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“Because I care about you. And I don’t want the assault to ruin a possible relationship. You’ve overcome so much from it, and you’ve done it alone. You’re not alone any longer and this new relationship will only thrive with communication between the two of you, something you haven’t done much of in almost a decade.”
Laura Lee grinned an embarrassed smile. “Guilty as charged.”
Lassiter chuckled. “Communication is bond-forming. It can be quite the aphrodisiac.”
“Okay, I’ll have a conversation with him.” She would say anything to placate Joe.
“And you’ll call one of the team medics on site there to make sure you didn’t injure yourself,” Joe said.
“Yes, I’ll do that too.”
“Then my job here is done,” Joe said. “Call me if you need me.”
“Thank you, Joe, I will.”
After she closed out of the video chat, she thought about what they’d talked about. She knew that Joe was right about a lot of things, especially that she needed to talk to Brad. He had a right to know that she hadn’t had a relationship with anyone since college. She hoped that Joe was wrong about unexpected triggers returning her to the moment of the assault. That was the last thing she wanted to happen.
Tango
The eight team members loaded into two of the SUVs to drive to the steakhouse for dinner. On the drive and at the table, Laura Lee noticed a much different atmosphere than dinners with the team had been on location performing the PGP Installs. Everyone was more relaxed than usual. Maybe it was because they were celebrating the successful conclusion of a mission, or maybe it was because both Garcia and BT came out of it with just bruises rather than the horrendous injuries they could have had. Or maybe it was a defense mechanism recognizing that both men could have been killed. She wasn’t sure.
Or maybe it was that she had changed. She felt more like a member of the team than ever before. No longer on guard, she was more relaxed. As she had participated fully in this mission, there was a commonality, a shared experience, to create a bond.
The laughter of the men brought her out of her head and back to the table as servers swooped in to place plates with large cuts of meat in front of each of them. She’d barely eaten her salad, so she asked the server to leave the bowl.
“Are you not hungry tonight?” BT asked, pointing to her uneaten salad. All the men had devoured theirs.
“No, I’m hungry,” she said. “I was saving it to have with my steak.”
“I think Laura had too many cookies,” Michael teased. “I saw you down in the lobby at the vending machine this afternoon.”
“You did? I didn’t see you.”
“I’m stealthy,” he said with a smile before he shoveled a bite of the very large porterhouse on his plate into his mouth.
The others laughed.
“Are you still mentally processing the day?” BT whispered as side conversations between the others sprung up.
“No, I’m good. Thanks. The question is, how are you?”
“My ribs are sore, bruised. It could have been worse, so I’m lucky.”
“And mentally?” she asked.
BT’s gaze told her he understood her question. “Still processing the day,” he said with a smile. “Evie will not be thrilled when she sees the bruises tomorrow. I dread having to tell her what happened. I know she worries if I’m doing anything but the PGP Project. Because she’s been there, she knows exactly what we do.”
“Has she dealt with what happened to her yet?” Laura Lee asked.
“Honestly, I think she’s still working through it. She no longer has nightmares, and she’s still talking to Lassiter. I think it’s just going to take more time.”
“I think she’s right where she needs to be.” Laura Lee smiled a compassionate grin at him.
“Thanks,” BT said.
“I would have loved to see Laura chase that guy down,” Jimmy Wilson said, laughing, which brought her attention to him. “I’m sure pudge-boy didn’t know what hit him.”
“Did you tackle him, or what?” Michael asked.