“What?” I hissed.He hadn’t seen her yet?
He sighed, “Baby girl, give the man a break.”
I glared. “He told me I couldn’t see her until he did.”
Dean looked down the hall of the tiny, old house. “Valid in my book.”
I dropped my hands to his chest, my fingers splaying over his tight muscles. “She is my best friend, and we almost lost her,” I murmured, my eyes stinging as he looked back down at me.
He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “And we got her back.”
“We can’t do this anymore.”
My steps faltered as Casey’s voice filled my ears.
Who was she talking to?
James?
I was back at the field office, ready to fight my way through the wall that was James Garner to see my best friend. Dean thought I was a selfless human, but not when it came to this. I needed to lay eyes on her, to see her take a breath in front of me. I needed to see her warm smile and green eyes.
To make sure she was okay. That she survived whatever terrors she’d been through.
“Don’t bullshit me, honey. You and I both knowthisisn’t going anywhere.”
My mouth fell open at the sound of Jer’s voice, my feet stopping all together. I looked around to make sure no one elsewas in the hallway outside of Casey’s office. Whatever was going on between Jer and Casey was probably something the Bureau didn’t need to know about.
Me, on the other hand…
I leaned against the wall beside her door, waiting for her response.
“Jeremy…”
“You are strong, honey, but not strong enough to fight this,” my friend said, his voice gentle and heated.
I felt a blush crawling up my neck at the sound.
What the hell happened on that extraction mission?
Was Dean right?
“I think you should go,” Casey said. Her voice was firm, but even from outside the door, I could hear the uncertainty.
“This isn’t over, Casey…”
I darted down the hall, not catching the last of his sentence. As I rounded the corner, I heard her door open. Twisting my neck, I tried to catch a mere glimpse of him. If I could just see his face—
I hit a wall.
A familiar wall.
A Dean-shaped wall.
His hands landed on my upper arms to steady me, and when I looked up at him, those hazel eyes were dancing with amusement. “Whatcha doing, baby girl?”
I gulped. What I just witnessed wasn’t my business to tell. “I need to pee,” I lied.
A single brow rose, making him look even more delicious than he already was. He had pulled his hair up into his messy bun on the way here, and I craved to yank it free. “Bathroom is the other way.”
