Page 50 of Guarding Bristol

This was it.The last big chunk of money he needed to get Liana her spot.

Angel started the car, pulled onto the highway and took the first exit west, driving toward the coast.He was going to Crimson Point to find Bristol Moreau.And through her, hopefully Barros.

Chapter Seventeen

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TJ finished washingtheir plates and set them on the rack beside the sink to dry, aware on a cellular level of Bristol watching TV in the living room twenty feet away.It had been more than an hour since the conversation with his handler, and there was still no obvious solution to his current predicament.

Bristol.Or rather, them being stuck alone together in this little house.

He wiped the already clean countertops, partly to keep his hands busy and partly to buy him more time before he was forced to interact with her like a human being.His time as an undercover agent on the streets had completely eroded whatever social intelligence he’d once had.He was unused to being around others now, and this place, while a luxurious reprieve for him in so many ways, was small.There was no way to avoid her while she was here.

Or the feelings she stirred in him.

Her presence seemed to suffuse the air around him.He felt her on a molecular level, could feel the weight of her stare on him right now.

The TV went silent.“Did Beckett say how long he’d be?”Bristol asked.

He dried his hands on the dishtowel, keeping his back to her.She distracted him.Made it hard to think clearly, and more than ever, he needed a clear head.“No.Just that he’d be here as soon as he can.”

“They’ll be checking up on you.”

“I know.”Without a doubt they would be.Beckett had his own connections within the intelligence industry, and also had close ties with Crimson Point Security and its management.They would be analyzing the shit out of him and his background right now, if they hadn’t already.

Over the past ninety minutes, he’d been forced to accept that the life he’d been living was over.Not that it had really been a life at all.More like he’d been existing from one day to the next.Still, having that yanked away in an instant after all the effort and sacrifice was a huge adjustment.

“Okay, so, are you just planning to ignore me until this is over?Because that could be a while yet, and I’m kind of going crazy over here.I don’t bite, promise.”

He paused, hand tightening around the cloth for a moment before he turned to face her.Christ, she was beautiful.Every time he looked at her, it hit him.Being attracted to her was problematic to say the least.“What do you want to talk about?”

“Anything, at this point.There’s nothing on TV to distract me, and this silence between us is really starting to grate on my nerves.”

“I’m not much good at making conversation.”As evidenced by the long, awkward silence while they’d eaten dinner.Separately.Him at the kitchen counter, her on the couch.Not that it had helped dull his awareness of her.

“With me, you mean?Or in general?”She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.It was adorable when she did that.

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