Cold Comfort (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 5)

Oliver smiled at her. “Oh, so you want me to worry about you.” It wasn’t a question.

“Definitely. It’s only fair seeing as I know you are going to be chasing after danger. I have seen first-hand the kind of things you do in the course of your work. While I fully appreciate why you do the job you do, I know the dangers you face. I will worry myself sick until I know you are all right,” she assured him quietly.

A strange, somewhat wary silence settled between them. Neither of them wanted to broach the topic they needed to discuss in case they were disappointed and their wants, needs, emotions weren’t at least matched by the other.

“It isn’t impossible for me to have a life outside of the work I do. Other men have done it. A lot of my friends have married in the last several months and they all seem to make it work,” Oliver mused eventually.

“Marriage is a very big step,” Emmeline whispered.

“I know,” Oliver growled. “But I really cannot conceive of just delivering you home and riding off without any idea of when I will be back.”

He sighed and shoved away from the table. Stal

king over to the window, he planted his fists on his hips and stared blankly across the garden for several moments before he whirled to face her.

“If you do go home, what will you do with your time? Except miss everyone, of course.” Personally, Oliver understood that she would be miserable and alone. She had gotten used to the men being around; coming and going at all hours of the night. The company, the gentle teasing of his friends, was more than enough to fill her day with work and idle chatter. To go from a busy house like the safe house, and a lot of cooking for several burly men, to living like a shadow in a house by herself, would leave anybody miserable. He hated the thought of it. What he didn’t like, though, was the thought of marrying so early in his relationship with her.

“We don’t know if we are compatible,” Oliver whispered. “We don’t know if we are attracted to each other because of the danger we have faced or if we are genuinely in love.”

“There is no reason for us to marry now,” Emmeline replied carefully.

She slid into a chair at the table. She wanted to say so much more; demand a lot more from him, but she didn’t because he was right. It was far too early in their association to be even thinking about marriage.

“I could always join a local team,” Oliver whispered. “But the men are my friends as well as colleagues.”

“Nobody should expect you to choose,” Emmeline whispered. “They are your life. Without them fighting at your back, you would not survive many skirmishes. You know that, Oliver. Part of your success is because you work as a team. I have witnessed that. Nobody should ask you to leave them and work somewhere else, especially in a local group. If you did decide to do that it has to be because of what you want, not what you think is right for someone else.”

She would never ask him to give up so much.

“I don’t suppose you would want to move,” he sighed again, turning to face her. “All of your friends, family, and connections are in the village.”

“My only family was Caroline, Oliver,” she assured him. “Other relations live in Suffolk, but I don’t get to see them very often seeing as, like I have said, my parents didn’t travel very much. My friends are few and far between.”

Oliver saw movement out on the drive. When he turned to look at who it was, he watched Harry canter back down the driveway. Their time alone together was up already, and they were no closer to finding a solution.

“I cannot leave the team in the middle of an investigation,” he said.

“I have to go home because I have to arrange Caroline’s funeral although I cannot see that many will turn up for it,” Emmeline assured him with a gentle smile.

Her chin wobbled alarmingly but she bravely blinked away her tears and kept that smile on her face. She had to turn to gather up the things on the table just to have something to do with her hands because she wanted to reach out and touch him.

When she was at the wash stand, though, she felt Oliver come to stand behind her. She placed her hands on the edge of the unit and dropped her head, not least because she couldn’t deal with them feelings that coursed through her.

“It is stupid,” she hissed.

“What?” Oliver slid his arms around her.

“This. Us. You leaving. Me being miserable. I don’t know what has happened between us. I am not usually the kind of woman who gets carried away with romance. It just isn’t who I am. I am usually practical, dependable, Emmeline.”

“You have been in very trying circumstances. It is understandable that you want someone to turn to,” Oliver offered.

“It isn’t that,” Emmeline whispered. “I have been worried over Caroline for the last several months and haven’t needed anybody to turn to. I can deal with things that are stressful by myself. But this is different. You are different. I have never experienced anything like this before. I think-”

Oliver placed his hands on her waist and waited. “What?”

Emmeline couldn’t turn to face him. She just couldn’t look at him. “I think this is love.”

Oliver closed his eyes but wasn’t sure what to think. “I hate to say it, purely because it is going to throw both our lives into chaos, but I think it is love – for both of us.”