Chapter 13
The next week went by way too slowly for Trigger’s comfort. Ever since he’d joined the Delta teams, he’d been single-mindedly focused on his job. He never got distracted, and he spent every day looking forward to training and the possibility of being called for a mission.
But since meeting Gillian, he no longer lived and breathed Delta. He could still focus when he needed to, but in his down time now, he thought about her. Wondered what she was doing and if she was having a good day. He was constantly on his phone, texting her just to connect.
It was Friday afternoon, and he and the rest of his team were taking a break from an intense informational meeting they’d been in since nine that morning. It looked like a mission was forthcoming very soon, if the intel they’d been getting was any indication.
“Things seem to be going well with Gillian,” Lefty said a little too nonchalantly as he and Trigger stood alone in the Texas heat, trying to thaw out from the frigid air-conditioned room they’d been trapped in all day.
“They are,” Trigger agreed.
“She seemed to have a good time last weekend.”
Trigger turned to his friend. “What?”
“What, what?”
“Just say what you’re thinking before you explode,” Trigger said in exasperation.
“I like her,” Lefty told his friend. “So before you fly off the handle at what I’m going to say, you have to know that right off the bat.”
Trigger nodded, but braced for whatever his friend wanted to tell him.
“I just want to make sure you’re not moving too fast with her,” Lefty said. “I mean, you met her on an op…that can screw with both your heads.”
Trigger waited, knowing Lefty wasn’t done. He was right.
“Gillian’s pretty, man, so I don’t blame you.
She’s got a good job, she’s funny, and all of us like her.
She kept her head in Venezuela and seems mature beyond her years.
But she also seems like a forever kind of girl.
If you’re dating her simply to get laid, you’re gonna hurt her.
Bad. Just be careful, that’s all I’m sayin’. ”
“You’ve never stepped into my personal life before. Why now?” Trigger asked, genuinely curious.
“Because it’s more than obvious she’s in love with you. Or at least she thinks she is. It’s obvious by the way she looks at you.”
Trigger couldn’t help but grin at his friend’s words.
“And you like that,” Lefty said.
Trigger shrugged. He couldn’t deny it. “I haven’t slept with her,” he said.
Lefty gaped at him. “What?”
“I mean, I’ve slept with her in my arms, but we haven’t had sex,” Trigger clarified.
“I’m already well aware that we met on an op and that it could be skewing my thinking.
I’m extremely protective of her. I’m worried about this seventh hijacker and the fact that no one can figure out which one of the passengers it is.
So I’m proceeding with caution. But, Lefty, I’ve never felt like this about a woman before, and you know I’ve rescued more than my fair share of damsels in distress over the years. ”
Lefty nodded. “That’s why I can’t understand what it is about Gillian that’s got you so obsessed.”
Trigger couldn’t even deny that he was obsessed. He was. “I don’t know what it is about her, all I know is that she’s gotten under my skin…and I’m perfectly okay with that.”
“I hope you’re not upset I said something,” Lefty said.
“Of course not. I’d be pissed if you didn’t. You pick the short straw to talk to me about it?” Trigger asked with a smile.
“Something like that,” Lefty admitted. “But seriously, she’s cool. We all like her. And you really haven’t fucked her?”
Trigger had been okay with Lefty’s questions, and he knew he’d been the one to bring up the fact that they hadn’t slept together, but using the word “fucked” seemed to make the topic ugly.
“Careful,” Trigger warned. “I’m all right with you questioning my intentions because you’re my friend, but I’m not okay with you disrespecting Gillian in the process. ”
Lefty grinned, not at all intimidated by Trigger. “Sorry.”
“And no, I haven’t made love with her yet. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
“I bet it’s hard,” Lefty said with a sly grin.
Trigger couldn’t help it, he laughed. “Shut up, asshole.”
Sobering, Lefty said, “I’m happy for you. Seriously. Since seeing Ghost and his entire crew settle down, I think we’ve all been feeling a bit lonely. I was just worried you’d taken that a step too far and settled for someone.”
“I’m not settling,” Trigger told him. “Not even fucking close.”
“Good.”
“You heard anything from Kinley?” Trigger asked.
Lefty frowned and shook his head. “No. She hasn’t answered any of my emails or texts, so I stopped trying.
I’ve tried to keep track of the Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs, to see where he’s dragging his poor aides, but I stopped after I saw he’d gone to visit Afghanistan to talk about international relations over there. ”
Trigger shook his head. “He has no clue how much danger he’s putting himself in, and everyone who works for him, does he?”
“No,” Lefty said with a scowl. “And I doubt he’d care even if he did. I told Kinley when I got her out of that fucked-up situation down in Africa that she needed to find a new job, but she told me it was fine, that she was fine. It’s infuriating.”
“You two clicked,” Trigger told his friend. He didn’t like the look of frustration and sorrow that passed over Lefty’s face before he wiped it clean.
“Wasn’t meant to be,” he said with a shrug. “You’re heading down to Georgetown tonight, right?”
Wanting to press him about Kinley, the first woman he’d seen his friend truly care about since he’d known him, Trigger reluctantly let it go.
“Yeah. She’s planned a corporate event at the Austin Zoo and invited me to go.
I’m looking forward to seeing Gillian in action.
She’s super organized, and I have a feeling she’s like a drill sergeant when it comes to the actual execution of the events she puts together. ”
“Cool. Tell her we all said hello.”
“Will do.”
They both saw Doc gesturing to them from the doorway.
“Looks like break time’s up,” Lefty said. Both men walked back toward the building, and Trigger pulled out his phone to send Gillian a quick text.
Trigger: Just thought I’d say hi and that I might be getting a late start in heading your way tonight.
She responded right away, which she usually did. It was one more thing that he liked about her.
Gillian: Hi. :) And no problem. Take your time and drive safe. I’ve been putting fires out all day for the event tomorrow. One of the food trucks canceled at the last minute and I’ve been trying to find a replacement. Can’t wait to see you.
Trigger: I’m sure you’ll find an even better truck to take its place. Miss you too. Gotta go.
Gillian: Let me know when you’re on your way so I don’t worry?
Trigger: Of course. Later.
Gillian: Later.
Gillian might not realize it, but the way she always worried about him was pretty special to Trigger.
Most women he’d dated seemed to think since he was an alpha soldier, he was invincible.
But Gillian was always telling him to be careful and warning him about accidents on the road.
She’d even told him about a restaurant in the Killeen area that had been shut down for sanitary reasons and wanted to make sure he hadn’t eaten there recently.
Yeah, he had no problem with her worrying about him. It was cute as fuck, and he couldn’t deny it felt good.
Taking a breath and putting his phone back in his pocket, Trigger did his best to turn his mind back to the top-secret intel they’d been analyzing before the break.
He could think about Gillian all day long, but for now, he needed to be one hundred percent focused because it was very likely they’d be shipped out. Soon.
Later that night, after he’d driven to Georgetown, after he’d kissed the hell out of Gillian when she’d opened her door to him, after they’d eaten the dinner she’d made in anticipation of his arrival, after they’d snuggled on her couch as they watched some random show on TV, and after she’d fallen asleep in his arms, Trigger took the time to deeply analyze his relationship with the woman lightly snoring two inches from his face.
He tried to be objective, to really give Lefty’s—and thus, his team’s—concerns some thought.
But after only a short time, he knew for certain what he felt for Gillian wasn’t just because of some hero complex.
Wasn’t a result of him saving her down in Venezuela.
From the first time he’d heard her voice over the phone, he’d been hooked.
Trigger wasn’t a particularly religious man. But he’d once read a book about reincarnation, and it had struck a chord within him.
The author explained how souls typically reincarnate together.
So those you knew in one life would reappear close to you in another.
Your brother in one life might be your mother in another.
Or your wife in one life, might end up being your best friend in the next.
The author also suggested that in each life, a person had something to learn.
Like love, friendship, humility. And if the lesson was learned, then the soul would move on and learn something else in its next life.
Everything about that appealed to Trigger. It made it easy to understand how he and his team were so close. It also explained his instant connection to Gillian.
He knew some people would think he was crazy, that the whole soul thing was a crock of shit, but because of the things he’d experienced and seen in his lifetime, Trigger couldn’t dismiss the theory.
Gillian sighed, and the arm around his belly tightened and she nuzzled his chest a bit before settling once more.
He knew she was stressed about the next day because she wanted everything to go off smoothly.
She’d had one glass of wine and had fallen asleep almost the second he’d settled her against him.