Page 24 of Guarding Bristol

“I will.”He definitely wouldn’t.Beckett had already done more than enough for him.He would do what he could to pay it back.“Thanks.”

As Beckett strode through the crowded room, Mac clapped him on the back.“Ready to go?My truck’s in the lot just up the hill.Do you have any gear we need to pick up?”

“No.Just this.”He hoisted his ruck from the floor and flipped it over his head onto his shoulders.Besides his beret and service medals, it was the only thing he’d kept from his days in the military.

Mac rounded the table and headed for the door with a noticeable limp in one leg.TJ stayed a step behind him, feeling the curious stares following them.When he stepped outside, a gust of damp wind greeted him, whipping off the rolling waves that washed onto the wide expanse of sandy beach to their right.

“This way,” Mac said, and strode for the crosswalk that led to the other side of Front Street.

TJ was halfway across it when he spotted a familiar figure stepping out of Whale’s Tale on the opposite side.Bristol stopped on the sidewalk with what looked like a pastry box in her hands, her face lighting up.“Oh my gosh, hi!”

Her dazzling smile was aimed directly at him and full of joy.The power of it momentarily paralyzed him, rooting his feet to the asphalt.

A horn beeped, knocking his brain back into gear.He hurried to the other sidewalk, unable to take his eyes off her.

Mac had paused to speak to her.After a moment, he shot TJ a grin and jerked a thumb up the hill.“I’ll bring the truck down.We need to come back down this way anyhow.”

As he limped off, TJ stood unmoving on the sidewalk, bracing himself as Bristol approached.Today she wore a frilly white top that left her rounded arms and a thin strip of midriff bare above the waistband of her flowy, calf-length blue skirt with little white polka dots all over it.

“It’s so good to see you,” she said when she reached the corner, still beaming at him.The breeze tousled her dark brown hair around her shoulders, a blue bow with little white polka dots that matched her skirt holding it back from her face.She looked summery and fresh and so incredibly gorgeous it almost hurt to look at her.

“Hi.”It was all he would allow himself to say.The woman was a damned thorn in his side.He couldn’t seem to get rid of her no matter where he went.But seeing that genuine smile just for him, some deeply buried part of him was glad he’d made her happy by showing up for the interview today.

“You look...amazing, by the way.”She ran an approving gaze over him from head to toe.

He resisted the urge to shift his stance even as his cheeks heated slightly, now exposed by the full goatee he’d shaved that morning.Before leaving Portland, he’d paid for a cheap haircut and an almost new flannel shirt from a second-hand shop, to look more presentable for the interview.

It was embarrassing, to be blushing.But there was also a sense of pride that she clearly liked the way he’d cleaned up.The way Bristol looked at him now made the effort more than worth it.It’d been forever since a woman had looked at him like that, and he couldn’t remember ever feeling this level of attraction to anyone.

“What are you doing here?”she asked, still smiling.Her gaze dropped to his mouth for a moment, and a different kind of hunger swept through him.

“I met Mac and Beckett for an interview.”He was struggling not to look at her mouth.Or imagine what it would feel like under his.

The leap of hope and excitement in her eyes was anything but fake.Everything about her was so damned real, it sparked his deepest protective instincts.“How’d it go?”

He didn’t have it in him to mutter an excuse and walk away, and he didn’t see the point in lying when she was the reason for his sudden good fortune.“I got the job.”

“That’s fantastic!”She gave him another megawatt smile that shut his brain off and left him staring.“Congratulations.Are you excited?What an amazing fresh start this will be for you.Crimson Point’s so great.You’ll love it here.”

He shrugged.Excited was the wrong word, but her reaction alone was worth accepting the job.Her unwarranted belief in him soothed a raw wound in his soul that had been festering for too long.And he was already addicted to her smile.Already craved it and secretly wanted more of her warmth and care.

That was dangerous.He’d been frozen inside for so long, had gone unnoticed and uncared about since he’d ended up on the streets.He had to be careful not to let Bristol thaw the icy core inside him.In his world, it was all that kept him alive.

“When do you start?”she asked when he didn’t respond.

“Monday.”

She nodded.“Great.Have you eaten?”

“Yeah.Mac’s gonna be here any minute to pick me up.”

“Oh.”Her smile vanished.“Sure.”

He felt like a dick for shutting her down so bluntly, but his lifestyle was hard.He’d known it would be from the outset.And even though things were looking up for him at the moment, he knew all too well that it could all disappear at any time and land him back on the street.

Much as he liked Bristol, as crazy attracted as he was to her, he couldn’t afford to let her get mixed up in his life.It wouldn’t be right.And he definitely didn’t want her hanging around him, seeing what he got up to.

A big silver pickup pulled up to the stop sign to his right, saving him from the awkward silence.Mac waved at him through the windshield.“See you around,” TJ said to her, hating being the reason the light in her eyes dimmed as he turned away.

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