Page 43 of Forged in Peril

It had been another lifetime, and yet, as Cameron clicked on the country radio station and she settled back into the comfortable leather seat, the past felt so close that she could reach out and touch it.

“Honestly, Bristol,” Cameron said after a while, turning toward the city lights that now lay within view. “I thought that you’d argue about staying at the office tonight.”

Bristol smiled. Some things, like her tendency toward stubbornness, hadn’t changed much.

“I couldn’t handle being in that house alone all night, not after that.”

Cameron nodded, stealing a glance at her after he had merged onto the still-busy freeway that led into downtown. “I just wanted to say thank you for trusting me, even when I’ve had to make decisions that involve disrupting your life.”

There was so much that she wanted to say.

Ever since Warrington’s attack, she’d become vulnerable just existing in her own body.

Feeling that same sense of violation while in the safety of her childhood home was a crossed boundary that she couldn’t ignore or dismiss.

But before she could find the right words, they were pulling onto the street behind FBS that led into the parking garage.

“I do trust you,” she answered at last, as Cameron tapped in his keypad code at the gate. “At least, I’m trying to.”

He paused with the window still down, the cool night breeze making his dark brown hair flutter as his eyes caught hers. “That’s all I want from you, Bristol. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

She felt her heart catch in her chest as he turned away, continuing down into the garage and toward his usual parking space.

After a quick detour to one of the supply rooms, they made their way to the third floor and found an empty office down the hall from Cameron’s office.

“Does this work?” he asked her, flicking on the light. The two of them looked over the plain, carpeted space. There was an empty desk, a chair, an old filing cabinet, and not much else.

Bristol strode over to the huge glass window and surveyed the bustling streets of San Antonio, the lights from a thousand windows peering up at her. “This is perfect.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her, but didn’t argue, instead rolling out the sleeping bag he’d carried upstairs and setting out a pillow and an extra blanket, muttering something about how they needed to buy a couple of cots for emergencies.

Satisfied, he got to his feet. “I’ll have one of the guys from the security rotation start early tomorrow morning so he can go check on your house. I’ll make sure he grabs you some extra bathroom supplies and clothes, too, assuming you’re okay with some twenty year old rooting through your closet.”

Bristol smiled. “Nothing too scandalous in there, I’m not worried. Thanks.”

“Are you hungry? We can order some food, if you want.”

“We just ate!” she protested, laughing.

Cam stroked at his chin, pretending to be deep in thought. “It’s been at least an hour. Maybe longer.”

“The horror.”

“What about dessert?”

She considered this.

“Yeah,” she said. “Dessert sounds reasonable. Some nice sugar before bed. I couldn’t sleep yet if I tried, anyway.”

She felt the prickle of anxiety rising within her once again as he took his phone out of his pocket, already on the hunt for takeout.

She had come so close to being hurt again, and even though she knew that she was safe here in the office, she realized that she didn’t want Cam to leave her side.

Not tonight. Maybe not ever.

She felt tears stinging her eyes as he looked over at her, his phone pressed to his ear. He was halfway through asking if she wanted cookie dough or brownie ice cream when he saw the sadness in her face.

“Okay, scratch that, I’ll call you back with my order later. Sorry about that,” Cam said into the phone, hanging up without another word and shoving it into his pocket.

---