He reached inside, lifted out two sealed, plastic containers, and set them on the counter. He pushed the freezer drawer shutwith his knee, walked back over to her in that easy way of his, leaned down, and with his face inches from hers, said, “I’m so glad you’ve begun to trust me a little.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but he spoke first.
“I know there’s still a piece of you right here that you’re still protecting.” He pointed toward her chest, where her heart was. “And I completely understand that. But something you should know about me, Luna—I’m a very patient man. I have no problem waiting until you’re ready to trust me withallof you.” He winked and straightened to his full height. “Why don’t we pack this stuff up and let’s go have some ice cream.”
She wasn’t sure what to say in response to his declaration, so she pushed up from the chair and slid it back up to the table.
They loaded everything into a big wicker basket and headed out to be with their friends.
Boone’s words swirled around in her head the whole way to the firepit.
“I have no problem waiting until you’re ready to trust me with all of you.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Boonetightenedthelaceson his boots, pushed up off the bench, and swung his locker door shut with a metallic bang. He tucked his black shirt into his tactical pants and tugged his OSI ball cap down on his head.
“I think today’s the day I finally beat you,” Eddie chimed in from his locker about five feet away.
“Hey, ya never know. I might fall and break my leg or something, ’cause let’s face it, that’s the only way it’ll happen.” Smack talk was one of the great things about being a guy.
“We’ll see about that.” Eddie’s phone rang, and he reached into his locker, grabbed it, and tapped the screen.
“Hey, Reina.” He put it on speaker and set it on the bench. “I got you on speaker, and Boone is here, so don’t say anything to embarrass me.” Joking as usual, he started to reach into his locker for something and stopped. “What do you mean? What happened to her?”
Eddie became suddenly very serious.
Despite the phone being on speaker, Boone couldn’t really make out what his sister was saying. And eavesdropping wasn’t his thing, so he turned away and tried not to listen.
He needn’t have worried, because Eddie snatched his phone off the bench and took it off speaker. Then he put his hand over the phone and turned to Boone. “You guys start without me.”
“Everything okay?” He’d never seen him like this before.
“Yeah.” Eddie gave him a tight smile and a thumbs-up, put his phone to his ear and sat down on the bench with his back to Boone.
When he started talking again, his voice was much lower, and all trace of his lighthearted tone had disappeared.
Eddie came from a large family with seven sisters. His father died when he was young, and he’d assumed the role of protector. And boy, did he take it seriously. More than once, Boone had overheard him on the phone with one or more of his sisters, giving them the what-for in Spanish. The first time it happened, he gave Eddie a heads-up that he also spoke Spanish.
Boone left the locker room, jogged past the obstacle course, and met Cole, Lucas, Calliope, Viking, and Hawk at the start of the run course. The five-mile trek weaved through the woods adjacent to the Dark Ops facility.
Remy wasn’t working today, so he was home, hanging out with Charlotte.
“Where’s Eddie?” Cole looked behind the group toward the main building.
“He took a call and said to go on without him.” Boone masked his concern.
“Maybe I should go check on him.” Calliope started toward the locker room.
“Leave him,” Cole said. “He knows we’re here if he needs anything.”
Everyone on the team was pretty close, and Cole knew Eddie from their time working for Jeffrey Burke at the National Security Agency. But Calliope and Hawk probably spent the most off-time with Eddie. The last thing he needed right now was a stubborn alpha female running in there to prod him into sharing his personal business.
“Yeah, you’re right.” She squatted down, adjusted her socks, then stood. “Besides, Eddie isn’t the kind of guy who keeps secrets.”
Boone could cite one example of a guy who wasknownfor keeping secrets. The very same guy had been court-martialed and was currently going into his third year of a fifteen-year sentence at the correctional facility at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
And Boone had been the one to put him there.
