Page 21 of Memories of You

But not yet. I’m still spooked. And I’m very glad thatRenly’s watching over me.

Thankfully, Lilah is home, and I invite her over justbecause I’m a little stir-crazy. I tell her about the call and about Darrin’soffer of lunch. “I feel bad turning him down. I mean, part of the job is towine and dine the clients.”

“Yeah, but I think you did the right thing. It was probablyjust him thinking about work, but you never know. And the last thing you wantto do is date a client. Or make a client think you’d be interested in dating.”She frowns. “Unless you are. Does Nikki have rules about that?”

“I’m not,” I say. Honestly, when I think about it, I haven’tbeen attracted to too many men recently. Travis, but that was more proximitythan attraction. I mean, he was cute and fun, but my pulse never raced around him.

The truth is, the only guy that’s ever really done a numberon me is Renly.

But he’s a guy who doesn’t want me. At least not the waythat I want him.

Chapter Nine

“Sorry to drag you here on the weekend,” Ryan said frombehind his desk at Stark Security.

Renly leaned back in the guest chair. “Are you kidding? Atrip to Dubai for a covert operation? That’s the kind of thing I signed up for,remember?”

Ryan laughed. “Well, can’t argue with that. Liam’s alreadyover there, so he’ll take you through the mission specs when you arrive. Yourplane leaves first thing Wednesday morning, and I’ve got a little light readingfor you in the meantime.” He passed Renly a thick folder of material. “At leasttwo insertions that are going to require rappelling down a skyscraper, but fromwhat I read in your military file, that should be up your alley.”

“Yes, sir,” Renly said, hoping Ryan couldn’t hear the lie inhis voice. He pushed the chair and stood, wanting to get the hell out of thereso he could catch his breath and decide what the fuck to do. “I reallyappreciate your faith in me. I know I’m the new guy on the block.” He extendedhis hand to shake. But before Ryan could take it, the floor tilted, and Renlydropped his hand to steady himself on the desk, biting back a string ofcolorful curses.

Ryan’s brow furrowed. “Are you okay?”

“Sorry. Worked out this morning, didn’t eat breakfast, andstood up too fast. I’m fine.”

Ryan didn’t seem to notice the lie, and soon he was back atwork and Renly was in the bullpen at his own desk. He pulled open a drawer,took out a prescription bottle, and tapped out a pill. He closed his eyes,cursed softly, then dry swallowed the meds.

He stayed at his desk for a few more moments, reviewing thepaperwork that Ryan had given him. The mission pushed all his buttons. Hell, itwas exactly the type of assignment that had excited him about Stark Security.International operations. Excitement. Adventure.

Something real, not the bullshit of a Hollywood set, thefake stories that were interesting but provided no real fascination for him,and the equally fake women, who seemed to want nothing more than to be on hisarm or in his bed.

Presumably he was more interesting than the celebrities theywere used to. Too bad he didn’t find them equally as interesting.

No, the only woman he’d found remotely interesting recentlywas Abby. And wasn’t that a kicker, considering she was the one woman he reallycouldn’t have?

He pushed back from the desk and stood, taking it slowly to makesure the world didn’t tilt beneath him again. He glanced sideways at Ryan’soffice, knowing he should go have a talk with his boss. He waited, working upthe nerve. Then he grabbed up the folder, turned around, and headed for theexit to summon a ride share because, dammit, right now was no time for him toget on the damn bike.

Hell, if he was smart he’d sell the thing before it killedhim.

But he wasn’t smart. He wasn’t even honest. Not withhimself, and not with anybody else.

He wanted to talk to Abby, but the thought of her seeing theweakness in him made his gut twist into knots. So instead he typed a differentaddress into the app.

* * * *

“So where does a guy go to get a drink around here?” Renlysaid, striding into the distillery’s tasting area.

Behind the counter, Red looked up, then grinned wide. Hishair was a more vibrant color than Renly’s, and he’d recently begun growing abeard, but other than that they looked similar enough that people used toconfuse them as kids, thinking they were identical.

Abby never did, though. She always knew exactly who was who,and it had been Renly she’d bonded with, something he’d never taken forgranted.

“Did we have lunch planned today?” Red asked as Renly slidonto a stool.

“Can’t a guy just drop by to see his brother?”

“A guy can. I don’t know what the hell you are.” He poured ashot of Cooper’s Slow Burn Rye, the distillery’s most popular label, and passedit to Renly.

“Funny man. How’s it going in here?”