“Everyone seems to be telling me this.” Caitlin was starting to get aggravated. She didn’t want her burgeoning relationship with Travis to be scrutinized and put under undue pressure. She wanted their feelings to develop naturally and not be tainted by all these expectations. “He survived the first time. If it ever happens that we’re not compatible after all, he’ll get through it. He just didn’t have closure last time.”
“I think you’re wrong there,” Beatrice said. “You don’t get it. That man can’t even appreciate another woman and believe me, girl, many have tried to get their claws into him. Supermodels, socialites, you name it. That’s why Travis and I go to functions together. He’s too polite to tell bitches to fuck off.”
“His momma raised him well,” Caitlin drawled in her best attempt at a Southern accent.
Beatrice gazed intently at her. “I see how he looks at you. It makes me nervous.”
“What?”
“The way he looks at you, Caitlin. You’re his whole world.”
“Beatrice, please don’t put too much pressure on me. Travis and I are getting along so well right now, we don’t need you butting into our business.”
The redhead looked sheepish. “You’re right. I did charge in here like some mama hen.”
“Yes, you did.”
They both giggled. Caitlin decided to turn the tables on the other woman.
“So, what’s your story?”
“Why I don’t have a man of my own?” Beatrice wasn’t one to play coy.
“Yup.”
“I wasn’t enough for him. He broke my heart, and we parted ways. End of story. It’s actually quite boring.”
“A friend of Travis?”
“Gabriel Sullivan.” Half-regret, half-vitriol rolled off her tongue as she said his name.
“He worked for BSI?”
“No. All I know is he used to be in Travis’s SEAL unit and left to do something else.” There was a sharp edge that laced Beatrice’s words.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. It was a quick affair, flared up and fizzled in a few months,” Beatrice said airily. Somehow, Caitlin didn’t believe her. Beatrice had this facade of strength, but there was a vulnerability about her just hovering under the surface. And therein lay the appeal with Beatrice Porter. She was a challenge to any man. To finally win her heart, a man had to break through her hardness. Then he might gain the promise of that sweet surrender.
The redhead narrowed her eyes at Caitlin. “That’s all I’m telling you. I don’t really talk about it, but since I’ve hounded you about not hurting Travis, I feel like I owe you.”
“Don’t say that, I don’t wanna pry. If you’re not comfortable revealing such personal stuff, just tell me.”
“Hmm . . . same goes for you . . . unless you hurt Travis.”
Caitlin sighed. “Are you turning this back on me again?”
“Counter-attack, girl.”
Caitlin laughed. “In some ways, you’re exactly like your father.”
“Is that a compliment or an insult?”
“A compliment,” Caitlin stated primly.
“I think I like you,” Beatrice said.
Caitlin just smiled. She was beginning to like Beatrice. It took this whole conversation, but knowing someone who was as protective of Travis as she was, definitely was someone worth having on your side.