Page 45 of No Going Back

Hell, he didn’t want Dex having any doubt he wasn’t dealing with his situation.

“Look, I’ve already seen Claire, and I plan to keep seeing her and work through it. It’s probably something I should have done a long time ago. I don’t know how long that’s going to take, but I do know that I can keep it separate from my job,” he said, hoping to sound reassuring.

Dex didn’t speak for a few seconds and Tyler saw himself back in the group home, standing in front of the orphanage director, being told he’d lost his place with a foster family because of his behavior. He may not be a child anymore, but history just seemed to want to keep on repeating itself. Dex’s voice brought him back to the room.

“I assured Sam you have things under control, so for now you’re good.”

Tyler blew out a breath. “Thank you. I mean it, Dex. I would never put this team at risk.” Raven was the one good thing in his life.

“Don’t make me regret my decision.”

“You won’t. I took your advice and I’m talking to Claire. I was going to go and see her now since we have a couple of hours to spare before we spin up.” If seeing Claire kept Dex and Sam off his back, he would willingly go. He kind of wanted to.

Dex nodded. “Then don’t let me keep you. Get your gear together and leave it with Mackie. If we get the green light, I’ll message you and you can meet us at the plane.”

Tyler opened the door, relieved beyond measure he wasn’t benched. Dex also hadn’t mentioned Mira again.

“Tyler, you’re a fucking good operator and a vital member of this team. I’ve told you before I have no problem with you needing time to work through a personal issue, but if you ignore it and it affects you in the field, I will have a problem.” Dex held his gaze.

“Understood,” Tyler mumbled before leaving.

***

MIRA STARED AT HER computer screen. She had been trying to read the same document for the past hour. It was a relief to be at the FBI field office with Sam, away from Raven. Away from Tyler. But she was finding it difficult to get the man out of her mind.

Last night she cried herself to sleep. It was pathetic. Jesus, what happened to Mira, the strong independent woman putting her career first? She had dated other guys, some for a few months. None of them made her feel the way she did now. None of those men had meant anything serious, and she’d moved on from them without a second thought. She needed to do that with Tyler, but she couldn't. Her heart already belonged to him.

It had taken all her willpower to stop him last night, wanting nothing more than to let him take her to bed and show her exactly how many ways he could make her come. She had a feeling there would be many. Hell, just looking at him turned her on. But it wasn’t just sexual attraction. There was a connection between them. A strong one.

Last night, his apology had only drawn her closer to him. It was heartfelt, and he was in pain. It was hard seeing him like that. She wished he would let her in, let her help him. If only he would talk to her. Trust her.

“Earth to Mira?”

Mira looked up to see Ray, one of Sanchez’s FBI intel team, staring at her questioningly.

“Sorry, Ray, lost in thought. What did you say?” Damn, she needed to get her mind off Tyler.

“No problem. I was asking if you’ve looked at the satellite image recently? There’s a lot of cloud cover.”

Mira pulled it up. She could just make out the house, but no way were they going to be able to see people or cars, not while the cloud was this dense. That wasn’t going to help the boys much.

“Yeah, it’s not good. Hopefully by the time they get there, it will clear. Don’t want them having any surprises.”

“Everything alright? You seem a little preoccupied?” Ray asked.

She liked Ray, had worked with him too many times to count and they’d shared a few drinks together. Nothing more since Mira had the wrong chromosome for him. She thought a lot of him; the rest of Onyx did, too.

“Just a little tired. I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“Oh honey, I’m never worried about your work. I just don’t like to see you sad, and you look sad today. Maybe you need a little bit of Tyler attention?”

Mira wasn’t able to control her blush. “What does that mean? Tyler and I are just friends.”

“You forgot I was right there, with Kelly, a couple months back when he volunteered to do research with you. The steam coming off you two. Whoa, that was some heat.” He winked.

Shit, she did remember. They had been flirting and messing around and Ryan, Ray, and Kelly had teased her about it. That was before Tyler had kissed her. It had just been harmless flirting.

“Yeah, OK. We were messing around. Nothing to it, Ray.” She waved her hand dismissively.

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