Page 20 of The Rough Ride

“We got caught up in a situation. I had an older commander call me alittle miss.”

He gave a low whistle. “I hope you hurt him?”

“No, he hurt himself in the long run.”

“Good.” Nick took a bite of eggroll. “And?”

“And I can’t talk about the rest of it.” She placed a napkin in her lap and dug in to her food.

He raised an eyebrow. “Ever?”

“No. But it was tough.” She slid a forkful of manicotti in her mouth and sighed. “Good choice. Italian is a total comfort food.”

He could think of things a lot more comforting than Italian food, but maybe later. “You signed an NDA for that kind of discretion at work?”

“Yup. I didn’t even question the policy until now. After a day like today, I’d like to be able to talk things out with someone other than a coworker. I won’t bring it up again. There’s nothing you can do about it.” She took a sip of wine and flashed him a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin and sat back. “We’ve always had different security clearances. Let’s try talking around the details like we used to.”

She spooned Italian vegetables onto her plate. “I guess we could. I’m very uncomfortable right now. A week ago, I loved my job, but as of today, I feel like I should be looking over my shoulder.”

“Co-worker problem?”

“No. For the most part, they’re wonderful people.” She forked a huge hunk of zucchini, then reached across the table and fed it to him.

“An outside entity, then?”

She was quiet a few seconds. “Pretty sure. With a bigI’m gonna ruin your reputationsign on it.”

Unease crept across his chest. He nonchalantly twirled fettucine around a shrimp on his fork. “You work in an office, not off the grid, right?”Please say no fieldwork.

“That’s right. Just me and my computer.” She exaggerated asigh and then snickered. “It sounds so lame. But the work I do really helps people. That was one of my employment goals.”

Of course, it was.Her big brain had always been motivated by her superhero heart. “By the sound of this conversation, I hope you don’t mind me saying that I’m glad you’re working in an office instead of the field. So, why do you feel uncomfortable?”

She paused, set her fork down, and pursed her lips. “Did you ever have a feeling like something or someone behind the scenes was pulling strings and meant to undermine your professional life?”

Dammit to hell.The half-chewed mouthful slid down his throat in one gulp as the unease in his chest spread like an alarm. “Overtly—yes. But then I confronted the person and set the record straight.”

Liz tapped a finger on the table and pointed at him. “Because you could figure out who it was, right?”

“Correct. Sometimes, it took a little digging to determine the who and why.” He grabbed the wine bottle and refilled both their glasses.

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “Well, that’s just it. I don’t know if I can nail down who’s doing this. My job is cloaked. It’s all smoke and mirrors. I’m not sure I can determine the source of the problem.” She bit her bottom lip.

He wanted to nibble that lip in the worst way, so he looked directly into her light brown eyes instead. “Babe, the federal government is a behemoth of great minds. Surely, one of them will help?”

“I’ve got a great boss. An awesome support team. I just feel like I’m working a puzzle missing a bunch of pieces. It’smy jobto find the missing ones. I recognize patterns that noone else sees. But this is out of left field for seemingly no reason.”

Hell, if she was uneasy, so was he. He tore a hunk off the loaf of rosemary bread more forcefully than he intended. She usually balked at his protective instincts and with good reason. The woman could take care of herself. But still, hehadto broach the subject. “Do you feel safe at work, babe?”

She waved his question away with a flick of her hand. “Yeah. The building is very secure. It was just a bad day. I’ll get over it. A good night’s sleep and everything will be right in my world again.” She leaned across the table and fed him a bite of manicotti.

He hesitated with his response but decided to go for it, anyway. “If you ever question your safety, Liz, please don’t take any chances. Let me fix you up with some kind of security. Sanctuary, Inc. would be glad to help you out after all you’ve done for them.”

She rolled her eyes. “I am no senator in need of a bodyguard. Don’t go all Kung Fu and guns-blazing on me. Thank you, though.” She reached over and squeezed his hand. “You know, I’d forgotten how good you are at discussing a situation without really knowing the details.”

How could he make her understand? She was worthfiftysenators to him. He hadn’t seen her this uneasy about a job since the night before the minefield in Iraq. She’d paced the barracks half sick with worry that she wasn’t the point person on the mission. She couldn’t stand waiting for umpteen tiers of brass to decide whatshewas going to do in a situation where her own team wasn’t in place. Liz had always functioned better in the alpha position, and 98% of the time, her decisions were spot-on. Riding shotgun had never been her long suit.

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