Page 4 of Protected By West (San Antonio S.W.A.T. #1)

The pen she held in her hand started to bend.

No.

This was not happening.

"Major Weston Cooper of the Texas Rangers. He leads the new San Antonio SWAT team as part of the Special Operations Division. He'll be talking about new threats to financial institutions and ways to guard against them."

Tracy felt a little uncomfortable.

Off balance.

And her face was tingling a little as if her blood pressure was rising or falling too quickly, she didn't know which one it was, but it really didn't matter. She was a little light-headed.

She reached out and touched the tabletop just shy of Jaime's hand. "I..."

"Tracy?" Jaime's voice was warm and full of concern. "Are you okay?"

"I... I don't feel good."

"Oh."

Tracy felt Jaime's hand touch hers.

"Let me grab your bag."

There was a moment of rustling that Tracy could hear and then Jaime's hand was under her elbow. "Come on. I'll take you."

Tracy opened her mouth to argue that she didn't need help, but her body made a mockery of the thought, nearly dropping her where she was.

This , she told herself, was not happening.

There was no way, come hell or high water, that she was going to faint like some kind of corset-wearing damsel in distress!

Forcing herself to almost stand upright, she let Jaime lead the way out of the room.

Someone came over to talk as Jaime pushed on the heavy banquet doors and Tracey heard Jaime tell them that they'd be back in a few minutes before they stepped out into the hallway.

The floor where the meeting rooms and banquet spaces was a hallway with knee to ceiling high windows and lush chairs spaced along the way.

As hotels went, this one was a step up from the places they'd had this even in the past years, but Tracy wasn't exactly enjoying the location.

The cool air conditioning that she could barely feel inside was chilly against her skin in the hall.

That told her she must be cold and clammy against Jaime's hand.

"Okay, we're outside on our own and walking. Can you tell me what's going on?"

Tracy lifted her head to look at her friend and tried to muster up a real smile. "If I said I was going through menopause, would you leave it at that?"

The look Jaime gave her said she wasn't buying it. "You're thirty-f-"

" Ixnay on the ageway leasepay. "

She heard Jaime sigh. "I'm going to listen but only because you know that pig Latin makes my head hurt."

"Sorry. I just..."

Jaime turned and Tracy heard another door swing open. "We'll go in here."

Tracy felt the air get even cooler on her face and managed a smile. "Thanks. I feel so much better already."

"Sit."

Tracey felt Jaime turn her until her butt was leaning against the edge of the counter. She knew she was feeling better when a sassy little comeback was on the tip of her tongue.

"Let me get you a wet towel."

Tracy groaned a little at the sound of the water coming out of the spigot. "You're going to ruin my make-up."

Jaime's laugh was almost a snort. "You don't really wear make-up." The water shut off. And she heard water falling back into the basin.

That's when Tracy opened her eyes. "I am feeling better, you know."

Jaime arched a brow at her before handing Tracy the cool, wet paper towel. "Feeling better and able to function are two different things."

Tracy felt the cool touch of the towel on her open palm. "We've functioned on less than nothing before."

Jaime turned, leaning against the counter beside Tracy and folded her arms across her chest. "There's a long way between ‘we were up all night hammering out the annual report for the members’ and ‘drinking way too many rum and cokes,’ and looking like you're about to pass out before this conference really starts. "

Tracy straightened up as she touched the towel to her forehead. "We haven't done that in years."

She moved the towel to her temple and then down her cheek to her chin as Jaime chuckled.

"Well, I'd like to think that we're grownups now and we wouldn't do that again."

Tracy dropped her chin and touched the cool cloth to the back of her neck. The temperature was soothing. Letting out a long exhale she looked at her friend. "We were grown up when we got sloshed that night. We're just heading toward the other side of middle-life and know better."

Jaime laughed out loud, and the sound echoed off of the walls.

Tracy laughed but it was softer.

A little less than her normal sense of humor.

"My life sucks."

Jaime turned her head. Tracy could see the movement out of the corner of her eyes. "And this is in regards to..."

"That cowboy you were eyeing on the stage?"

Jaime nodded and Tracy moved the towel back to her forehead.

"Yeah?"

Tracy groaned and then let out a shaky exhale. "That's the guy from last night."

"Long and tall in the Stetson?"

"There was only one on the stage who dressed like a cowboy."

"Come on, I want to have a little fun."

Tracy's smile was easier now. "Yeah, I know. And I'd be right there beside you telling you that his ass is as spectacular as you'd think it is. I can't believe that I didn't ask."

Jaime turned and put her purse on the counter, opening it and fishing around inside.

"Didn't ask... about his job?"

"Exactly." Tracy drew in a lung-filling breath and moved the cool cloth to her other temple. "Texas Rangers are great. I just... I can't..."

"This is about your dad, huh?"

Tracy's shoulders tightened in a moment, but she shrugged to relax them as she pushed away from the edge of the counter.

"He's the root cause, yes."

Jaime paused, silence falling between them and then Jaime dropped her lip balm back into her bag and picked it up off of the counter.

Tracy knew what was going through Jaime's head.

They'd talked about it before on the few times that the subject of her dad came up in conversation, and Jaime hadn't argued with her, she hadn't tried to 'reason' with her, she'd listened and Tracy appreciated that, but she had a feeling that Jaime had reached the end of the line on that.

"Not everyone is the same."

Tracy nodded and dropped the now room temperature towel in the trash can attached to the wall. "I know that what you're saying is true."

Jaime nodded her head, but didn't say anything.

"I think at this point it's just a matter of it being... a kind of knee-jerk reaction. And I guess I got ahead of myself last night. Everything just seemed to fall in place, and we spent hours together. I just can't believe that his job didn't come up in conversation."

Jaime nodded and reached for a paper towel and used it to wipe off the counter between them. "Maybe it did, or maybe it didn't, but I think it's a good thing that his job didn't come up. And maybe just because something is a knee-jerk reaction doesn't make it a good thing."

Tracy got a paper towel from the machine and wiped at her hands. "When you say smart things like that I don't know if I should hug you or kick you in the ass."

Jaime gave her a look that was definitely more in the friend column than a subordinate at work column and she loved her all the more for it. "You should hug me because if you tried the other one, next time I'd let you fall on your face instead of helping you to the ladies room."

They both laughed knowing that it wasn't going to happen like that. They'd spent too many years helping each other that it wasn't going to stop now.

Tracy looked down at Jaime's watch and sighed. "I guess we should get back, we'll be in time to hear the first presenter." She reached out her hand and gently grasped Jaime's arm. "Thank you for helping me out of there. Can you imagine the gossip if I passed out and people stepped on me?"

Jaime opened the door and waited while Tracy stepped outside. "Don't worry, I wouldn't let you get stepped on."

Tracy paused a few steps away from the door. "I know I could count on you."

Jaime stepped up beside her and smiled brighter. "I'd ask people to step over you, because I'm a good friend like that."

Tracy wrapped her arm around her friend and gave her a good squeeze.

"You're the best!"

They reached the ballroom doors a few seconds later and slipped in with hardly any fuss.

They were back in their seats just as the first presenter stepped up to the podium at the front of the room.

Tracy even relaxed a little when she didn't see Weston anywhere inside the room.

She knew she couldn't ignore it forever, but she wanted just a little more time to ignore the reality that she was going to come face to face with Weston again.

She really wasn't ready for this.

WEST

He really wasn't ready for this.

Presenting in front of fellow law enforcement officers was a piece of cake. He knew what they wanted to hear. He also knew what they wanted to know.

It was simple enough.

Events like this were different. Presenting information in front of people in this kind of industry meant telling people things they didn't want to hear.

It was the same thing when educating politicians on security threats.

Many of them wanted to say they were in the know, but taking action?

They wanted to push that off onto other people so they could say that someone else was at fault.

That somehow made things easier for them.

Being one of the guys with his feet on the ground at emergency situations had given him a deep appreciation for knowledge and planning.

West looked up from his notes. He didn’t need much of a refresh, he’d worked on his presentation for weeks, researching all the newest data and robberies, just before he left for Frederickson. Now, he had some time to look out over the assembled group.

Tracy was there for the conference, but he didn't see her at any of the tables.

He should have looked for her when he was on the platform up front, but the lights were a little too bright and the angle had nearly blinded him where he was.

Weston looked up from his notes when the ballroom doors opened with a soft click.

Two people walked in and even from the distance between them, he smiled.

Tracy.

The way she moved was like no other.

Smiling, he sat back in his chair, fighting back his physical reaction to seeing her again.

Yeah, stepping up in front of everyone with a hard-on?

That wasn't a good idea.

It didn't help that kissing her in the elevator the night before was like taking a hit. He hadn't done any drugs in his past, but he'd been to enough seminars and interviewed enough addicts to know what it was that got them addicted in the first place.

And to be honest, it wasn't just when he got his hands on her and tasted her lips that had caught him up. It was everything about her that had drawn him in.

It was the sweet smile on her lips when he'd first seen her, the way she filled out her dress as he'd walked up beside her, and everything after that.

He hadn't just taken a hit of her sweetness, he had a craving for her now.

As soon as they had a break, he'd make his way to her side and ask her to have dinner with him again.

There were just a few nights before he had to get back to work and he wanted to spend what time he had there getting to know her.

This was his opportunity, and he wasn't going to waste it.