Page 32 of Sam's Salvation

“I think you need to rest today.” The bed dipped as Sam sat down beside her.

She looked at him, her voice returning now that the spin cycle in her belly had slowed. “Your friends are coming. And we still have more data to go over.” They’d spent a good portion of yesterday combing through the files she copied from Liam’s computer. A lot of it was legitimate business accounting. So far, they didn’t have much to go on.

“Asher’s already on it. Dean and Max will rent a car and drive themselves here. You can greet them from bed.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s such a great first impression. Let’s make the female operative look even weaker than she’s already perceived to be.”

“You don’t have to prove your toughness to them.”

“You say that?—”

“And I mean it. They know you’re injured. They also know you’ve been undercover for two years. That alone would make anyone think you’re tough.”

He took her hand, holding her fingers and running his thumb over her knuckles. “How’s your head now that you’re lying down?”

“Better.” To her horror, tears formed in her eyes. She clenched her teeth and willed them away.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Sam touched her cheek, smoothing away the wetness she hadn’t realized seeped out.

“Nothing.” She batted his hand away and swiped at her face. “I’m fine.”

“That’s total crap, and you know it. You can talk to me, you know? I might not always find the right words anymore, but I’m still a good listener.”

“How about we talk about that? Why do you have issues speaking now?”

“Nope. This is about you.”

“Again, talking about other things distracts me.”

“You haven’t talked about what happened at all. It’s been two days, Aud. You need to let your feelings out.”

She grimaced, then glared at him. “I’d rather not.” Feelings were messy. She didn’t have the bandwidth to deal with messy right now.

He sighed and looked away. “Okay. How about you tell me more about this op? How close were you to the end?”

Audra lifted her free hand and massaged her forehead. A dull headache had replaced the dizziness. “Probably another month. Until I could leave, anyway. There’s still all the follow-up. I was hoping that the hard drive and the pictures I took of that ledger I found would be enough to get some arrest warrants. It all has to be analyzed first.”

“Well, now you not only have MI6 on it, but also Asher. He’ll probably be faster.”

A corner of her mouth lifted. “You sure do put a lot of stock in him. In all your friends, really.”

“They never let me down.”

“That’s good. Having friends like that.” Her brow wrinkled. She didn’t have many people like that in her life. Sam was about the only one. And even then, the only reason she called him was because she ran into him in February. If it wasn’t for that encounter, she never would have thought to contact him. She’d never forgotten their time together, but that didn’t mean he was constantly in her thoughts. She pulled those nights out at times when she needed the endorphin boost. Thinking about him while she did—other things—always improved her mood.

Her face heated. She prayed he didn’t notice. Or that he chalked it up to embarrassment over her last statement.

“I’m glad I do,” he said. “And now you do too.”

Her frown deepened. “What do you mean?”

“You’re my friend, right?”

“I guess so.”

“And you need help?”

“Yes.”