Page 7 of Guarding Bristol

Chapter Three

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TJ didn’t move.Hecouldn’t, somehow frozen in place by the shorter woman standing before him, and her use of his name.No one had called him that in more than a year.It felt like it belonged to a stranger now.

Immediately on the heels of that shock, suspicion took hold.He tore his gaze from her to the other one still sitting in a chair.He’d recognized her immediately.She had come here the day after the riots to talk to him and worked for Crimson Point Security out on the coast.What the hell did she want this time?He’d answered all her questions last time.

He kept his expression impassive as he looked between them.“Can I help you with something?”

His tone was guarded.He didn’t like this.Didn’t like the feel of it at all, especially that the new woman knew his name.And he didn’t like the weird flash of attraction he felt toward her either, to her sweet curves and pretty face.

Whoever she was, whatever she wanted from him, she needed to leave.He had work to do.He got paid by the hour and had another eight to go before he would have enough to afford a couple more nights in a cheap hotel.The overcrowded shelters around the city rarely had beds available these days, and he hated sleeping outside even though the weather was warm.

The standing woman’s smile slipped a notch.“Could we talk outside, maybe?”

He shot a glance at the office manager, who was watching them with interest, then focused back on her.“What about?”

“It’s private.”She adjusted the narrow, dark-framed glasses that emphasized the stormy blue eyes still locked on him.

He didn’t want to talk.Not to her or the CPS woman, or anyone else for that matter.He just wanted to be left alone.“I gotta get back to work.”

“It won’t take long.”

He bit back a retort.Life on the streets had hardened him.He had no problem being rude anymore, didn’t give a fuck what anyone else thought of him.But for some reason, locking stares with her, he couldn’t find it in him to walk off or tell her to go back to wherever she’d come from.She looked so...earnest.Hopeful, almost.

For reasons he couldn’t fathom, he gave a curt nod and a gruff, “Fine.But make it quick.”

He stepped outside onto the small bit of decking that led to the steps and stopped to wait for her, leaning back against the wooden railing with his arms folded across his chest.

She came out a moment later, alone.“Just you?”he asked.

She nodded and reached a hand up to adjust the right side of her glasses again, her shiny brown hair loose in subtle waves around her shoulders.The fabric of her red summer dress clung to her curves in all the right places, leaving her shapely calves bare.“Cassie’s just here for moral support.”

She’d needed moral support to come here?“What do you want?”

“Well.”She took a breath, released it.“Your name is Tomás, right?”

“No.It’s TJ.”Tomás was dead, had been for a long damned time.

A slight frown appeared over the bridge of her nose.“Okay, but...I think you might know my brother.”She reached into her hip pocket, pulled out a photograph and held it out for him to see.“Eric Moreau.”

Shock hit so hard and fast, his pulse thudded in his ears.He stared at the image of him, Moreau, and two other guys during their first deployment in Afghanistan.It sucked him back in time to a different life.A span of six months that had been some of the best and worst moments of his time on earth.

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