Page 96 of Damaged Protector
Yep, she’s definitely going to bust my balls. And for some reason, I was looking forward to it. Maybe because I knew I deserved it.
“Grab your laptop and meet me in my office,” I told her, hiding my smile as I exited the conference room.
I’d just set up lunch on my desk when Mallori entered. “You can sit here,” I told her, gesturing toward my chair and taking the one across from her. She eyed me warily before settling into the high-backed leather seat that looked way too big for her slight frame.
We began eating our sandwiches, and I slid a piece of paper across the desk. “This is the setup for the book convention. I’ve marked everyone’s stations and assignments on there, but can you add them to the schematic I emailed to you? I’m not sure how to add text to the map.”
Chewing slowly, she nodded. “I can do that.”
A frown crinkled her forehead, and I asked, “What’s wrong?”
Shrugging one shoulder, she said, “Nothing. My opinion doesn’t matter because I don’t really know what I’m talking about. It’s just…”
“Bee, your opinion always matters. What do you see?”
Her eyes flashed to mine and she tapped on one corner of the map. “Here, this area is raised, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you have Bode up there, and he’s really tall and already has a good line of sight. What if you put Woody up there since he’s a few inches shorter?”
Something akin to pride filled my chest, and I said, “Make the change.”
Mallori shook her head. “We don’t have to.”
“No, it was a good observation. Do it.”
She opened her laptop and worked on it between bites while I typed out a schedule on a spreadsheet. Five minutes later, I heard the printer whir behind her. Mallori swiveled the chair around and retrieved it before handing it to me across my desk.
“I color coded everyone so they could more easily find themselves on the map.”
I looked it over, impressed at how quickly she’d finished. “That looks perfect.” Then I lifted an eyebrow at her. “You assigned my color as black?”
Her head tilted up a fraction. “Yes. I thought it was appropriate.”
“I’m sorry, Bee.”
She stared at me for an uncomfortably long moment before asking, “For what?”
“For the way I acted last night.”
Leaning forward, she didn’t break her bold gaze for even a second. “Which part? Are you sorry it happened in the first place, or are you sorry you left me sitting there feeling like shit after what we did?”
That struck me harder than any of Mike’s blows to my body last night. “I’m sorry for the way I left. I heard you say Cam’s name, and it made me feel guilty. I reacted poorly.”
She let out an indelicate snort at the understatement as she stuck a ruffled chip in her mouth, and then her voice turned soft and vulnerable. “You made me feel embarrassed about what we did.”
God, I’m such an asshole.
“You shouldn’t, Little Bee, and I apologize for making you feel like that.”
Her jaw tightened. “Because I’m grown, and neither Cam nor anyone else gets to dictate what I do or with whom.”
“Agreed.” I pulled an envelope from my pocket and placed it beside her sandwich. “I know this doesn’t make up for my behavior in the least, but please accept it as a start.”
Mallori stared down at it for a beat, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip before picking it up and opening it. “Tickets for the book convention?” Her eyes lifted incredulously to mine. “But it’s been sold out for months.”
“I know you like to read those romance books, and this event is apparently one of the biggest in the nation. Each member of the security detail working the event received two tickets, and I want you to have mine.”