Page 12 of Handling Haven

“All right, let’s see. We didn’t know you all were there until Sawyer joined Hollywood and me and we merged the two communication systems.” Frisco proceeded to give her a rundown of what he remembered from that point, most of which she’d heard already from her fellow agents and the Trident teams. He paused a moment to take another sip of his soda. “We’d just gotten a photo of you and Reardon—by the way, you rocked that dress.”

Another blush spread across her face.What the hell?She never blushed, and here she was doing it repeatedly in this man’s presence. She was attracted to him, that she couldn’t deny. However, she couldn’t help but think it was a warped case of hero worship, even though she hadn’t wanted him to save her life when they’d first met. And she was sure the attraction was one-sided. He obviously liked to flirt, but her wheelchair had to be a complete turn-off, didn’t it?

Frisco continued as if he hadn’t just given her thecompliment. “I remember you starting to say something moments before the explosion, but we couldn’t make out what. You’d said a word or two, so we knew it was you talking, then there was a burst of static. Sawyer asked you to repeat it, but from the sound of things you couldn’t.”

Haven nodded her head. “Kenny said two couples had gotten drinks at the bar in the library, then stepped closer to us so I couldn’t repeat whatever I’d said, which apparently was that I wanted to get a better look at the guy I recognized.”

“But you never saw him again.”

“No. What happened after the explosion?”

“Total chaos. People screaming and running outside. I never saw you jump out of the window, there were too many people coming out on our side. Every operative was looking for you. Sawyer’s teams were about to break cover and go help evacuate while looking for you, when suddenly your dress caught my eye. You and Reardon were running straight for us. You’d either kicked off your shoes or lost them. You were limping but still moving quickly, covered in soot and blood.” He pointed to her left forearm, which bore a faint scar. “Your arm was bleeding. I—I barely heard the shot, but I saw the ... the momentyou were struck.”

His last few words came out as a hoarse whisper, and he swallowed hard. Haven had to hold back her tears at the sight of this strong man having a moment of grief over the recollection of the event that changed her life completely. She reached across the table and took his hand in hers. They sat in silence as they both struggled to regain their composure. Finally, Frisco cleared his throat. “Sorry about that. After all my missions and being on the front lines of battlefields, you’d think I’d be used to it, but it never gets any easier when you see that, even if it’s a teammate you barely know or, in our case, hadn’t met yet.”

“Jordyn told me you’ve lost teammates before.”

Sadness filled his eyes as the memory of those men clearly swirled to the forefront of his mind. He squeezed her hand. “Yeah. Seven of them in two separate incidents, although even one is too many.”

Laughter broke the tension hanging in the air as two young children ran past their table toward the lake, while their mother shouted for them not to get wet from where she was spreading out a blanket on the grass nearby.

Frisco cleared his throat again. “Anyway, back to that day. I saw you falling, knew what’d happened, jumped to my feet, and ran toward you.”

Before he could say anything more, she interrupted him. “You can skip the part where I was an ungrateful bitch.”

The corners of his mouth turned upward. “Okay, skipping that part. After that, Hollywood and Sawyer covered us. Sawyer’s sniper, Donovan, took out the shooter, and then the Trident helicopter swooped in to extract us. And if you haven’t met Babs yet, I’ll tell you, that woman is freaking awesome. Definitely earned her handle for being a bad-ass bitch. She landed the Blackhawk and got us out of there in record time.”

“I haven’t had the pleasure, yet, but I’ve heard all about her. So, that’s it? Nothing else stands out?”

“No,” he answered while shaking his head. “Sorry. But you know that when the shit hits the fan it’s hard to recall specifics afterward. I can review my report and see if I forgot anything.”

Haven shook her head. “Don’t bother; I’ve already read it and everyone else’s from that day.”

Frisco snorted. “I can’t imagine what security clearance you have for that—and I’m probably better off not knowing. So, I guess my stroll down memory lane didn’t help, did it?”

“Unfortunately, no. Who knows, maybe I didn’t know the guy and just thought helooked familiar.”

“But you don’t think that’s the case, do you?”

“No.” Haven suddenly realized Frisco was still holding her hand as if he’d been doing it for years. She wasn’t sure if he knew his thumb was caressing her wrist. The gentle rhythm was sending sparks to the nerve endings under her skin, through her body, straight to her core. While she didn’t have full use of her legs yet, the feeling had returned to her lower abdomen and all the way to her toes—and everything in between. And right now, what she felt between her legs was lust and desire. Before the shooting, she would’ve acted on that, seducing him until she got what she wanted—him in her bed. She’d always been picky about which men she hooked up with, even dating a few for several months or enjoying an occasional friends-with-benefits relationship. But since the wheelchair next to her had become such a huge part of her life, she hadn’t been attracted to any male—until now. Why this man? He’d seen her at her absolute worst. She’d begged him to do what he considered to be an unspeakable act, yet, here he was, having granted his forgiveness, enjoying lunch with her.

Pulling her hand from his, and immediately missing the warmth of the contact, Haven stacked their plates together. “I really need to get back towork. I’m an intel tech now.” While she wasn’t as adept as some of the hackers and specialists at Deimos headquarters, she was still able to gather a lot of information needed by the field operatives. Her field experience helped because she was able to zero in on intel they needed instead of making them weed through the excess it was buried under. “Thanks for lunch.”

“My pleasure.” Grabbing the plates and empty soda cans, Frisco stood and tossed them into a nearby trash can before returning to the table, while Haven got situated back into her chair. “So, why here?”

His question threw her off as she began to propel the wheelchair toward her van. “Huh? Why here, what?”

“From what I understand, your headquarters is somewhere in California, so why are you in Texas?”

“Ah. Even though the main compound is out west, we have operatives all over the States, preferably near military bases in case backup is needed on a grand scale. The rehab hospital here is one of the best for my injury, so Harker Heights is where I now call home—the first one I’ve slept in for more than a month straight during most of my adult life. My superiors set everything up for me. I’ve got a handicappedaccessible home, the van you saw, and it’s close enough to Fort Hood.” It took her less than twenty minutes to reach the base where, with her extremely high government clearance, she had access to almost every inch of the place.

“That’s great ... I mean, of all the places you could have ended up, I’m glad it was here.”

When they reached her van, Haven pulled out her keys and activated the remote that would unlock the door and bring the lift out and down for her. While they waited for it, Frisco stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his pants and rocked back and forth on his feet. “So, when can I see you again? I’d like to take you out to dinner or something ... you know, on a date.”

If she’d been standing, she would’ve been knocked off her feet. She gaped at him, trying to make sure she’d heard him correctly. “What do you mean ‘a date’?”

“A date.” He shrugged his shoulders and grinned. “You know—a guy like me, with a really hot woman, like you, who turns him on, going out somewhere that has waiters, wine glasses, and china. They order from leather-covered menus, and the whole time, he’s wondering what his chances of getting a goodnight kiss are. That kind of date.”

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