Page 35 of The Honor of Being Hers
She didn’t rush to fill the silence.
He crossed the space slowly.His shoes didn’t make a sound against the floor.When he stopped in front of her, it wasn’t close.It was right, far enough to let her breathe, near enough that she could step forward if she wanted.
“I know you’re angry,” he said, voice quiet.“You should be.”
She set her coat on the low table beside her and didn’t look at him right away.
“I don’t think I know what to do with it,” she said.“The anger, I mean.It’s not sharp.It’s slow.”
“Like heat.”
She looked up.
Tyler’s mouth didn’t smile, but his eyes twinkled in amusement at his joke.
“It’s not about you,” she said, not particularly sharing the joke.
“I know.”
“But part of me still thought—” She hesitated.“I wondered if I’d been a complication all along.Something to manage.A theory to prove.”
“You’re not.”His voice didn’t waver.“And I won’t defend our failure to protect your data.It was ours, too.”
Her jaw tightened.She nodded once but didn’t answer.
Ryan appeared next, his presence less a movement than a shift in gravity.He entered from the side hall, his broad shoulders filling the doorway, shirt unbuttoned at the collar, revealing the strong column of his throat.His sleeves were damp at the cuffs, water spots dotting the expensive fabric.His dark hair was mussed as if he’d been running his hands through it, and those sharp green eyes held shadows she’d never seen before.He looked at her like he had rehearsed what to say.Then promptly forgot when she appeared in front of him.
“Lauren.”
Her throat tightened at the way he said it.No anger.No demand.Just her name and relief.
William stepped in from behind, silent as ever.He didn’t speak.Just leaned the shoulder of his tension-filled muscular frame into the far post and waited, the gaze of his steel-blue eyes on her face and nowhere else.
“I’m not here to be rescued,” she said.Her voice came out steadier than she’d expected, and she straightened her shoulders, feeling the weight of her decision settle into place.
“No,” Ryan said, his green eyes roving over her body thoughtfully.“You’re here to be heard.”
She stood there for a long moment, unsure how to unfold.How to let herself be in this space again.
Tyler stepped back.
Not out of rejection, just giving her room.
“I don’t want a plan yet,” she said.
“We won’t offer one,” William replied.
“I need to know that next time, if there’s a next time, it won’t be you deciding what I need.”
Ryan nodded once.“Then tell us how you want us to help you.”
She stepped forward, not into anyone’s arms, not into a hug or to proclaim some need.Just one step.Closer, and back to them.
Her scent was low but present now.It didn’t hint at fear or the instinctual arousal that came from being in their presence.It only smelled of her and the parts of their scents she had absorbed and made theirs.
She was still with them.Her heart hadn’t been broken, even if it felt a little bruised.
“I want tea,” she said.“I want silence.And then, maybe, I want to talk about justice.”
