Page 26 of No Going Back

“Mira, wait! It’s not like that. Let me explain.”

Mira stood, turned, and rushed out of the café to the safety of her car. Starting the engine, she pulled away quickly, wanting to get as far away from Tyler as possible.

***

SHIT! HE COULDN’T HAVE handled that any worse. Tyler didn’t know whether to go after her or not. Fuck, that was the last thing he’d been expecting her to say today. When she walked in looking sexy as hell, he was sure she was going to tell him they couldn’t have sex again, reinforce it was a one-time thing, and make sure there was no awkwardness. To hear her say she wanted more completely threw him. He had almost told her he felt the same. Then that little voice came roaring into his head.

You get close, someone will get hurt. Don’t do it. She deserves better than you.

Her face. Damn, she had been crushed. He felt like a complete ass because he had never intended to hurt her. His frustration at himself had come out as anger at her. Jesus, he’d basically blamed her, throwing the fact that he’d asked her, warned her, that it couldn’t be anything more. What the hell was wrong with him? The worst part? He liked her. A lot. But he was too damn scared to take a chance. Yeah, kick-ass special operator, scared to take a risk. Mira was family to the team. They would have his balls over this. He needed to fix it. Fast. At the very least he should explain, try to make her understand he had the problem, not her.

Taking out his phone he contemplated texting her. What would he say? Before getting a chance to text, the phone pinged. Not Mira. Dex.

Dex: Ty, can you come to the Farm now?

Great. Just what he needed. Dex probably wanted to talk about yesterday. He was his team leader, couldn’t exactly say no.

Tyler: On my way.

He hesitated for just a second, but then called Mira. No surprise, she didn’t pick up. He texted instead.

Tyler: Babe. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you. Can we talk some more, I want to explain. Please.

Mira’s response was instant. I don’t think there’s anything more to say. You should drop the babe too. I heard you, we’re just friends. If that.

Tyler winced. Shit.

Tyler: Mira, please. You do mean something to me. I was an ass. Give me a chance to explain.

Tyler waited, but there was no response. She was pissed, and he could hardly blame her. He’d deal with Dex, then maybe go and see her in person and make her listen. She deserved an explanation. Damn, she deserved better. Much better than him. He would make her see that.

Twenty minutes later, Tyler arrived at the Farm. Dex’s truck was the only other car there. Looks like it was just the two of them. He cleared security, then found Dex alone in his office. He’d brought two coffees. Dex looked up as he walked in.

“Hey, Ty, thanks for coming in.”

Tyler handed him a coffee. “No problem.”

Dex took the drink. “Thanks, sit down.”

“Look, Dex,” he said, taking a seat. “I know this is about yesterday. I overreacted with Donnie; I already plan to apologize.”

“That’s good. But Donnie was just being Donnie. You don’t usually have a problem with it. If that’s all it took to get you riled up last night, I’m starting to get concerned about you.”

Tyler swallowed. “You got nothing to worry about. What’s going on with me will not affect me in the field. You know me better than that Dex.”

“I thought I did, but in five years, I’ve never seen this side of you before. Distracted, irritable, it’s not you, Ty.”

Tyler ran a hand through his hair, sighing.

“You had to take down that asshole in front of those kids,” Dex said. “I’m sure that didn’t help.”

“I didn’t like doing it, but I’m fine. If I hadn’t have taken that shot, two of those kids would be dead.”

“I’m not questioning the call. But it must have brought back memories.”

Tyler tensed. Of course, Dex would connect the dots, but he wasn’t about to discuss his childhood trauma with him. Dex knew he witnessed his mother’s murder and some of what came after, but he didn’t know all of it.

“I’m fine.” he repeated.

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