Page 62 of No Fear

Donnie: Well that looks very boring, lol.

Her smile widened as another text arrived. A picture appeared of what looked like a steak sandwich. Her mouth watered.

Charlie: OK, you win. That looks delicious, but isn’t it mid-morning there?

Donnie: Had an early start. When you come visit, I’ll buy you one.

She typed “Can’t wait.” then erased it. What was she thinking? She had no plans to go to Coronado. Instead, she typed.

Charlie: Lol. Enjoy.

The texting had been lighthearted and fun, but neither had mentioned yesterday. Perhaps he wasn’t going to?

She put away the phone and got stuck into work, welcoming the distraction. The afternoon flew by and before she knew it, she was making her way back to the hotel. The fifteen-minute walk was over too quickly, and she was soon in her room alone. It never bothered her being in hotels when working away, but today she felt lonely. The thought of going out by herself, even for dinner, held no appeal. It was almost six. She had no idea what time Donnie would call. She missed him. How crazy was that? She’d been with Simon for a year, but she had never felt this way when they were apart. She'd been with Donnie one weekend and already she missed his smile, his voice, his attention.

You haven't just missed him since last night. You’ve missed him for the last ten years.

***

IT HAD BEEN A LONG fucking day of talking.

Reborn soldiers had been making their way through local villages in Daram, demanding any fighting age males join their cause. Threatening their wives and children if they did not.

No one knew exactly what Reborn’s plan was in Daram, but it seemed likely they were going to start a civil war. Onyx wanted to stop them before that happened and even more people died unnecessarily. This might be personal to Onyx, but thousands more lives were at stake if a civil war erupted.

The increase in activity was unnerving and even the good old CIA couldn't predict when the brothers might make a move. Because of that, the op had been moved up. They had spent the day reviewing maps and fine-tuning their plan.

“Alright. Go home, get your affairs in order and get some rest. Wheels up 0800 and you will be there for as long as it takes to end this. Understood?” Sam said in his no-nonsense tone.

Donnie didn’t hang around. He got back to his condo in record time, eager to speak to Charlie. He had been focused today, but she was never far from his thoughts. Grabbing a beer, he sat on his couch and called.

“Hi,” she answered quietly.

“Hi, babe.”

When there was silence at the other end, he asked, “So how was your day?”

“It was good. You?”

Shit. She sounded uncomfortable. Not happening.

“Can we talk about yesterday?” he asked softly.

“We don’t have to. I mean, it was great. Thank you. But I know I kind of pushed you into it, and I don't want you to feel bad about it. Maybe it’s best if we pretend it didn't happen. I want to still be friends.”

She was rambling. Nervous. Uncertain. Different from the confident woman who had strolled into his hotel room asking him for sex.

“We’re both adults and—”

“Charlie. Stop.” She went quiet. “Do you regret what happened?” He held his breath.

“No.”

Thank God.

“Good. Because neither do I. You didn’t push me into anything. I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you again. But I lost you. I hurt you. You were engaged. I never thought I would ever be so lucky for you to want me again.” He sighed. “Shit. I should have woken you and had this conversation face to face. I’m sorry.”

Truth was he hadn’t been sure what he was going to say until now. The guilt of Nate’s death still weighed heavily, but his feelings for this woman were too strong to ignore.