Page 43 of Complicated Past

She could already read him almost as well as his teammates could. He stared at the ceiling and sighed. “No guarantees.” He had to plan for contingencies of what could go wrong. That meant refocusing rather than picking up where he’d been with Kendra. “I need to go for a run. I might be awhile. Do you want me to go ahead and move Jalen back out here?”

“Don’t risk waking him. We can share the bed.”

“Now you’re making me jealous.” He winked as he retrieved his workout clothes from his bag.

“It’s a king-size bed. There’s room for two and a half if you want instead of sleeping on the couch. I’d hate for your neck to get stiff again.”

“Maybe I’ll do that.” Obviously, they wouldn’t fool around with Jalen in the bed. After Bri was home, he and Kendra could see where things went.

In the darkness, he ran hard the first mile through Dev’s neighborhood, burning off anger, frustration, and too much energy he needed to conserve. Once he slowed his pace, he worked through potential scenarios that could go down and put Bri at risk.

Then it hit him. If Tawnya called or tried to video chat when they arrived, she expected Malloy to be at the airport with Jalen. Maybe notinsidethe airport, but in a parking lot or deck. Itwasn’t in the capacity he wanted, but hedidhave to be at the airport.

If he were there, he could stake out Tawnya’s car. There was no way he would let Bri leave with her. Except he needed to know the make, model, and license plate to find it. Clara had to have that information. Would she tell him? He could place a tracker on the vehicle, so if something went wrong with tagging Bri’s suitcase authorities wouldn’t lose her.

He needed to make sure Clara and HSI operated with the best information and action plan. Stopping, he pulled out his phone and sent a text message to Clara, then resumed his run, hoping he’d hear back from her tonight.

After roughly half an hour, he returned to the house, drenched from running in the North Carolina humidity. Kendra had left the light over the stove on, but the rest of the house was dark. However, she’d also left the bedroom door ajar.

After downing a glass of water, he went to the guest bathroom and turned on the shower.

As he stripped off his sweaty clothes, he thought about how he could help Kendra work through her past and have confidence for a future relationship. Though it sucked for him, he’d overheard her and Clara at Malloy’s house earlier. He needed to be upfront with her that his long-term plans did not include marriage and family—even if spending so much time with her these past few days had him thinking beyond the short-term.

He couldn’t blame her for wanting more. Hell, he did too. Years ago, he’d accepted that wasn’t his lot in life. While he would kill to protect Jalen, he didn’t date women with kids. He didn’t want to risk being responsible for breaking their hearts. A relationship or marriage ending didn’t always mean problems like in his mother’s life, though, with his family history, he didn’twant to take chances. With what Kendra shared about her aunt killing her husband, she’d likely understand that.

He stepped under the warm spray. As he washed, he imagined it was Kendra’s hand rather than his gliding up and down his stiff cock. Better to self-gratify than lay in bed thinking about Kendra and things that we’re not happening tonight—or maybe ever.

He turned the water to cold to finish off the shower. As he toweled off, he debated her offer to sleep in the bed. Leaving the door open came across as an invitation, which, if he didn’t accept it, could send the wrong message or been seen as rejection. Though she deserved someone who could give her the life she wanted. Besides, her entire family would have serious concerns about her even dating a man who served in the military, especially since movies and television loved to portray guys in the Special Ops community as unhinged—or worse.

Since his only pair of gym shorts were damp from the run, he dressed in clean boxers and pulled on a T-shirt. He turned off the light in the kitchen and let his eyes adjust to the dark before opening the bedroom door wider.

“Was the run helpful?” Kendra let him know she was awake.

“Yeah.” He entered the room. “I texted Clara. Hopefully, I’ll hear back in the morning.”

Kendra rolled to her side and edged closer to where Jalen slept on the side of the bed. She even lifted the sheet.

He lay on his side. In the faint light, he made out her face inches from his. Her smile grew.

“What?” he asked.

“I was just thinking how we’d answer if someone were to ask how we met. I could say we met through Bri, though I’d leave out the ‘I was her social worker’ part and not mention a drug smuggling operation as a matchmaker.”

He gave a gruff chuckle, and Jalen stirred. He liked how she’d respected Bri’s privacy, even if she wouldn’t tell her family, or even her friends, if they went out a few times. His team would know how they met, not that he’d introduce her to them. Over the years, there’d only been two women he’d been with long enough to meet his team family. “I know you’ve picked up on what I do, but it’s important that you not share that—with anyone.”

“I am aware and understand.”

“Thanks.” For now, there was no harm in rolling with the fantasy of meeting each other’s friends. “I can use the ‘It’s classified.’ response or just stare at them without answering.” He had that down pat.

He couldn’t resist reaching to run the back of his fingers across the silky skin of her cheek before kissing her—sweet, relatively chaste kisses given the situation, but the kind that burrowed beneath his armor.

The way she made him feel respected and of worth went deeper than physical attraction and needs. He shouldn’t let it go to his head. In addition to looking for the good in people, she might be swayed, viewing him as Jalen’s and her protector the past few days.

She had one arm curled under her head. He took hold of her free hand and kissed her forehead. Breathing in a light powder scent, he closed his eyes, trusting that Kendra and Clara were right, and that Bri would be home safely tomorrow.

EIGHTEEN

When he woke in bed next to Kendra, Linc only wanted one thing more than to stay right there. What he most wanted motivated him to ease out from under the covers without waking her or Jalen. Before he even dressed, he checked his phone. No message from Clara yet, but it wasn’t even seven a.m. Waiting would make this a long day.

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