Which is why she’d been so rude to him outside and why she needed to keep her distance until she could figure out how to spend time with him and not open her heart again. That meant ending this meeting and sending him to the testing room. While he ran through several CATS simulations, she’d gain time to process his arrival and, as a bonus, she’d cement his cover story with her staff.
She clapped her hands. “Okay, people, let’s get back to work. Be sure to make Captain Chapman feel at home.”
He came to his feet, his body radiating power and demanding attention, but he immediately disarmed her staff with a smile, much the same way he’d once disarmed her.
“Please.” He directed a pointed look at Claire. “Captain Chapman is a mouthful. Call me Travis.”
An intern posed a question, and Claire adjusted her spare pair of glasses to watch Travis answer. He held his shoulders back, accenting his flawless posture and the perfect fit of his dress uniform. Even after hours of travel and waiting while she’d showered and changed, plus sitting through this staff meeting, the navy fabric was still crisp and neat with perfect seams. He wore his hair longer than standard army regulations as a shorn haircut could give him away on his covert missions. Sandy-brown strands held just enough curl that once upon a time she hadn’t been able to keep her fingers out of them.
Julie approached him and his smile widened, one corner crookedly tipping higher. Claire remembered a similar smile when they’d first met. A smile that had made her feel as if she were the only person in the room.
Enough. An hour with the guy and you’re back where you were two years ago.
She’d worked too hard to get over him, and she needed to remember he wasn’t here because she’d suddenly decided their relationship was a good idea. He was here to make sure the thief didn’t obtain the missing information and to recover the prototype.
She crossed the room and ignored Julie’s questioning gaze. As Claire’s roommate, Julie knew about Travis, but Claire hadn’t met Julie until after the breakup so she’d never heard the full story.
Claire forced herself to look at Travis. “Since your dress blues are constricting, I’m assuming you’ll want to change for testing.”
He nodded and Claire turned to Julie. “Would you show Captain Chapman to the locker room and then set up the testing gear?”
That’s it. All business. Stay polite yet firm and you’ll be okay.
“Sure,” Julie said pleasantly. “Follow me.” She set off for the door, but Travis didn’t budge.
Instead, he leaned close and looked at her through solemn black eyes. A look she knew was the closest he would ever come to acknowledging she’d somehow hurt him. “Call me Captain Chapman instead of Travis one more time and there will be consequences,” he informed her in a no-nonsense tone.
“I thought it best to keep things formal between us.”
He met her gaze and held it, the hurt already fading. “Try all you want, sweetheart, but calling me captain isn’t going to make our history go away.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but there was nothing she could say. Plus, her team would question why she addressed him so formally after his request to be called Travis.
“Fine. Travis it is.” She jerked her head at the door. “Julie’s waiting for you.”
His serious expression gave way to a smile. “I know the testing’s a ruse, but I’m actually looking forward to seeing how our plans came to life.”
She didn’t bother denying his claim to the project. His feedback and ideas had helped make CATS a supreme training tool and despite the drama between them now, she was thankful for his input. “Then your assignment won’t be such a burden for you.”
An eyebrow went up and he looked as fierce as the virtual enemies she’d created for CATS. “Don’t forget you’re going to try to solicit alibis for last night from your team while I test CATS.”
“You really do believe the theft is an inside job, don’t you?”
“Yes, and I’ll keep on believing it until we prove someone broke in here.” He took a few steps then turned back. “You never pull any punches, Claire. So try to be subtle in your questioning.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “I can do subtle.”
“I’ve never seen it, but then we pretty much went straight to kissing and there’s nothing subtle about that.” He chuckled and strode away.
Ugh! She fisted her hands, but Julie continued to study her intently so she forced herself to relax.
She needed to develop better acting skills fast, or she wouldn’t make it through Travis’s visit without having to share painful memories with Julie. More importantly, the skills would keep Travis from discovering that even though she’d ended things with him—and continued to believe she’d made the right decision—he still had the ability to make her head spin.
After he departed, she set about her daily routine, all the while trying to figure out a way to deal with the feelings Travis had raised. As her workday came to a close, she still hadn’t come up with a way to be around him without all the turmoil. She’d simply have to beat her feelings into submission while doing her best to focus on finding the thief.
Remember that, she warned herself as she stepped into the large testing room. She found Travis crouched in the stealth mode of a cat hunting prey. Wearing a helmet and CATS goggles, he slowly eased left then right, his balance perfect, his movements sure. Claire knew exactly what he was seeing—he was at the spot in the simulation that placed him on a rocky outcropping designed to resemble the mountains of Afghanistan.
She could easily imagine him in a real battle, though not necessarily in Afghanistan. The third Special Forces group concentrated on covert operations in sub-Saharan Africa. The alpha team he commanded was dropped into unfriendly countries and left to infiltrate groups and gather intelligence. They frequently lived as locals and operated without military support. That meant no uniforms, leaving them outside the jurisdiction of the Geneva Convention. The enemy could torture or kill them on sight.
The thought sent a violent shudder over her body and reminded her of the very reason she’d broken off with him.
Keep that in mind when he trains those heart-stopping eyes on you.
He suddenly stood and set down his rifle, indicating the segment had come to an end. He removed his helmet and put it on a rack. When he caught sight of her, a boyish grin spread across his face, and her mouth threatened to reciprocate before she clamped down on her lips.
He jogged across the room, grabbed her in a hug and swung her in circles before putting her down and keeping her loosely enclosed in his arms. “You did it, Claire. Really did it. Everything we talked about come to life before my eyes.” He leaned back still grinning from ear to ear, his body fairly vibrating from adrenaline. “What a rush!”
She let herself be caught up in his smile. In the way it felt to be held by him again. To catch a whiff of the minty soap he used. To feel protected and cherished. To feel everything she claimed she no longer wanted in her life.
He tweaked her nose as he’d often done when they were dating. “I’m so proud of you, honey.”
She basked in his praise for a moment longer before coming to her senses and stepping free. “I’m glad you liked it.”
“Liked it? I loved it! This will revolutionize training. We can give hands-on skills to young recruits on every base and save lives.”
Right. Saving lives. That’s why she’d embarked on this research in the first place. Her career military father had often lamented losing green recruits and wished for better training. She hadn’t been able to do anything to save him from a chopper crash, but she could fulfill his wish.
She took another step back for good measure, garnering a raised eyebrow, which she ignored.
“I need to review the testing results with my staff before they hea
d home,” she said, making sure her tone was all business. “They’ll have questions for you, and it would do them good to see your enthusiasm for the project. Do you want to get changed first or head up to the observation deck with me now?”
“If everyone is going home soon, I can’t leave you alone up here while I’m in the locker room so I’ll change now.”
“You can’t honestly think someone will attempt to abduct me right here.”
“It’s not likely, but I’m not taking any chances.”
Julie stuck her head out of the observation room. “You two joining us for the debrief?”
“I’ll be right there,” Claire called out. “Get changed and meet us inside,” she said to Travis, then slipped into the room.
Julie looked up from a computer monitor, the glow reflecting on her excited expression. “Check out these stats.”
Claire reviewed Travis’s simulation data and resisted beaming with pride. “He’s good, isn’t he?”
“Good? He’s amazing. He made it all the way through the simulation without taking any kill shots. No one else has even come close to that.”
Kill shots. In real life, Travis came under fire all the time and the longer he served as a Green Beret the greater likelihood he’d be shot. Maybe fatally. The same way his buddy Jeter had been killed. Thankfully, Travis was by her side instead of on that mission with Jeter or Travis could have died, too. That’s why she’d had to end things before she lost him the same way she’d lost her father.
When she’d broken things off, she’d caught Travis by surprise and he’d demanded an explanation. She’d known he’d try to dispel her fear and draw out the inevitable end to their relationship so she’d looked for a reason he couldn’t dispute. Her job was the answer. She really couldn’t afford the distraction of a long-term relationship at that stage of the project so she’d shared her need to focus on saving lives. She’d hurt him, but as a soldier he couldn’t dispute the necessity of her work. And she was still convinced she’d done the right thing.
And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep on letting him think that way.
“Why aren’t you impressed?” Julie demanded.
I am, but I don’t want to be. “Maybe we need to make the training scenarios more difficult.”
“Hah! One guy out of hundreds who’ve tested CATS succeeding at this level does not mean we need to make it more difficult. We simply need to appreciate the incredible abilities that Travis possesses. No wonder they sent him for the final test.”
Claire didn’t know how to respond without lying so she said nothing.
Julie’s gaze zeroed in on her. “Looks like you’re having a hard time with him being here.”
“A bit,” Claire hedged, as she didn’t know if it was appropriate to talk about Travis with Julie when Claire was her supervisor.
A fine line they’d walked for some time now.
Claire had met Julie at a conference right after her break-up with Travis, and after common interests forged a friendship between them, they became roommates. Then Julie took a job at the institute and Claire eventually became Julie’s supervisor. Claire withdrew a bit from the relationship and tried to keep the most personal details of her life private. Luckily, it didn’t affect Julie at all. She was such an easygoing person that she readily accepted the change in roles and Claire often had to remind herself to hold back. Like now when Julie seemed genuinely interested and wanted to help.
Business, Claire. This is business.
Julie shifted in her chair. “I hope your unease doesn’t mean you sent Travis home for the day and we won’t be able to question him about the simulation.”
“I’d never let my personal concerns get in the way of CATS.” Claire hoped she sounded more convincing than she felt. “He’ll join us after he changes.”
“Ooh, back in his dress blues, huh? That’ll be no hardship to look at.”
“Julie! Eric wouldn’t be too happy to hear you say that.”
“He hasn’t put a ring on my finger yet, so there’s no harm in looking if I want to.” Julie winked.
Right. If only Claire could say the same thing, but she was certain looking would get her in all kinds of trouble that even with her best effort was going to be impossible to avoid. Plus, she couldn’t afford to be distracted now. It would take all of her focus to find the prototype and keep it out of the hands of unscrupulous soldiers who with the proper training would pose a serious threat to U.S. armed forces.
FOUR
Travis ushered Claire into the house she’d bought a year ago. The aromatic pine wreath on the door reminded him that Christmas was just a week away. Too bad the sweet scent did nothing to diminish the sour taste lingering in his mouth over her continued unease around him. Nor did it do anything to lighten the agitation he felt in her presence. That never left his mind when he wasn’t busy worrying about her safety.
He followed her to the family room with contemporary furniture in neutral colors, but his attention went straight to a wall-to-wall glass door overlooking her backyard. The lawn backed to a green space of brush and trees tangled into a thick jungle where Claire’s abductor could take cover. The unobstructed view to the lush green space was nice. Great, in fact. If you weren’t trying to defend the place. A fence would’ve been better. Not that he believed the man who risked attacking Claire in broad daylight would let a fence stand in his way. And that meant Travis needed to keep his focus on his job.
He turned to face Claire. “I’d like to inspect your security measures.”
“Security measures?” She laughed. “This is a house not a military base.”
“Let me check your locks, then,” he said before he let that smile take him back in time and he did something he’d regret.
“Help yourself.”
He dropped his duffel near the sofa, the thud reverberating through rafters in the vaulted ceiling. “Since I’ll be bunking on the couch, I hope you don’t mind if I leave my bag here.”
“I still think you’d be more comfortable in my guest room.”
“Yeah, so you’ve said. But my assignment isn’t about comfort. The couch is next to the patio door, which my initial impression says is your most vulnerable point of entry. Any intruder would have to get past me to reach your bedroom.”
She shivered and wrapped her arms around her waist, her gaze darting around the room as if it no longer felt like a safe haven.
He hated that he’d worried her and despite his self-preservation warning him to stay away, he rested a hand on her shoulder. Surprisingly she didn’t back away.
“I’ll do everything in my power to ensure that no one hurts you, Claire.”
“Thank you.” A sincere smile crossed her lips, lighting her face and firing his pulse.
A slideshow of the playful, loving woman he’d fallen for started rolling through his mind. Her laughter. Her joy. All of it reminded him that this lighthearted woman still existed—just not for him. He swallowed hard and forced his mind back to the job. “I’ll check out those locks.”
Ignoring her continued focus on him, he went down a small hallway. Things were happening so fast between them and he didn’t know what to make of it. Only a few hours together and he felt like raising the white flag of surrender and finding a way out of the Op. But he wasn’t a quitter.
He called on years of training to focus and carefully evaluated two modestly sized bedrooms before stepping back through the family room to the master. He could feel Claire’s eyes tracking him and he wished she’d find something—anything—else to do, but she trailed him as he checked every nook and cranny of the house.
“Everything good?” she asked still watching him.
Good? No. Far from it. “Where’s your safe room?”
“My what?”
“Where you take
shelter from tornadoes.” With few basements in a city boasting volatile summer weather, most residents had designated an internal room for shelter.
“Oh, that. The laundry room, why?”
“I want to establish a place for you to go in the event of an intrusion. I also suggest you sleep in your clothes in case we need to use the room or flee the house.”
“Okay.” That fear crept back into her eyes, making her seem vulnerable and alone.
He forced himself to turn away. “Show me the room.”
She led the way to a room barely bigger than the appliances. He made a quick assessment then looked straight at her, making sure his expression conveyed the importance of his upcoming directions. “If I’m somehow disabled or if I tell you to come here, you head to this room and lock the door. No questions asked. No dallying. Straight in here. Got it?”
She gave a certain nod, but the fear lingered.
“I plan to trade this doorknob with the one for the guest bedroom,” he continued. “Though it’s not a dead bolt, it’s better than nothing. I’ll also rig up a bar to make it more secure.” Hoping to eliminate this heavy tension between them before he exploded, he grinned. “Don’t worry. I’ll repair any damage my bumbling skills cause before I leave town.”
A wobbly smile lifted one side of her mouth and though he wanted to give her additional safety instructions, he thought it best to pass the advice on in small snippets before she totally freaked out.
His stomach rumbled, giving him the perfect change in subject. “I haven’t had a decent Cuban sandwich since I was here last. Our favorite place still deliver?”
She nodded. “I’m guessing you’d like your usual classic Cuban with a side of rice and beans and Jupina to drink.”
Holiday Defenders : Mission: Christmas Rescuespecial Ops Christmashomefront Holiday Hero (9781460341254) Page 10