Page 9 of Rescuing Erin

His hot breath was at my ear, and all I had to do was turn my head and we’d be face-to-face. I didn’t dare move, or breathe really. For months, I’d tried to beat back the attraction. It hadn’t gone over well the one time I’d given into it and, in a moment of unusual boldness, kissed him. It only proved Colin wanted nothing to do with me.

“Of course I am. What else would I be doing?”

“Daydreaming.”

“Whatever. Tight grip, push the barrel toward the target, and trigger control. Got it.”

“Last thing, you’re anticipating the shot. That’s why you’re pulling high and to the right.”

Now that my body had caught fire, I was anticipating a lot, however, recoil wasn’t one of those things.

“Got it. Can you back away now?”

He let go of my hands and stepped back, and I immediately regretted my request.

“Go ahead and reload. I’ll reset the targets.”

Over the next hour we shot hundreds of rounds, and, by the end, my grouping, while still not as tight as his, was much better. All in all, it was a fun day. Much different than any day I’d spent with Colin thus far. Normally, it was him escorting me as my bodyguard to different functions around D.C. and Maryland. Or he was pacing my apartment like a caged beast on afterhours babysitting detail.

The drive back to his house was pleasant, albeit mostly silent. Until we pulled into his neighborhood and he asked about my relationship with Olivia Cox-Newton, now Olivia Gillonardo, since she’d married Leo. I was a little taken aback, Colin had gone out of his way not to ask me anything personal. Most of our conversations consisted of schedules, logistical issues, and my father’s need to wrap me in cotton—especially after Olivia had been kidnapped.

“What about my relationship with Olivia?” I asked for clarification.

“Why haven’t you accepted any of her invitations to visit?”

“We’ve both been busy. Besides, now that I have my own security force following me around, it makes it a little difficult to do anything.”

“Right, because you haven’t had the secret service around you for the last seven years.” He called me out on my lie.

“She has Leo, and her mom’s been sick, and she just found out who her dad is.”

“All the more reason she needs her best friend.”

I was fast becoming annoyed. He pulled into the garage and I debated asking if I could move into the apartment above it, even though Colin had already told me it wasn’t furnished yet.

“What do you want from me?”

“The truth.”

“The truth is,” I snapped, “I was supposed to go out with her that night. But we got into a fight so I didn’t go. It’s my fault they took her.”

“Your fault? There was nothing you would’ve been able to do to stop them.”

“As you said, I’ve always had secret service with me. They stay in the background and try to blend into the crowd when we’re in public, as if that’s really possible. If I’d been there, she would’ve been protected.”

I hated thinking about Olivia’s kidnapping. I hated that I still couldn’t face her. I missed her so much but I couldn’t forgive myself. I let her down.

“Then they would’ve taken her when she went home, or the next day, or the one after that. She was snatched from the bar because they found their opening. She was being kidnapped one way or another. The plan had been set in motion, and no one, especially you, was going to be able to change the outcome.”

The look on Colin’s face told me he believed what he was telling me. And that was fine. But it didn’t mean I had to. If I’d been there with my security detail, Olivia wouldn’t have been taken from the bar, that was a fact. And it would’ve meant one less day in captivity, one less day being scared, one more day safe in her own home. I should’ve been there and given that to her. Instead, I was pissed at her and refused to go out. Then she was gone.

Colin, being the perceptive man he was, caught on that I was done talking about Olivia, and with a sigh you’d expect from a five-year-old not getting his way, he got out of the car. I knew better than to exit without him scanning the area first and then opening my door. I’d been scolded enough in the past I didn’t think I’d ever open my own door again. Even if I thought he was being overly cautious, it wasn’t worth another argument.

He led us into the house and went straight for the alarm panel before turning back to me.

“Hungry?”

We’d skipped lunch while on post, and I was starving. “Yeah. I’ll cook tonight. You did it last night.”