Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“ R eady?” Gavin asked, releasing a deep breath. It was as if he were trying to clear his head, which considering the hectic morning Bean knew he’d had, wouldn’t be a surprise.
Following his lead, she took in the crisp air, and the forest’s earthy scents filled her nose. Was she ready?
Before they’d left the office, she’d changed out of her pencil skirt and sweater set and into leggings, a half-zip fleece top, and a down vest. She wiggled her toes, glanced down at her new hiking boots, and then up at Gavin. Seeing the tension he carried in his posture and the dark circles shadowing his eyes, she aimed for light. “The boots are comfy.”
He grinned as he took her hand and led them toward the trailhead. “Nice nonanswer.”
She snickered, surprised by how things weren’t awkward between them after they’d crossed a huge line the night before. Granted, she’d done everything she could to play things casually, like her mind hadn’t been completely blown by being with Gavin that way. Once she’d gotten home, she’d stayed up half the night overanalyzing every minute detail and trying to figure out what it all meant. Obviously, he was attracted to her. But did he want more? Did it mean more? Or was it casual? Were they fuck buddies?
In the wee hours of the morning, she’d finally admitted to herself that she hoped things between them could maybe possibly hopefully—no, not hopefully , just maybe and possibly—be more than something casual. Not that she expected any kind of forever. Not at all. She just thought that given their history as friends and all, it could mean... more.
Clearing her throat, she aimed to focus on the now. The last thing she needed was to spiral down the overanalyzing rabbit hole while the man was literally holding her hand. “You know I’m not much of a hiker, right?”
“Uh, yeah.” He chuckled. “Pretty sure everyone who knows you knows that.”
“Does that mean you’ll take it easy on me?”
“Oh come on, B. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
She rolled her eyes. “I do have to be back by two, so with travel time, we have just under two hours.”
“I know, honey.” He pointed to a trail to the left. “That’s an easy trail too. More of a gradual elevation change. It has some nice streams and a waterfall farther in. A few difficult trails branch off it, but the main trail is a five-mile loop.”
“We should do that one, then.” She frowned when he tugged her past it.
“Next time.” He led her toward a narrow trail to the right. “This one is also fairly moderate, but it has great views of the water.”
The trail narrowed, and she released his hand, gesturing ahead of her. “Lead the way.” Her eyebrow arched when the trail grew steeper within seconds. “Hate to break it to you, boss man, but I think your definition of ‘fairly moderate’ is different from mine. ”
Her breaths came in huffs as she focused on the uneven path before her.
“This is the hardest part. I promise.”
She couldn’t even appreciate his firm backside. All she could focus on was the trail that continued to go up. She yelped as her footing gave way and she landed on her right knee. But seeing as the trail was ridiculously sloped, it wasn’t too bad. “Aren’t there supposed to be switchbacks and stuff.”
He coughed over a laugh and glanced back at her. “You doing okay?”
She scowled. “Peachy.”
He waited for her to reach him and then moved behind her. His hands went to her hips, steadying her. “It flattens out after this,” he said, nudging her forward.
After a few more minutes of hiking basically straight up, they crested the hill, and Bean came to a halt.
“Oh, thank God,” she muttered.
Relief washed through her as her heart pounded with exertion. She hadn’t realized just how out of shape she was, and holy shit, the lungs-burning thing was not okay. Thankfully, the trail immediately widened and was indeed flat. At least as far as she could see. But who the hell knew with Gavin and his stupid “fairly moderate” trails.
“You did great,” Gavin said, retaking her hand. “Easy sailing from here.” She shot him her best glare, and he laughed. “I promise.”
They continued in comfortable silence for a few more minutes. As the fire in her lungs died down, she kept sneaking glances at him, relieved how some of the earlier tension she’d noticed had eased. Though the dark circles beneath his eyes remained.
Gavin shook his head and let out an exaggerated sigh. “What? I know you’re itching to ask me something.”
Her mouth opened and then closed. She wasn’t crossing any lines, right? They were friends. She internally cringed. Considering he’d had his mouth between her legs less than twenty-four hours ago, she wasn’t sure “friends” was the correct word. But whatever.
“Out with it, B.”
“You look a little tired and I was just wondering if you’re sleeping okay.” Her words came out in a jumbled rush, and she took in a deep breath. Exhaling, she aimed for a more normal tone. “I remember you saying a while back that you used to have nightmares from your military days.”
It was close to three years ago that he’d shared that with her, but their conversation had stuck with her. He’d been vague about what the nightmares entailed, but she knew they’d revolved around a mission with children that had gone horribly wrong. He hadn’t shared the mission details, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. All she knew was that whatever had happened had left a scar in his heart.
“I know the whole mission with Anson was awful, and it hit everyone hard. What that poor kid was put through... I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
He squeezed her hand, and some of the nervousness fled. A hand squeeze was a positive sign, right?
“I’m good, Bean. I’m not going to lie to you and say the nightmares haven’t resurfaced with the McClintock mission, because they have. But last night?” A small smile ghosted his lips. “My lack of sleep last night had nothing to do with nightmares this time. In fact, I’d welcome that kind of lack of sleep any day. Or night. Hell, even afternoon.” He shot her a wink.
Heat washed over her face, but she managed to muster up a smirk. “Well, I figured since things were left a little... unsatisfying for you last night, ‘hiking’ might be a euphemism.”
He barked out a laugh. “Trust me, honey, there was nothing unsatisfying about what happened between us. You’re the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Would I have liked to come inside you? Absolutely. Thinking about doing just that definitely kept me up last night.” He wagged his eyebrows at her and grinned. “There’s no rush, though. We’ll get there.”
Shaking her head, she slapped both hands over her flaming cheeks. “I thought I could do this sexy-banter thing with you, but holy shit, I can’t.”
He slung an arm over her shoulder and pulled her into his side. “I think making you blush may be my new favorite thing.” He dropped a kiss to the top of her head before retaking her hand and leading her down the trail.
“So aside from a restless night, how did your morning go?”
He shook his head. “It was going fine until I got stuck on the phone with Constance Whitcomb. The woman is determined to have us do her personal security.”
“You mean, she’s determined to have you be her personal security.”
He cringed. “She’s relentless.”
“Are you going to do it?”
“Hell no. I told her we didn’t have anyone available.”
She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. “Uh, Team Three just got back from California.”
He eyed her. “Whose side are you on?”
“Just messing with you, boss.” She chuckled and jabbed him in the side with her elbow. “The woman’s a vulture.”
He made a face, shaking his head. “We’re here to relax. Let’s not talk about her.”
She smothered a snort. He was adorable when he was all irritated and bothered. Though she did prefer him getting bothered for completely different reasons. In fact, maybe she could distract him?—
She came to a halt and gasped .
The trail had cut abruptly to the right, and the Pacific Ocean was laid out in front of her, its waters calm with an occasional whitecap dotting the expanse. The gray, overcast skies met the water at the horizon. “Holy crap, Gavin. It’s gorgeous.”
“Sure is,” he said. “Absolutely breathtaking.”
She glanced at him, and her face heated when she saw his focus was entirely on her. Biting her lower lip to keep from grinning like a loon, she nudged him with her hip. “Aren’t you a charmer?”
“Nah, honey, just being honest.” He dropped a kiss to the top of her head again and then tugged on her hand and continued down the trail. Gesturing to the view, he said, “It stays like this for about a half-mile, then it snakes back into the forest and there are some switchbacks to the trailhead.”
They walked a little longer, and she was mesmerized by the view. And by the man beside her holding her hand.
After a few minutes, Gavin cleared his throat. “So... how did you come up with Sabrina Marie?”
She stilled. A chill ran through her body that had nothing to do with the crisp temperatures. She’d secretly hoped that in all the mayhem of the past few days, he’d forget about that whole you-have-an-entirely-different-name thing. Apparently, she was wrong.
“Well, as I’m sure you gathered, Sabrina was my original middle name. It wasn’t like I had a problem with the name Florence. It was my grandmother’s name, and from what I recall of her, she was nice. But I was never just Florence. My parents insisted on calling me Florence Sabrina, and it was...” She wrinkled her nose. “A lot. Especially when you added in Buena Ventura as the last name.”
“It’s quite the mouthful.” He winked at her, squeezing her hand. “Was Bean a nickname for Sabrina?”
She nodded. “I was sent to this fancy boarding school for the gifted when I was four. When I was around eight, there was this one cook that started calling me Flo Bean. After a while, it was just Bean. Marie was really nice too. She made cookies with me on the weekends and holidays I didn’t go home.”
“You didn’t go home for the holidays?”
She shook her head. “Not usually. My parents traveled a lot. They did host a few big Thanksgiving events, and I went home for those. They liked to parade me around at those parties.”
“Why would they do that?”
She scoffed. “You met my mother. It’s safe to say they aren’t exactly the humble sort. So if they could show me off to their colleagues, they did. After all, their colleagues’ kids didn’t graduate from high school at twelve. They didn’t get a double bachelor’s degree at fifteen from Cal Poly or two master’s degrees from Stanford at eighteen.”
He let out a low whistle. “Damn, Bean. I knew you were crazy smart, but I didn’t realize you were a bona fide genius.”
“Child prodigy,” she clarified with a wink. “Not genius.”
He chuckled. “Well, I beg to differ. The fact you know there’s a difference between the two means you’re a million times smarter than me.”
“Only when it comes to computers, Gavin.” She waited for the party trick request. Or for him to ask her questions that would prove her intelligence. When they continued to walk in silence, she glanced up at him.
“That’s pretty cool.” He met her gaze and smiled. “So when did you decide to change your name?”
“After I graduated. My parents wanted me to continue to get my doctorate, but I was done. At that point, I had some pretty big companies trying to recruit me. All that sounded so much more exciting than continuing on with school. So, for once, I told my parents no. Suffice it to say, they were not pleased, so I walked away and didn’t look back. Changing my name was my little act of rebellion.”
“Good for you. I can’t imagine it was easy.”
She shrugged. “I’d been on my own for so long already that it didn’t really matter. I got scholarships for all my schooling, and it included boarding. And the private firms threw big money at me.”
“You worked for Orion, right? Digital security?”
She smiled and nodded. “That was a lot of fun.” She’d dabbled in hacking before, but once she started working at Orion, one of the world’s trillion-dollar online retail companies, to hack into their various systems, there had been no stopping her. “I was really good, and it wasn’t long until I was on the FBI’s and CIA’s radar.”
“They recruited you hard.”
“They sure did.”
“But you said no.”
“I didn’t like the idea of working for one agency. Especially for the paltry amount of money they were offering.” She shot him a cocky grin. “Since I was better than anyone either agency had on staff, they really didn’t have a choice but to let me do contract work.”
“How was it working for the alphabets?”
“Boring, mostly. But I managed to keep it entertaining. When I got access to their systems, I was able to peek into a lot of interesting information. Of course, I covered my tracks well, because with those alphabet agencies—boring assignments or not—you can never be too careful with them.”
He squeezed her hand. “See, a freaking genius.”
Bumping her shoulder against his, she returned the squeeze. “What about you? What’s your family like?”
He gave a slight shake of his head and a look she couldn’t decipher flashed over his face. “My mom took off when I was a baby, so growing up it was just me and my dad. Just a boring, regular childhood.” Gavin’s jaw tensed, then he let out a chuckle that held no humor. “That’s a lie. I mean, I suppose he did the best he could, but honestly? He was a drunk. He’d get sober for a little bit and things were good. Then he’d fall off the wagon and things were... not so good. He struggled.”
Her stomach dropped, and her heart broke for him, for the child he’d been. She knew it hadn’t been just a struggle for Gavin’s father, but for him too. From the little he’d said—and hadn’t said—she imagined his upbringing had been tough, chaotic.
It explained a lot though. Made her see the man beside her a little clearer. Her admiration for him grew because the Gavin Frazier she knew was the epitome of dedicated and determined. He had a drive and focus that was unmatched. And that was all his own doing.
Unsure if she was overstepping, she asked, “What happened to him?”
“A couple weeks after I graduated from basic training, he was driving drunk and hit a tree. They told me he died instantly.”
Gavin’s flat, lifeless tone had her pulling them to a stop. Before she could second-guess herself, she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. “I’m sorry,” she murmured with her cheek pressed against his chest.
For a moment, he was tense in her arms. Then he let out a deep exhale and embraced her back, the rigidness in his frame easing. “Thanks, B,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “My dad was an only child and was estranged from his parents long before I came along. So there’s no extended family or anything. It’s just me now.”
With her arms still around him, she tilted her torso slightly away to meet his somber gaze. “You’re wrong.” His eyes narrowed in obvious confusion, and she rushed on, “It’s not just you. You may not have any family by blood anymore, but the family you’ve built, that you’ve created at Hudson Security? We are your family, and we’ll always have your back.”
The edges of his lips kicked up, and some of the heaviness around them lifted. “That’s kind of you to say.”
She wagged her finger at him, tsking. “Not kind. Just facts.” Stepping away, she retook his hand and continued walking. “And since we’ve established that I’m the genius here—those were your exact words, yes?”
He shook his head. “ Freaking genius, B.”
“That’s right.” She shot him a smug grin. “I’m a ‘freaking genius’ so you can’t argue with me on this one. Got it?”
He brought their joined hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “Wouldn’t dream of it, honey.”
She ignored the giddy feeling at his sweet gesture as they followed the descending trail back into the forest. After a few moments of comfortable silence, she let out a content sigh. “This is really pretty, Gavin. Thank you for bringing me out here. It’s... peaceful.”
It was his turn to give her a cocky smile. “Have I converted you into being a nature-loving outdoorswoman?”
She snorted. “I wouldn’t go that far. Let’s just say that I wouldn’t mind going hiking again.” Her eyes narrowed. “But only easy trails like this.”
“Even though you wanted to kill me at the start of the hike.”
She tapped her lips with her finger. “I forgot about that.”
“Too late. What do you say we make this a regular lunchtime activity?” He stopped and unzipped his pack. “I figure we have another couple of weeks or so before the weather turns to complete crap.” He pulled out a foil-wrapped something and handed it to her.
“What’s this? ”
“Lunch. Turkey and cheddar hoagie. Lettuce and mayo, no mustard or tomatoes.”
“You made me a sandwich?” She stared at him for a moment. “How did I not know you were this sweet?”
He made a face. “I’m not sweet.”
She scoffed. “Not only did you pack us a lunch, but you remembered what I like on my sandwich.”
“Whatever. I figured if I was dragging you out to hike during your lunch hour, I’d better feed you too.” Her stomach let out a loud growl, and he narrowed his eyes. “Bean, when was the last time you ate?”
She waved her sandwich at him and took a giant bite before hustling down the trail. “Thanks for this,” she called out with her mouth full. “It’s delicious!”
She yelped when he hauled her backward. Her back crashed against his front, and he nuzzled the side of her neck. “Bean?”
After finishing her bite, she swallowed and muttered, “Who knew you were such a man-handling caveman?” She relaxed into him and glanced up at him in mock indignation.
“You.”
The intensity of his gaze had her heart pounding, had her wanting to squeeze her thighs together to relieve the building heat. Instead, she leaned into him, pushing her hips back. She grinned when she felt him instantly hardening against her. “Not gonna lie, boss. Can’t say I mind.” She stepped away and shot him a wink as she continued down the trail and took another bite of her sandwich.
“Damn, woman,” he groaned as he caught up to her. “Who knew you were such a tease? In fact?—”
Gavin’s cell phone rang, its sharp ringtone so at odds with the nature around them. “Hang on,” he muttered, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Frazier.”
His expression went from playful to serious in the span of a few seconds. He met her gaze as he nodded at whatever the person on the other end was saying. “Bean’s with me and I’ll tell her once we hang up.”
Worry had her stomach turning. After giving a couple of curt, one-word replies, he disconnected the call.
“We have to get back.” Gesturing with his head for her to follow him, he continued down the trail and quickly unwrapped his sandwich. “You okay walking and eating? It’s mostly downhill, nothing strenuous like the beginning.”
Shaking her head, she rewrapped her sandwich. “It’s probably safer if I just eat in the car.”
“Sorry we have to cut this short,” he said and took a bite of his food. He slowed to put her lunch back into his pack.
“No problem,” she said, waving him off. “What’s going on?”
“That was Xander. Everyone’s okay, but someone just shot up the McClintocks’ house.”
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “But they’re billionaires. Isn’t their house secluded and secure? How could someone get that close?”
Gavin nodded as he polished off his sandwich. “That’s the problem,” he said when he finished chewing. “Whoever it was dodged all the security cameras.”
Her stomach sank. “Every single one?”
“Yeah.” He sighed as he retook her hand. “Either someone knew where all the cameras were placed or someone hacked into the feed.”