Page 21 of Out of the Shadows

“Sorry, but I talked it over with him, and I think you’re the best fit. It’ll be fine.” Esme paused as another round of coughing overtook her. “Now, the delivery is scheduled forthis afternoon. I think the black dress would be best, but the light-gray would work as well. I’ve also booked you at the resort for Saturday morning for hair, makeup, and all that primping shit. I’ll email you the detailed schedule once we get off the phone. Once you get a chance to look everything over, let me know if there are any questions.” Bean opened her mouth to protest, but before she could utter a word, Esme started speaking again. “We’ll talk more this afternoon, B. In the meantime, make sure you tell Wilson to take it easy on you. Later.”

Three beeps indicated Esme had hung up, and for a moment, Bean could only stare at her phone. Holy shit. What just happened?

“Damn.” Wilson ran a hand over his jaw. She was pretty sure he was fighting a smile. “Esme’s not our director of logistics for nothing, right?”

She met his gaze. “You said there’s a survival class starting on Saturday, right?”

With a laugh, Wilson patted her back. “You’ll be fine. I’m sure Esme has every contingency covered. And then some.”

Nerves took root in her gut. She’d have a fake identity so she wouldn’t have to be herself. That was good, right? With the nature of her work, it was safest for her to stay in the shadows. And frankly, she enjoyed it there. Always had. But this? This waswayout of her comfort zone.

Fancy ballrooms, hobnobbing, and making small talk. It brought back memories she’d rather forget. To a time when she hadn’t been allowed to hide in the shadows, but rather had been paraded like a sideshow act, like the oddity she was. To when she’d constantly tried to pretend to be someone she wasn’t. And failed. Time and time again.

The nerves in her gut bloomed.

In comparison to the charity event, Wilson’s outdoor survival class didn’t sound so bad after all...

CHAPTER EIGHT

Gavin polished off his second piece of banana bread and leaned back in his chair, stifling a yawn. He didn’t usually need much sleep, but today, he was wiped. When he’d first gotten out of the Army, nightmares had plagued him. Over the years, they’d eased—only resurfacing from time to time—but by then, four to five hours of sleep had become a habit. Anson McClintock’s rescue had stirred the nightmares back up. Add in having Bean under his roof, and it was no wonder he’d had a nearly sleepless night.

Downing the last of his coffee, he eyed the lone mini-blueberry scone remaining on their table’s serving platter, but he figured the ham and Gruyere quiche in the display case was probably a better bet. After the sugar overload, some protein would balance him out. Good thing he’d already logged in a couple of hours at the gym this morning.

“I can see you eyeing something, mister,” Roxie Buchanan said, patting him on the shoulder. “What else can I get you?”

Gavin grinned at the owner of Comfort Food, a café in Hudson Island’s quaint downtown that was one of his favorite places to eat. The woman was also the very pregnantwife of his good friend and colleague, Joe Buchanan, who ran Hudson Tactical.

“How about a slice of the ham quiche, but to go?” Seeing as it was nearly noon, he’d bet a hundred bucks that Bean was on her third energy drink by now. “Make it two slices but boxed separately.” He turned and eyed the case again. “And a couple slices of the blueberry pie.”

“You got it,” Roxie said with a chipper smile as she made her way back to the counter.

“Thanks, Roxie. And there’s no rush,” Gavin called after her, concerned that her walk was now more of a waddle.

“Getting extra grub to save for later?” Xander asked from across the table. “Or are you sharing with a certain someone?”

The fuck?He glared at his friend.

When the rest of their table’s occupants—Buchanan, Matt Alvarez, and Cade de la Rosa—swung their gazes his way, he groaned. “Fucking hell, Xan. Really?”

His friend shot him a shit-eating grin and waggled his eyebrows.

“And who the hell is this certain someone?” Buchanan asked before turning to Alvarez, another colleague at Hudson Security, and Cade, Gavin’s business partner at Hudson Tactical, who was also the co-owner of De La Rosa Gym. “You guys know anything about this?”

“No, but I can make an educated guess,” Alvarez answered. A small smile played on his face before he turned somber. “How is Bean? She doing okay?”

“Wait,” Cade interjected. “What happened to Bean?”

“Rumor is that she fainted and knocked her face on the edge of her desk,” Alvarez replied, grimacing.

Gavin frowned. “How the hell do you know that?”

Alvarez stared at him like he was a moron. “We have a small office, dude. And it’s not like you guys are quiet talkers.Besides, when Doc showed up yesterday, it got everyone’s attention. When you took Bean home early, Mel was at the front desk and was worried. Said B had quite the bruise on her face. Not to mention you had Owen fly Doc to Port Townsend to drop off B’s blood work.” Alvarez snagged the last remaining scone, broke it in half, and popped one of the pieces into his mouth. “See, this is why you pay me the big bucks,” he said around his bite of food. “For my top-notch investigative skills.”

Gavin shook his head. Alvarez had been a detective with the Seattle Police Department before recently joining their team at Hudson Security. While Alvarez did indeed have top-notch investigative skills, the current scenario was due to Gavin, in fact, being a moron. His actions yesterday hadn’t been subtle. At all. But he didn’t regret any of it as the worry and panic he’d felt at seeing Bean’s bruised face was still fresh in his mind.

“Fine,” Gavin said. “I’m bringing food back for Bean, because God knows what shit she’s eaten today. She claimed she didn’t have a headache this morning, but she’s still banned from working in her office today.” He glanced at Buchanan. “Your dad’s swinging by later this afternoon to check her out to make sure there’s no concussion and go over the results of her blood work.”

“That’s sweet of you,” Xander said, that stupid grin still on his face.

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