Page 68 of Cold Silence
She nibbled on her lip.
“Please.”
“Fine,” she finally said. “I promise.”
“Good, because I know you would never break your promises.”
“Never,” she said, but then pressed her lips together.
Okay, fine.She didn’t want to promise, but she had, and it could very well be the thing that kept her alive.
“Get us to the front entrance, Eryn,” Travis said.
“Roger that.” She put the SUV into gear and moved forward.
At the door, Travis, Gage, and Eryn rushed Claire and Julie inside. When Travis took Claire’s elbow, he could feel her shaking. He drew her to a stop in a private alcove as the others moved on.
“Claire, honey.” He took her chin in his hand and looked into her eyes. “Are you all right?”
She shivered, and he knew it wasn’t from the cool building temperature. His gut cramped, and he stepped closer to her, needing to touch her. Maybe as proof that Robb hadn’t harmed her.
Not shifting his focus, Travis drew her toward him, giving her every chance to pull away.
Her eyes warmed instead, and he couldn’t help himself. He dipped his head and claimed her lips. Soft. Warm. Like he remembered. He put his heart and soul into the kiss, making sure she knew how he felt. She returned it ounce-for-ounce. The unexpected passion he remembered from the usually serious woman.
He wanted to simply enjoy it, but was she responding to him now out of love or just a need for connection after a frightening event? He knew that he loved her…but could he trust her to love him back? Could he give her the power to break his heart again?
Would they have a chance to find out?
Because before they could ever have a second chance together, he needed to make sure her tenacious attacker didn’t lay his hands on her ever again.
16
Standing in the hallway outside her office with Gage, Julie, and Travis, Claire could still feel the tingle of his lips on hers. She wished they were still kissing. The intensity of her emotions shocked her. She couldn’t believe the sense of belonging and oneness with Travis that she’d always felt with him. And she wanted more. Much more.
Enough to let go of her fear? To trust that even if she got hurt again, God would get her through it?
“Claire,” Travis said, drawing her back. “You said no one knew about the meeting with the coordinator, so do you have any idea how this creep knew to deliver that envelope to the hotel?”
“No,” she said, trying to concentrate on anything other than how full his lips were. “I didn’t tell anyone other than Julie and Eric. But a lot of people know about the party tomorrow so maybe it was left for me to get tomorrow.”
“Claire…I…” Julie wrung her hands. “I mentioned it to a few people here. But that was okay, right? I mean, Robb’s likely your stalker and the guy who attacked you, and he doesn’t work at the institute now.”
“Let’s talk about this later,” Claire said before Julie asked additional questions, and Claire was forced to lie to her friend. “For now, we need to get to work.”
“I’ll meet you in your office,” Gage said and took off in that direction.
“I have a development meeting I’m late for anyway.” Julie’s eyes narrowed in the way they did when Claire had crushed her friend’s feelings. Julie was easy going most of the time, but she was also very sensitive.
Claire wanted to explain, but she had to let it go. “See you later.”
Once Julie had marched down the hallway, Claire faced Travis. “You have to convince your CO to let us tell Julie what’s going on.”
“I’ll call him as soon as I can, but don’t be surprised if he says no.”
“How can he when she’s confused and suffering and maybe another target?”
“She really has no reason to know other than not to ruin your friendship and that doesn’t trump national security.”
