Dangerous Ground 3: Blood Heat by Josh Lanyon Read Free Book Online

vacancy at the embassy in Paris.
    Taylor summoned his energy and hoped any lack of enthusiasm would be put down to natural fatigue. “It"s a big honor, and it"s an incredible opportunity. A hell of an opportunity.”
    “So you keep saying.”
    “And I"m proud of you. Happy for you.”
    Except…
    Except it would mean Will would be posted in Paris for a minimum of two years.

    Dangerous Ground 3: Blood Heat

    39

    Two years apart.
    “But?”
    “There is no but . I"m happy for you. I"m proud of you.” The more he insisted, the less sincere he sounded, and he was afraid Will could hear it.
    There was an uncomfortable pause.
    “Right. But if you"d been offered the assignment, you"d have refused it.”
    The bitterness of Will"s tone shocked Taylor silent for an instant. And then he was angry.
    “Yeah. I would"ve.” No question in his mind. Taylor had already thought it through, and he"d decided that if he couldn"t avoid another overseas tour, he"d resign. Leaving a job he loved was obviously the final recourse. He was pretty sure that with his excellent record and history of foreign service, he"d be able to postpone another overseas assignment for a couple more years, until he and Will were on more stable ground.
    “ Bullshit .”
    The fierceness of Will"s denial shut him up. He shouldn"t have brought it up in any case, least of all now. But the unfairness still rankled. That was the way Taylor would have played it, whether Will wanted to believe it or not. Taylor was trying very hard to be supportive of Will—which meant fighting his own worst instincts.
    It"d be nice to get a little credit.
    “Fine. Forget I said anything.”
    “Sure. No problem.”
    He could hear the controlled anger vibrating in Will"s voice. Unlike Taylor, it took a lot to rile Will, so he was obviously feeling self-righteous. Maybe Taylor really was in the wrong here. The promotion was Will"s, and Will wanted it. Of course he did. Taylor couldn"t blame him for that. It was a plum assignment, and there was no telling where it might ultimately lead. In fact, if it wasn"t for his relationship with Taylor, Will would probably have accepted the minute he"d been offered the tour.

    40
    Josh Lanyon

    Nor had Will been with the service long enough to be as sure declining an overseas posting wouldn"t have a detrimental effect on his career.
    There was every reason to accept—and only one to decline. And Taylor knew he was a selfish bastard for even thinking Will should put their still-tentative relationship first. At least he hadn"t committed the cardinal sin of asking. Not in so many words, anyway.
    He said, trying to undo some of the damage, “Look, I don"t know how we got off on this. All I meant to say was…I don"t want your choices to be limited because of what we did here tonight.”
    “Don"t worry about it. I make my own decisions.” Will scowled, concentrating on the storm-swept road.
    True enough, but Taylor knew he"d dragged Will along on this New Mexico detour. Left to his own recognizance, Will would have played this by the book and Kelila Hedwig would now be safely in custody and on her way back to Los Angeles.
    For a few minutes, the only sound was the hiss of tires on wet road and the beat of the windshield wipers. There was no sign of taillights anywhere in the darkness stretching ahead.
    “I believed her,” Taylor said, thinking aloud. “Believed her…fear that she wouldn"t make it back to LA alive. I read genuine terror there.”
    It was satisfying, even reassuring, the way Will instantly returned to business as though their earlier argument had never occurred. “That could have been fear of what she"s facing in LA.”
    “Yeah. Fair enough.”
    And if Hedwig had been telling the truth, maybe Nemov was tasked with making sure she never reached her destination.
    He felt rather than saw Will look his way again. “Hey. I trust your instincts, MacAllister.” There was an apology of sorts in there.
    Taylor nodded.

    Dangerous