“Emily,” Diesel said as I passed by. He didn’t touch me, though. In the past, he’d never had any trouble pulling me close, or taking my hand, stroking my hair. Casual touch between us had been a given. Now, it was like there was an invisible wall between us. One that neither of us could breech.
His eyes were intent on mine. “I couldn’t read about you here, so innocent and sweet. I…I just couldn’t. It was hell on earth, Emily. And there was no space for missing you. I couldn’t. It made everything harder.”
My heart quaked at that, and I tried to harden it again.I’d given up on this man, I reminded myself. He’d gone off for years and years, and left me all alone. He’d kissed me. Raised my hopes. Only to shatter them by never writing me back, or even reading what I’d sent him.
I heard the sound of Bennet ambling down the stairs and knew our time was up. “Yeah, well, not hearing from you was hard, and having my letters returned to me was even harder, so I guess we’re even.”
I turned on my heel and strode out of the room, before my heart gave my anguish away.
CHAPTER9
Emily
Itrudged into the Sigma Squad Bail Bonds office the next day, fully prepared to be made fun of for my trunk mishap. To my relief, the other agents were out in the field.
Only Laura manned the tech desk, supporting the agents outside, and Diesel’s bike was parked out front. I’d hoped to stay out his hair today, so that was pretty annoying.
“Good morning,” I called to my sister-in-law who also happened to be my best friend.
“Good morning. Oh, you brought coffee, great.”
“Yes, here you go.” I passed her over a pumpkin spice latte, a little seasonal treat, and she beamed at me.
“Are you ok? Diesel said you hurt your wrists. He thought you shouldn’t come today,” Laura said and raised an eyebrow at me. I knew what she was doing. Laura made no secret of the fact that she wanted Diesel and I together. If I didn’t love her so much, it’d be damn annoying.
“I hardly think a little scratch is a good enough reason to not come to work.”
“I guess he really worries about you,” Laura said with a grin. “And we both know why.”
“The insurance premium of the business will go up with workplace accident claims?”
“Sure, that, and he loves you,” she quipped before leaning in and whispering, “You know, he told Bennet that he wants to partner with you, to keep you safe in the field.”
“Partner?” My voice squeaked as I spoke.
‘Yep,” she confirmed and laughed at my expression. “He’s waiting for you in the gym downstairs. He seemed really excited about putting you through your paces.” She raised an eyebrow and looked me up and down suggestively.
“Yeah, right. He doesn’t think about me that way,” I muttered, the words still stinging.
“Right, and the sky isn’t blue. For two intelligent capable individuals, you are really fucking dumb sometimes.” Laura gave an aggravated sigh and picked up her coffee, waving me away.
“You want me to go down there?”
“Bennet does. He agreed on the partner thing, didn’t I say?” Laura teased, and I resisted the urge to take her coffee back and dump it over her head.
“No, you didn’t.”
“Oops, oh well, I’m saying it now. Bennet says you’re to let Diesel train you, and not go out without him. He’s worried you’ll get hurt. Ok?”
“Not ok!” I ground out and slammed my coffee down. “I know whose doing this is.” I stormed toward the stairs to the lower floor. This was Diesel’s fault, and it was time he quit meddling in my business.
I stomped down the stairs,fueled by my righteous indignation. He was in the space that Bennet had set up as a small gym with a couple of machines and punching bags. Diesel wasn’t wearing a shirt. I drew up short as I took him in. He was exercising, pushing his fit — frankly ridiculous — body through a circuit in which every single muscle on his drool-worthy abdomen was flexing, and don’t even get me started on his arms.
He caught sight of me standing at the foot of the stairs, watching him, and I knew my face reflected my frank appreciation, as he grinned in a way that made me want to punch something.
“Ready to train?”
“What are you doing?” I demanded, kicking my brain back into gear.