“Didn’t think so.” He still hadn’t taken his eyes off the screen. “You know, darlin’, you need to decide one way or the other what you want here.”
She sighed in complete boredom. Even the books on the shelf were light reading rather than anything thought-worthy. There were even romances. Not that she didn’t enjoy romances, as long as they were explicit in nature and hot enough to singe. The ones on the shelf weren’t.
“You’re killing me,” she said and sighed. “If you’re out to torture me, you’ve succeeded.”
He flicked his gaze over to her with a hint of sexual heat.
“How did I manage that?” The action on the screen drew his gaze back.
“You’ve watched at least six hours of this, Tanner. Gilligan is getting on my nerves here,” she sneered. “He’s a twit. He couldn’t walk down a city street without being shot for stupidity.”
“He’s not on a city street.” He grinned, a chuckle leaving his lips as a man in an obvious gorilla suit terrorized the castaways. The show wasn’t exactly heavy on special effects.
“It’s a good thing. A twelve-year-old has more common sense.”
“It’s a show, Scheme,” he chastised her gently. “It’s for your enjoyment. It’s not attempting to mirror reality.”
“Good thing.” She rolled her eyes. “A little reality break would be nice though. A half hour of CNN might save my sanity.”
“Your sanity isn’t high on my list of priorities,” he assured her, chuckling at Gilligan’s predicament once again.
She pulled herself to her feet, wrapping her arms across her chest as she began to pace the room. Not that it bothered him. In the past hours she had learned there was very little that pulled his attention from that asinine rerun.
“Where are we at least?” she asked. “You could tell me that much.”
“In the middle of a mountain,” he answered drolly.
She hated men. She really did.
“Where is the mountain?” she grated out.
“In a mountain chain.”
“Which frickin’ mountain chain, Tanner? For God’s sake, you could at least tell me where I’m at.”
She turned and glared at him. He hadn’t taken his attention from the show. He was, for the most part, ignoring her.
“What would it hurt?” she asked.
“What would it hurt to tell me why you received that beating you took before that your ex-lover was talking about?” he retorted, his voice casual, almost unconcerned.
Wasn’t the beating last month enough? Did you have to keep pushing your luck?
Chaz’s words vibrated through her mind. Hell, what would it hurt to give him that much? To play his game to a point.
Scheme stared at him for long tense moments. “Will you let me have a half hour of CNN?”
His head turned, his thick lashes shielding the expression in his eyes.
“If it’s the truth.”
She inhaled roughly. “I didn’t turn in a report that came through of a Breed mission in New Mexico. Because of it, Father wasn’t able to make certain there was an experienced team in place to gain information he needed.”
Information on the first Leo, a Breed Cyrus had spent decades searching for.
That got Tanner’s attention. His eyes narrowed further.
“Do you know what the information was?”