Page 103 of Silent Comrade
A piece of him still wanted the chance at afuture with her. Another piece of him told him to leave her thehell alone before he hurt her even more.
How could he even consider a futuretogether? His damn resume had three items on it: Special Forces,supersonic hearing, and human lab rat. Not exactly long-termrelationship material.
One look at her delicate and determinedprofile and he had his answer—completethis mission and then bail the hell out of her life.
The way his gut twisted at the thought ofnever seeing her again, must be because of coffee on an emptystomach rather than anything resembling an honest emotion.
At least he was a solid twelve hours beyondreceiving the latest antidote dose. That meant his hearing hadimproved. In his current heightened emotional state he would burnthrough this dose rapidly. He had to concentrate to avoid growlingat anyone who got too close to Britt. Even now, his hypervigilancehad climbed a few notches since she left her morning shift at thecoffee shop. Every movement, every noise, all ratcheted up his needto protect her.
Which was ironic, when Red considered thathe was one of the people who had hurt her over the past week.
In the next class, and he took his seatseveral rows over and pretended to take notes. Instead, his hearingtuned in to every tiny noise, scrape, sigh, and cough. Everythingand everyone was a threat to Britt until proven otherwise. Hewanted to claw his sensitive brain out. Damn it, was this how itfelt to lose his mind? He couldn’t concentrate on anything besidesher safety.
Many hours later, he was ready to crawl thewalls of the fashion lab. Too many giant windows. Too exposed. Toomany people milling about. Thank God for Gonzo who come by to help.When Gonzo departed with a list of items Britt needed, Tachisauntered in, a shoulder-slumped Rodeo following behind her. Mustbe a story there, but hell if Red cared right now.
The two women conferred, their voices risingand falling as they held up different pieces of fabric and drapedthem over Tachi. Then Britt motioned Rodeo over and pinned materialon him. The sight of her hands on his buddy’s chest made Red’shands curl into bone-creaking fists.
Red had no right to be jealous or possessiveor anything other than professional when it came to Britt.
Sticking this close to her, after all theyhad experienced, knowing they never would have that connectionagain, was a special kind of torture. Even now, he had to adjusthis jeans to address the lack of space. The gentle sway of her hipsin that cute fake leather thigh-length skirt made him want to dorecon to check what lay beneath the fabric. Instead, he uncrossedhis legs, trying to take pressure off and sent texts to histeammates.
No more information about Lequire. Nosightings. Nothing. Unnerving radio silence.
Three more days. Today was Tuesday. If Redcould keep Britt alive until Friday, she’d be done with the showand could walk away from school with her degree attained.Alive.
Three days was an eternity when it came toan op.
He rolled his shoulders. Damned virus itchedfor action. Frankly, Red agreed. He’d love to destroy Lequire onceand for all. He pushed to his feet and strode over to the trio offashion experts.
“Oh, good,” Britt said with a clinical flickof her eyes over him and back to the table. Her tone said anythingbutgood. At least she acknowledged his existence.Barely.
He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets.Nope, didn’t help the situation down there. Damn it. “How is theproject coming along?”
Rodeo peered at the groups of studentsworking across the room and said in asotto voce, “Well, I’mthe sexiest ex-military model the world has ever known.”
Tachi rolled her eyes. “Hasn’t even signed acontract, but he’s already the biggest diva I’ve ever seen. Nextthing, he’ll be asking for his own dressing room and organic treatson his makeup table.”
“A few packs of beef jerky works fine forme, ma’am,” he quipped with a wink.
Tachi sucked a tooth. “I can see itdoes.”
Out of character for the guy who never shutup, Rodeo opened his mouth but no words came out.
“Your turn.” Britt held up a bolt of greenheavy cotton blend to Red, not quite touching him. “What do youthink, Tachi?”
“Looks a lot better than on Slim Jim overthere.”
Rodeo flapped a hand. “Hello, I’m righthere.”
Tachi sighed. “That’s too bad.”
Britt stifled a laugh. “So, a casual jacketin this material and pants in this canvas fabric is what Ienvisioned,” she said. “Never thought I’d be designing for ease ofweapons access.”
“Shh,” Red hissed.
She lifted her chin toward the chuggingsewing machines that other students operated. “No one can hear usexcept you.”
Rodeo snorted.
