Page 81 of Forged in Peril

“Thanks, Mel,” she said, leaning against her desk, hoping that she looked casual despite the adrenaline coursing through her.

Now to get rid of the clerk.

“I was wondering if you could do me a favor, actually.”

“Of course.”

“Grace needs any last minute supply orders before she leaves for the day,” she said, struggling to speak at a normal pace. She could see Jaclyn’s office door out of the corner of her eye, beckoning to her. “Jaclyn was handling it, but I don’t want to interrupt her meeting. It would be really helpful if you could take a look at her list and cross reference it in the system to make sure nothing’s missing before we send it off.”

Mel nodded. “You bet. I know where she left it.”

“Awesome,” Bristol said. “Make sure to ask someone in admin downstairs if you need help.”

The intern looked relieved. “I will. I find some of the software they use super confusing.”

“That makes two of us,” Bristol said, forcing a smile as she waited for the young woman to gather up her files and head out the door.

At last, she was alone, and fortunately, she had a key to Jaclyn’s office.

CAMERON

Getting any work done was impossible.

After an hour of staring at his computer screen, reading emails without taking in anything they said, and shuffling papers around on his desk, Cameron decided that he needed to find another way to get his fight with Bristol off of his mind.

A few minutes later, he’d made his way to the first floor and found a quiet corner in the gym. For once, it was empty, and he was thankful to have at least a few minutes to start lifting weights before someone else showed up.

He had an important meeting with a client that afternoon, and before that, he’d have to supervise the annual firearm and ammunition inventory count.

None of it felt important at the moment, but he knew that it was all part of the non-exciting, behind-the-scenes side of his work protecting others. He owed it to his company and especially to his clients to have his head in the game.

Whatever had happened with Bristol couldn’t get in the way of doing his job. He was a protector. It was who he was.

“Maybe that’s why she sees me this way,” he said out loud, using a free weight to do a few bicep curls. “Even as a security operative, she knows that deep down, I’m just this safe, boring guy who will only hold her back.”

“What are you on about, bro?” came a voice from the locker room door, making him jump.

His free weight fell toward the ground, a tremendous crash echoing through the silent gym.

He stifled a curse. “Reilly. You scared me, man.”

He bent down to scoop up the weight, cringing at the words he’d allowed his cousin to hear. That’s what he got for talking to himself like a crazy person.

“I heard there’s some drama around the office today,” Reilly said, climbing onto a leg press machine a couple of feet away and adjusting the weight. “What happened?”

Cameron rolled his eyes. FBS was generally a friendly, supportive environment, which meant that what little juicy gossip there was usually made the rounds almost immediately.

So much for coming down here to clear his head.

Instead, he figured he may as well set the record straight.

Reilly listened patiently as he went over the painful argument, omitting the part where he’d more or less told Bristol she was a bad person and that he felt bad for her.

For a moment after he’d finished, Reilly said nothing. All he could hear was the gentle thunk of the leg press machine as he finished out his reps.

“Well,” Reilly said at last, “she sounds like she’s being a bit of a jerk. But what did you say?”

He picked up another free weight, refusing to meet his compassionate brown eyes.

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