Jeff looked up. “Thirty-two seconds. That’s how long it took my men to collect you into an easily manageable group. Give them another twenty-five seconds and you’d all be dead.”
The man who had been “shot” scrambled to his feet. He was one of the security staff. He patted his chest and grinned. “Blanks on a bulletproof vest. I didn’t feel a thing.”
“Now that I have your attention,” Jeff said, “let’s talk about buying the best. Don’t be cheap. Get the best people and give them the most dependable equipment available. Newer isn’t always better. Figuring out what they should have isn’t your job—you have experts for that. But don’t skimp. Yes, a clip that holds more bullets costs more. So what? Isn’t your life worth that?”
He put down his clipboard. “Let’s take a fifteen-minute break so that your heart rates can get back to normal.”
Ashley pressed her hand to her chest and wondered if that would ever happen. At least her heart had returned to her chest. She moved over to the table set up with sodas and water. She opened a can of a diet drink and sipped. A few of the other participants chatted to each other while most pulled out their cell phones and made calls.
Zane walked over to where she stood and he grinned. “Great, huh? Did you ever feel so alive?”
“Yes,” she said. “I felt very alive before I thought I was going to die. That was not my idea of a good time.”
Zane laughed as he moved away, but she didn’t think it was funny. She turned her attention to Jeff who was busy answering questions. For the first time she was starting to understand who and what he was. A warrior.
She remembered he’d told her Nicole had said he wasn’t human. Ashley disagreed. He was very human. He was just better trained and more willing to die than most people. He was also very special. How many men like him would be willing to take the time to braid a little girl’s hair or read her a story? How many would bother with things like Easter egg hunts or remember to compliment her on a new hat?
Yes, he was a warrior and she loved him.
Ashley closed her eyes against the sudden burning behind her lids. She didn’t want to start crying here, but emotion overwhelmed her. She loved Jeff. It was a thousand kinds of stupid and yet she hadn’t been able to stop herself.
To make matters worse, along with the love came fear. She knew what she wanted in her life—someone who would love her completely, more than he’d ever loved anyone else ever. She desperately needed to be first in his life.
Was that Jeff? Did he care about her that way? She wanted to believe it was possible, but she wasn’t sure. Could the warrior open himself that much? His life was so different from hers. She couldn’t go where he went. Would he be willing to stay on her side of the line?
She felt a hand on her shoulder, turned and saw Jeff standing next to her.
“Are you all right?” he asked, concern deepening his voice.
She forced herself to smile. “Zane seemed to feel it was all a joke, designed to make us feel alive. I told him I was plenty alive enough before. If anything, the attack scared about three years of life out of me.”
“That’s the adrenaline. It’s a powerful chemical, but it will fade.”
She touched her chest. “So I’ll be able to breathe without gasping?”
“Just give it a minute.” He brushed his fingers against her cheek. “How are you holding up? Any regrets?”
“About four dozen, but I’m still enjoying myself. It’s really different from my ordinary life.”
“Are you surprised?”
“By the differences? No.” She shrugged. “I knew what you did, but I never understood the details. There are way too many ways to kill people.”
“My job is to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Agreed, but is it what you do or who you are?”
She knew what she wanted him to say. Unfortunately she also knew what he was going to say.
“It’s who I am,” he told her. “That can’t change.”
“I know,” she said with a lightness she didn’t feel. “But a girl can dream.”
He dropped his hand to his side. His gaze grew more intense. “What do you dream about, Ashley? What do you want?”
She wanted him to be different. To be an ordinary man who worked in a bank or a factory. She didn’t want someone who saved the world because causes were often so much more important than people. She wanted him to be the kind of man who would love her back.
She was as foolish as a child crying for the moon.
