Page 13 of Light on Love
“Yeah, what was it about?”
“It was a false alarm. But there’s still talk of them looking for you. Ray called because more chatter was intercepted. Somethings sounded like they knew where you are.”
Laurel feels a lump in her throat form as her eyes widen. “Am I going to be okay?” she asks shakily, unable to mask her raw emotion. Brett reaches out, his hand hesitating in the air brieflybefore he continues forward and tucks a stray hair behind her ear.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Laurel. I’m sorry about losing my cool earlier in the stables. That was kind of a first for me. I’m used to not wanting connection with my objective. And I was wondering…” he pauses, his hand now cradling her cheek. His thumb absently rubbing back and forth, sending sparks shooting through her with each pass. “Were you serious about wanting to learn how to protect yourself? I’d worry less if I knew you had some ways to hold them off, if I needed time to get to you.”
Laurel is rendered speechless by the compassion this stoic man is showing her. Her brain rapidly working through his comments today.Earlier he said it turns out he worries;it was specific to me. Her stomach flutters as he looks at her expectantly. She nods, her mouth dry. “Yeah, yes. Yes, I’d like to do that.”
Visibly relieved, Brett nods back and says, “okay, we’ll start tomorrow.” He sits back and settles into the couch, the space he takes up expanding as he relaxes. In doing so, his leg comes to rest against hers, his arms outstretched across the back of the couch, and the backs of his fingers lightly brushing her shoulder. Laurel’s skin tingles with his touch. If he knows the effect this has on Laurel, he doesn’t show it. “Why are we watching dancing tomatoes? Is this one of those Hallmark shows?”
Laurel feels the tension in her stomach release as she laughs and settles deeper into the couch herself. Her shoulder now fully under his hand from the motion, he stretches his fingers out and lays a palm across her. She smiles at the gesture. “They’re apples for the cider mill festival, not tomatoes. But since you spent all night looking for terrorists for me, we can watch whatever you’d like, cowboy.”
8
I’m not going to be able to do whatever he has planned. She groans at the thought and rolls over, burrowing deeper into the bedding until she’s completely hidden. Her phone vibrates on the nightstand beside her, and she reaches out from the blankets, feeling around for it.
“Hello?” she answers without looking at the screen, her voice muffled under the bedding.
“Good morning sunshine,” Ray chuckles on the other end. “How’s the profile going?”
“It’s going. I’m through the first six months’ worth of intelligence. But it’s reading like some of the more run of the mill threats. I’m not finding anything that screams critical threat, and it doesn’t feel like the extremist I interrogated. There’s a missing piece, something that must shift for them to be able to gain speed like they did.”
“I can’t recall any alliances with other organizations, I’m not sure what would shift. But keep going, let me know if you need anything.”
“Yeah, will do,” she responds through a yawn.
“Oh, and Laurel. How’s it going there?”
“It’s beautiful out here, I’m feeling good about the decision to come.”
“Brett made a damn good team leader. But he probably doesn’t always come across as the warmest host. Just give him the benefit of the doubt, he’s a good guy. He had my back more times than I can count.”
“He’s been a great host,” she responds, thinking of how comforting it felt to watch a movie with him the night before.
After some small talk, mostly on Ray’s end about the happenings at base, Laurel puts her phone back on the nightstand and sits up. Across the room, she notices a little orange square on the floor near the door. She gets up and walks over to it. The post-it must have been slid under the door; it reads,meet me in the small barn.
Butterflies fill her stomach and she’s unsure if she’s nervous about the training or excited to get to be spending time with Brett.I’m definitely just nervous, she decides as she forgoes her typical denim for black workout leggings and a black sports tank. Laurel throws on a sweatshirt for the chilly breeze that comes with the walk down the hill, and braids her hair down her back before heading out the door.
“I was wondering if I was going to have to come back in and wake you up.” Brett delivers this in a deadpan tone, but the corner of his mouth tilts up and the look in his eyes can only be described as playful. He’s finishing wrapping up a rope and she notices that he didn’t forgo jeans today, she wonders if the man even owns a pair of sweatpants.
“I can only imagine what it would be like waking up to you,” she purrs.No, whydid I say that out loud, she immediately panics. But then Laurel notices that his eyes have darkened and he’s watching her with such intensity, her mind goes blank.
As quickly as it started, he blinks and puts his hand to his chest, rubbing absently as he looks away. She takes a deepbreath and wills herself to look away from him as well. Instead, focusing on her surroundings. Taking in the new space, Laurel tries to push away the growing heat inside her that started around the time she came to the ranch.
This barn is about a third the size of the others. The floor is the same brick, but the walls are vertical boards painted black. There are no stalls, just an open space with a loft above and a door off to the side. Just like the stables, either end is capped with iron and glass garage doors, allowing natural light to fill the space. Equipment and machinery are pushed to the side and Brett has laid out a large sparring mat.
Laurel timidly walks up to the edge of the mat, poking it with the toe of her sneaker. She looks up to find Brett leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, watching her take it all in. She’s starting to pay closer attention to his mannerisms. And while someone might view this stance from such an imposing person as cold, she can see by the way he leans and lets his jaw slack, that his vibe is more like patient and laid back right now.
“So, do you have a plan on how to make me a fighting machine?”
This earns her first smirk of the day from him. “I do, actually. But if you’re not comfortable with any part of it just let me know. This is for you.”
Laurel nods in understanding before he continues. “We’ll start with basic defense skills, then maybe some hand-to-hand maneuvers, and finally look at getting you comfortable with a weapon or two.”
She raises her eyebrows in excitement, “do I get to pick any weapon I want?”
“Easy, killer,” Brett chuckles. “But sure, I can give you some choices when we get to that point. If you’re ready, let’s get on the mat.”