Page 16 of Indirect Attack
The door stopped at the last second, only a sliver of light between them, and slid back open with maddening slowness.
My heart pounding in my chest, I let out a long breath when Ben was standing in the same place. I nearly jumped out of the elevator before the doors could close again, and in only a few strides, I was in front of him.
Except my feet stopped just out of his reach, a physical manifestation of the roiling mix of emotions that seemed to have taken over my entire body and every thought.
“Ben.” His name left my mouth, but then I wasn’t sure what to say, and I fell silent.
“Hi, Jasmine.”
His mouth lifted into a small, uncertain smile, a hint of the boyish grin that had never failed to quicken my pulse.
As we stood there, neither sure where to go from there, my mind cataloged the changes in the man the kid I’d grown up with had become.
He was older than when I’d last seen him, of course. It wasn’t anything I could put my finger on, perhaps a maturing of his features in the strong lines of his face or the solid contour of his chin and jaw. Or maybe it was his eyes, grown far older than his age in the years since I’d seen him, but still the same piercing blue that seemed to look right into me. It could have been that he’d filled out, going from the awkward angles of a skinny, gangly teenager to something in between, to the solid strength I could see even beneath the bagginess of his fatigues. Ben’s shoulders had broadened for sure, and he held them in quiet self-possession as though he knew where he belonged in the world and what he was capable of.
“What happened to the kid I knew?” The words tumbled out before I could stop them, and I had to press my lips together to keep from clapping my hand over my mouth in embarrassment.
But Ben’s response was a chuckle and a shrug. “Probably the same thing that happened to you—we grew up.”
I took a deep breath and crossed the last of the space between us, unable to stay away any longer. Ben didn’t pull away as we shared a hug, awkward though it was. The awkwardness hurt my heart—we’d been so close once, and now we weren’t sure what to do in each other’s presence.
Then Ben drew away, and I thought it was to say goodbye. But instead, he held up his finger. “Hold on a second. Stay right here.”
I watched as he strode back to the front desk, exchanged a few words with the clerk, and then pointed in my direction. Her gaze slid to me, then back to Ben before she handed something across the desk to him. He took it, murmuring a thank-you to her before returning to me.
“Here. I left this at the front desk for you, but since you’re here now—”
His words trailed off, and he thrust a piece of paper toward me instead of continuing.
I took the paper, almost afraid to see what was on it, my fingers trembling slightly as he handed it to me. On it was a sketch of my face—not the face I saw in the mirror every day, but instead the one I saw in the pictures of teenage me.
But it was also so much more than that. Like it had always been, Ben had seen features in me that even I hadn’t been able to—the curve of a lip or the dip of my head, an upward flick of an eye, or a light in my gaze. I knew instantly who had drawn the piece, and I looked up at the man before me, too overcome for a moment with nostalgia and emotion to say anything.
“Think of it as a welcome gift. Or a hello gift. It just came to me the other night.” He looked slightly uncertain, shy, even. The big, frightening Marine was standing in front of me with a faint blush on his cheeks that I was sure only I could detect because I was close enough to him to see it.
“When?” I asked, my throat still thick from emotion.
Ben shrugged again. “I saw your name on the dossier for the archaeological dig, and the drawing came to me last night. Congratulations, by the way.”
“For what?” Still caught up in the masterful strokes of the pencil that had somehow come together to form a portrait of me, I was confused by the words.
“For making it. For doing what you always said you would do. For all your hard work paying off. I know this dig is a big deal to be a part of.”
My gaze flicked up to meet Ben’s, another wave of emotion sending hot prickles of tears to the backs of my eyes. “Thanks” was the only thing I could get out.
It took me another moment to get my emotions under control, and I finally managed to swallow the tears and the roughness in my throat.
“Is that how you knew I was here and where I was staying?”
Ben nodded confirmation. “I’m head of the squad protecting the dig starting tomorrow.”
I felt my eyes widen, then I smiled. “That’s great.”
As excited as I was to be on this dig, I would have been lying if I’d said I didn’t have some apprehension as to the safety of the site. It had only grown seeing the number of rules I had to follow. But knowing Ben would be the one in charge of keeping us safe, I felt my anxiety vanish.
Another moment of awkward silence fell between us, and then Ben rubbed at the back of his neck. “Look, I have to go—”
“Do you have any time off?”
