During his training, he’d heard those shows several times emanating from her room through the thin hotel walls. “Fine. The game it is. I’ll text you when Sammy’s settled, and then I’ll barbecue us a late-night steak.”

Her eyes narrowed, but vulnerability swirled in their depths, providing a glimpse of the girl he had once known and loved. His heart tripped, then pounded uncomfortably. She was still in there—his Elise.

He rocked back on his heels, stunned at the discovery and more determined than ever to breach that defensive barrier of hers.

“C’mon, Elise. You haven’t gone Sassenach after all those years in England, have you? You know I’m a fabulous cook; it runs in the family. You can’t let a perfectly marvelous steak go to waste, can you? Where is your Scottish sense of thriftiness?”

“Fine,” she huffed, then spun about without a proper goodbye and marched up the stairs to the castle door.

Chapter 11

Wind ruffled Harry’s hair as he flipped the steak and lowered the flame on the barbecue. Twilight cast its purple shadows across his cottage garden. Setting the tongs on the picnic table beside him, he zipped up his anorak.

Elise didn’t care for rare meat, so he placed his steak on the upper rack to keep it warm while hers finished cooking. Then he stirred the vegetables on the tray to make sure they didn’t stick.

He sucked in a lungful of cold air and swept a glance across the garden to the low hills in the distance. Surprise, surprise. Elise had actually shown up tonight. And that wasn’t all. His luck had continued when Sammy had gone to bed without protest—a definite first since Harry’s return from Lebatu.

As the evening progressed, he could tell something troubled Elise. She’d been twitchy, a sure sign something was wrong. He’d never get it out of her if his son had stayed awake.

On a more selfish level, Harry hadn’t been alone with Elise in six months—since their last assignment, to be exact. Working as his training partner hardly counted. Except to tease her from time to time, Harry had kept things professional between them, opting out of exploring the fierce attraction that thrummed between them whenever she was within proximity. Now that they weren’t working a case together, he had high hopes of discovering where that attraction could lead.

Even if he had to sacrifice his own personal agenda, having her in his home tonight was enough. If he couldn’t get her to spill her guts, a football game should jolly her out of her worries. If not, he’d suffer through one of her girlie shows.

Elise was worth the sacrifice. She was true blue to the bone, a character trait he valued more than ever after his disastrous marriage.