Page 16 of Out of the Shadows

He looked so earnest, so conflicted that she couldn’t help but concede.

“Fine,” she said with a sigh. “But there has to be something productive I can do. I can’t just sit here all day or I’ll go crazy.” A little overdramatic? Yes. But not inaccurate. She glanced around his pristine kitchen. “How about I rearrange things here?”

Gavin made a choking noise, and she bit back a smirk. “Uh, how about you not?”

The man was precise. Detailed. Exacting. Hell, he was probably the most anal-retentive person she knew. And she worked with a bunch of nit-picking-alpha types, so that said alot. The idea of her rearranging his kitchen probably had him breaking out in hives. And Bean foundthatidea comical. But she’d throw the guy a bone...

“How about this? Instead of rearranging your kitchen and home office tomorrow,” she swallowed a chuckle as his face blanched, “I head over to Tactical’s training center and meet with Wilson.” Gavin was shaking his head before she’dfinished speaking. “Hear me out, boss. If I take a look at their programs firsthand, I can give the tech crew a layperson’s idea of what should go up on the website. It’ll be like free market research.”

“You’re supposed to be taking it easy.”

She waved her hand, dismissing Gavin’s concern. “Please. Wilson knows me.”

Bennett Wilson was one of their elite security specialists. He also ran the outdoor survival training program for Hudson Tactical.

“Wilson knows I’m indoorsy. It’s not like he’s going to have me tromping around the forest or anything. Plus, you know there won’t be any overstimulation from crowds or anything, because he peoples worse than I do.”

Gavin nodded. “That’s true. How about a compromise?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Depends on the compromise.”

“Fair. You scope out Tactical’s programs tomorrow, and in return, when you feel better, you take it.”

“Take what?”

“Wilson’s outdoor survival course.”

“Uh, no.” She snorted. “How about a counter proposal? I check out their programs tomorrow, and Iconsidersigning up for Wilson’s course. Though we both know it would be a complete waste of my and Wilson’s time.”

“Why would you say that? You never know when you’ll be stuck in the woods.”

She scoffed. The man had to be kidding. “Uh, yes, I do. Seeing as I don’t go into the woods, the answer is never.”

He shook his head. “I’m serious, B. It’s surprisingly easy to get lost in nature. Even if you stick to the trails, it doesn’t take much to get turned around.”

For a moment, she studied him. On one hand, she knew what he was doing. God knew Gavin was a be-prepared-for-anything type of man and wanted to extend that to her. Itwas oddly sweet. However, on the other hand, did he not know her at all?

“Frazier, I don’t really like . . . nature.”

The wrinkle between his brows popped as if he truly didn’t understand her statement. “What exactly about nature don’t you like?”

Good God, where to start? Oh, yes...“The bugs. The dirt. The lack of flushable toilets. Getting rained on. Getting too hot. Getting too cold. The?—”

“Okay, fine.” He chuckled. “Counter proposal accepted. However, you have toseriouslyconsider taking the course. Don’t underestimate the power of nature. It has a way of balancing everything out. Settling you.”

“How very Zen of you.” She flashed him a wide, toothy smile.

“Smart-ass,” he said, shaking his head. “Andyou have to promise not to overexert yourself tomorrow. You know Wilson, he’ll want to take you on an ‘easy two-mile hike’ that will eventually turn into eight miles.”

Taking the last bite of her food, she shook her head. “Oh, trust me, that won’t be a problem, boss man. Pretty sure Wilson will take one look at my hiking boots and remove any kind of hiking from the agenda.”

“You have hiking boots?” he asked, rising from the table as the doorbell chimed.

“Do teal-blue Chucks count?” she asked with a saccharine smile.

“Negative,” he called out over his shoulder.

Moments later, Gavin was back with Xander trailing behind him. Bean grinned when she spied the paper bag from the local grocery store in his hands.

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