad start to their conversation so why did he look so upset? Angry almost?

“I’d say turnabout was fair play, wouldn’t you? I care a lot about you, too, Cole. I want those same things, think about them when I’m lying in my bunk, unable to sleep because I want you there with me.” She met his gaze. “Like tonight when I ached so badly to be near you that I had to escape out of my room.”

His throat worked, his eyes closed and his fingers gripped the chair arm so tightly they blanched white. “I’m hanging by a thread here, Amelia. You should go.”

He was pushing her away. As much as that hurt, she wouldn’t let him push her away without giving her an explanation. “Why would I go?”

The blueness of his eyes threatened to engulf her. She fought to keep from glancing away.

“I want things I shouldn’t want on board this ship.” His words came out as a low growl.