Pirate's Promise (Sentinels of Savannah #5) - Lisa Kessler Page 0,37

to know that’s all this is for you,” a very familiar deep voice muttered behind her.

She turned around to find Greyson standing in the doorway. The pit in her stomach grew.

There was a cold glint to his eyes that hurt her more than she wanted to admit. She gulped down the bitter pill of reality. She was a government agent, and Greyson wasn’t ever going to be her boyfriend.

“I have a job to do to protect the American people from paranormal threats. I planted the cam as I was ordered to do.” She bit back the urge to mention the other cams still running on the ship. Duty came first.

“I guess now I know why you were so willing down in the bilge. No cameras there. Didn’t want your boss to know you allowed a filthy pirate to touch you.”

It wasn’t like that at all. She’d surrendered to her feelings for once. He’d made her forget about her job and her mission. All that had mattered that night was being close to him.

But she didn’t let the words out. She didn’t want to discuss it with an audience, and what would be the point anyway? They were about to dock in Scotland, and once they had the Tyrfing back on U.S. soil, she’d never see him again.

“I thought so.” He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t worry, I won’t get in the way of your work.”

He left without looking back. And she forced herself not to go after him. It was better like this. She’d lost herself in this fantasy of a relationship with him. It would be easier for everyone if he hated her.

But it fucking hurt.

Char got up from the table. “This isn’t just a job for Greyson.”

Aura spun around from the door to face the historian. Her tone was more biting than she intended. “I’m well aware of that.”

“Then why were you pretending it could be more?” Char took a breath, shaking her head. “He likes you.”

“I wasn’t pretending. I do enjoy Greyson’s company.” Aura ran her hand down her face, gathering her thoughts. She dropped into the chair again and groaned as she stared at the webcam. “This is my fault. I never should have let it get so out of hand. He makes me forget.”

“Forget?” Harmony asked.

“Yeah.” Aura lifted her gaze to their faces. “This voyage across the ocean made me understand why you both joined this crew. The camaraderie and adventure are intoxicating. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of this?” Her throat tightened. “But my life is my job. I can’t stop protecting the country so I can play pirate. My team needs me. There’s no future with Greyson, even if I wanted it.”

The two women shared a look before Char rested her arms on the table and leaned in, lowering her voice. “I fell in love with Keegan, but that didn’t suddenly make me part of this crew. No one forced me or expected me to join up.” She pointed to her chest and then to Harmony. “We both chose to be a member of this crew, and the rest of them voted before they made it official.”

Harmony nodded, adding, “Is part of your job description marrying the department? That’s a big commitment.”

“No.” Were they right? Aura blinked. “I mean, being single isn’t a requirement for my work, it’s just…I live in Washington, D.C., and I travel all over the world. The crew is in Savannah. This…whatever it is between me and Greyson…it could never work.”

Char nodded slowly. “Then, speaking as a crew member who cares about Greyson, back off.” Her eyes narrowed. “He didn’t sign on to be your pretend boyfriend. Save that show for when you go ashore.”

Harmony poked at the webcam, pushing it closer to Aura. “And put this back in your bag. Either trust us to uphold our end of the bargain or get off the ship.”

“I was just following my orders.” Aura tucked the webcam in her pocket, hating herself for not admitting there were still two more cameras online, but once the sword was on board, the feed watching over it would be important. She’d obviously crossed too many lines while with the crew to keep bias at bay. She liked them, so she trusted them.

That wasn’t always wise.

She started to get up, but Char shook her head. “Wait. I wanted to show you what I found about the Tyrfing.”

Aura was fairly certain no one knew more about the sword than Department 13, but she’d already burned