Page 51 of Protecting Kelli
Flash nodded, then turned toward the lobby doors. They stopped at the front desk to get their new keys, and the entire time, he could practically feel the stress radiating off of Kelli. He needed to find out what was wrong, but that would wait until they were alone.
Their rooms were on the other side of the resort from where he’d stayed before—was it only a day ago?—and by the time they arrived at their doors, Kelli still hadn’t said a word.
Flash was even more worried. This wasn’t the woman he’d gotten to know. It was as if she’d closed in on herself. Shut herself off. He wouldn’t allow her to pull away from him though. He knew exactly how she was feeling. He’d been there in the past, after especially gnarly missions. But he’d been trained. Knew what to expect. The adrenaline drop from being a captive one minute, then rescued and on the move the next…It was a lot.
He slid one of the plastic keys into the slot in the first door and stepped inside with Kelli’s hand still firmly in his. He didn’t even offer to open the other door, since theywere connected anyway. He simply pulled her inside with him.
The room he’d been given was big. Much larger than the one he’d had before. This one was a suite. It had a full kitchen, complete with a sink, stove, and refrigerator. There was even a dining table and chairs in a sitting area. A couch was against one wall, with a huge TV on the opposite wall. Sliding glass doors opened onto a huge grassy area of about twenty yards across, before meeting the sand of the beach beyond. The room was fancy, but all Flash cared about was Kelli.
“Kelli?” he asked gently. She looked up at him with a small furrow in her brows he longed to soothe away. “Talk to me,” he said softly.
“The room is nice.”
That wasn’t what he meant.
“What are you thinking? Are you all right? You’re really quiet. I’m worried about you.”
“I’m just…overwhelmed? That sounds stupid. I mean?—”
“It’s not stupid,” Flash interrupted her. “An hour ago, we were sitting in the pitch darkness, telling fairy tales about possums turning into giants and a grasshopper named Fred. And then our life turned upside down.Again. In a good way this time, but it’s jarring all the same.”
She nodded. “It feels surreal. As if I was dropped into someone else’s life. And my senses are going haywire. I could smell chicken cooking as soon as we got out of the van at the resort. And the salt from the ocean. The lights from the other cars and in the lobby almost hurt my eyes, they were so bright. It’s hard to adjust.”
“It is,” Flash said, proud of her for articulating what she was feeling. “It gets better.”
She nodded slowly. “It’s better already. Now that we’re not around so many people. Oh, no offense. I mean, I was happy to meet your friends and very glad they found us.” She looked up at him. “I was rude, wasn’t I? I should’ve talked to them more.”
“No, you were fine. They understand. Trust me, theydefinitelyunderstand. We’ve all been there. You want to check out your room?”
She tensed next to him and let go of his hand. That, out of everything he’d been through in the last day and a half, hurt Flash more than anything else. “What? What’s wrong?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Nothing. Sure, we can look at my room. I’m sure you want to shower. So do I.” But she was shrinking into herself again. And Flash wasn’t going to let her pull away now. They’d been through too much together.
He reached out and grabbed her hand, then pulled her toward the dining table. He pulled out a chair and sat, yanking her onto his lap.
“Flash!” she protested, sounding more like the Kelli he’d gotten to know.
He put one arm over her thighs and the other was around her waist, holding her securely on top of him. To his immense relief, she didn’t struggle. Didn’t try to get up. If she had, he would’ve let her go. “What’s wrong?” he asked again.
She sighed and closed her eyes, and Flash could feel her relax against him. He tightened his hold.
“I don’t want to look at my room,” she said quietly. “I want to stay here. With you. If that’s okay.”
Relief swept through Flash so fast it made him dizzy. “If that’s okay?” he asked. “It’s more than okay. I don’t think I could’ve handled you being in another room very well.”
“Because you think I’m weak?”
“No. BecauseIam.”
That had her staring at him in disbelief.
“It’s true. The thought of being away from you freaks me out. You’ve been my rock throughout this entire ordeal.”
“Now you’re being ridiculous,” she said.
“No, I’m not. I was pissed that with all my training, all the warnings I’d had about leaving the resort, all the things I’ve done as a SEAL, I’d gone and gotten myself into a situation that could get me killed. You kept me focused on what needed to be done. If I’d been alone, I probably would’ve hurt myself trying to find a way out of that bus instead of staying calm, using my head to utilize what Heckle and Jeckle left for us, and waiting for my team. I’ve always just let MacGyver be the smart one. I’ve always been the muscle guy. You let me see myself in a new light—and I liked it. The thought of you leaving me now…frankly, it makes me nauseous.”
“I think that’s either hunger or our smell,” she joked.
