Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Callie couldn’t remember being this happy, well, maybe ever. She’d had a happy childhood and she’d excelled in college. She’d done her best at every job she’d had, and she’d really enjoyed her time in Poland with the troops. The travel and being a part of a different culture—her mother’s childhood culture—had been wonderful. She’d been happy doing those things.
But then she got the call about her parents, about the fact Nikki was in Vail with them but hadn’t gone skiing that day, and her world had crashed down. She’d been on a plane the next morning—the soonest available—and she’d never gone back to Poland.
She’d lived on the base in housing they provided, and all her personal things had been packed up and sent to storage until she’d gotten the job in Alabama and had it sent there. She’d got up every day since landing stateside, put one foot in front of the other, and made it to the end of the day with her sanity intact and a little more accomplished.
Nikki had been traumatized, inconsolable for weeks, but therapy had helped her learn to cope. Those had not been happy days.
The past few months, happiness crept back in. But it was a quiet, contained sort of happiness. The kind that made you smile because the sunlight was beautiful in the morning or because the cup of coffee tasted just right. Small events, daily events.
But this happiness she felt now was bursting inside her, pushing at her seams, aching to get out.
She was the poster child for a good orgasm lifting one’s mood.
“So how is it living with Mr. Grumpy?” Daphne asked when she finished checking a shooter into the range. They’d been sitting down to chat with fresh iced tea that Daphne had poured into lidded cups with straws when the customer came in. But he was gone now, and Daphne was getting straight to the point.
Callie put a hand on Luna’s head. She was sitting beside Callie’s chair, tongue out, listening to the distant sound of gunfire. She didn’t seem nervous, just curious.
“Mr. Grumpy isn’t so bad.”
She tried to keep her voice casual. Daphne arched an eyebrow. “Not so bad, huh? That’s good.”
“He even talks sometimes, though reluctantly. But you should have seen him with Nikki. He was patient and kind. She roped him into helping clean her horse’s stall, and he didn’t back out.”
She wasn’t mentioning the rest of it: the soulful discussions, holding her last night so she could sleep, the pancakes or—heaven forbid—the sex. That was too much to explain. Especially when she’d only met Daphne a few days ago. But she liked her. Callie had never had a close girlfriend to talk about things with. Her mother had been bold and outspoken in her social circles, which meant many of the girls who might have been her friends were already primed to dislike her because their mothers had disliked hers.
Not to mention that super nerdy thing she’d had going as a kid. No wonder Tara and Bobby had set her up. It’d made for great entertainment to remind the smart girl why she wasn’t as smart as she thought she was.
“You’re blushing,” Daphne said.
Callie blinked. “What? No. I’m just a little warm. Isn’t it warm in here?”
Daphne grinned. “No, it’s not. See this sweater I have on? It’s ninety degrees outside and this is a meat locker. You’re blushing.”
“Could be a hot flash.”
“Hardly. You aren’t old enough. What happened? Did Seth kiss you? Or did you kiss him? I could see why you’d want to. No shame.”
“No, I did not kiss him.” She hesitated. “He kissed me.”
Daphne laughed and clapped her hands lightly. “Oh, this is great! What was it like?”
Callie’s blush was getting worse. She wasn’t embarrassed over a kiss. It was just that she couldn’t stop at thinking about a kiss. Her mind had zipped immediately to sex in the shower and then the bed. And again when they woke from their nap. Mercy, that had been hot.
But she seriously needed to get a grip on herself before she said more than she should.
“Honestly, he did it yesterday before I had to go into the bookstore. He was trying to distract me by giving me something else to think about. It worked. Because, yes, he’s a fantastic kisser.”
“Looking the way he does, you’d hope so. How disappointing if he wasn’t, right?”
Callie managed a laugh. “Right.”
Daphne leaned back in her chair. She was pretty, with long red hair and green eyes. She was also tall, at least five seven, and almost rail thin. She looked like she’d never been awkward or nerdy in her life. She’d probably been a cheerleader. Bobby Bowen wouldn’t have pretended to kiss her. He’d have kissed her for real and to hell with Tara’s ideas.
“What about Kane?” Callie asked.
Daphne’s gaze dropped to her drink. She fiddled with the straw as if she was pushing the ice around into a better place. “What about him?”
“I don’t know. Just seems like there’s some tension between you.”
“No, no tension.” Daphne smiled. “Kane is Kane. He’s determined to play big brother to me, so I let him, even if he’s annoying as hell. But that one…” She shook her head. “He’s a charmer, a player, a manwhore. I’m glad he wasn’t the one who went to stay with you for a few days.”
She was too but she had to ask. “Why?”
“Seth only kissed you. Kane would have charmed your panties off.”
“That bad, huh?”
Daphne nodded. “That bad. I’d never date somebody like that because I’d constantly wonder if he was faithful. I think he just can’t help himself. Warren isn’t gorgeous, but he’s sweet. He’s a good man, he works hard, and he believes in treating a woman right.” She leaned toward Callie and lowered her voice. “He doesn’t want to have sex outside of marriage.”
“Wow. Then you’ve never…”
“No, never.” She frowned then. “I wouldn’t call him a good kisser, either. His kisses are very chaste. But he isn’t pushy, and I’m happy. It’s comfortable with him. Safe. We’re more friends than anything. But don’t tell the guys. I don’t want them thinking Warren is any stranger than they already do.”
“Do they?”
She looked thoughtful. “Well, maybe not really. They’ve never been anything but welcoming and friendly. I think Warren’s intimidated though. He’s not a big guy, and all of them are. You can’t help but think if you needed rescuing, the One Shot Tactical guys are the ones you’d want coming to save you.”
Callie couldn’t argue with that. She’d been compelled to come here the day after the fire, and though she’d thought it would be more of a temporary thing while she made plans to escape, she couldn’t argue that it was the best decision she’d made.
Luna jumped to all fours, her tail wagging happily as she stared at the door. Footsteps sounded in the hallway and then Seth appeared. Callie’s insides fluttered at the sight of him.
“Daphne, could you keep Luna for a little bit?”
“Sure,” Daphne said, getting to her feet. “She can hang with me as long as you need. Isn’t that right, pretty girl?”
Her voice went up a few octaves on that last part. Seth came over to pet Luna and then held out a hand for Callie. Daphne waggled her eyebrows at Callie as if to say, uh-huh, busted.
“I need to show you something,” he said, looking serious enough her heart tripped.
“Seth, for heaven’s sake, can’t you come up with a better line?” Daphne drawled.
He blinked. “What? It’s true. I need to show her something.”
“So long as it’s not X-rated.”
Seth’s gaze whipped to Callie’s. Before she could figure out how to tell him she hadn’t said a word, Daphne laughed.
“Oh, you are so busted. And here I thought Kane was the one she’d have to worry about.”
“No idea what you’re talking about, Daph,” Seth said, his hand closing around Callie’s.
Daphne shooed them away, still grinning like she’d solved a very amusing puzzle.
“We’re adults,” Callie said under her breath as they walked down the hall. “Why do I feel like a teenager who’s been caught being naughty?”
“Don’t say that word, babe. Makes me think of things I shouldn’t be thinking of right now.” He tugged her into the supply room they’d been in two days ago when he’d gotten the cameras and crowded her into the wall before his mouth came down on hers.
Callie’s body melted into his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on tiptoe as they kissed with all the fire of earlier in the shower.
“Shit,” Seth said, taking a step back. “Not the place.”
“I didn’t pull me into this room, you did.”
He shoved a hand through his hair. “I know, I know. But I need to prepare you.”
“Prepare me? Sounds ominous.”
“It’s not ominous. It’s just… not what you expect. I’m going to take you to a room, Callie. A SCIF.”
She tried to process that. A SCIF was a room where top-secret things happened. A hardened facility made especially for that purpose. “A SCIF? Where?”
“Here,” he told her in all seriousness.
She looked around the room they stood in, confused.
“Not this room.” He huffed a breath. “We have a SCIF. I’m going to take you there. The rest of the team is waiting.”
“Team? Seth, what is this? You’re scaring me.”
He gripped her hand and tugged her in for another kiss. “Nothing to be scared of, Callie. I told you I would protect you, and I am. My team is protecting you. There’s nothing more important than that. But there are things you need to know and the only way I can tell you is inside a SCIF.”
She stared at him, her mind racing with possibilities. But her heart was the calm one. Her heart knew what her brain didn’t want to admit. She let her heart do the talking. “I trust you.”
His smile made the butterflies flutter again. He led her down the hall, into the office where they’d talked with Alex. There was a closet, and he opened the door. Inside the closet was another door that led into a short hallway. At the end of the hall stood a door with a keypad and a biometric scanner.
Seth entered a code and put his hand on the scanner while Callie gaped. The door opened and he led her inside.
“Oh my God,” she said as she hesitated in the entry. The room wasn’t big, about twelve by twelve, but there were overhead monitors at either end, computer terminals, and a central oval table with six chairs placed around it. There was a secure phone sitting on the table, the kind of phone that you only used to call important people. Military people.
Government officials.
Five men she knew sat around the table. She gaped at them. Clearly, they were a team. Not just six friends who’d opened a range together. They were something more.
“It’s okay, Callie. Come on in and have a seat.”
It was Alex who’d spoken. She stepped across the threshold and Seth followed.
Then the door sealed shut behind them.