Her brother had served six years for his crimes, and although she had a permanent restraining order against him, he had turned up at her door a few times asking for money to feed his habit. She never gave him any, and she called the cops, but in the end, the system didn't seem to really care because he never spent much time in prison for violating the order. He had been in and out a couple more times over the years, and she was sure at some point he’d do something that would wind up getting him a life sentence.
If Micah hadn't listened to her plea this morning and mentioned Simon, it would have upset the delicate balance her family precariously maintained. While it pained her to be grateful to him for anything, she was thankful he hadn't been a jerk and done it to spite her.
Actually, he hadn't been a jerk at all these last couple of days.
He’d been the Micah she’d known back when they were teens.
Why couldn’t he have stayed that way? Why did he have to change? Why did he have to ruin everything?
If he hadn't bailed on her, they’d likely be married by now, have a couple of kids, and have built a wonderful life together.Instead, she was alone and too afraid of getting hurt the same way he’d hurt her to try her hand at love a second time.
“We’re not going to talk about it then?” Chelsea asked.
“Talk about what?”
“Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe the super sexy SEAL who seems to have the hots for you and is currently playing your bodyguard.”
When she threw a quick glance Chelsea’s way, she saw her friend was wiggling her eyebrows and grinning despite the fact that she still looked pale, her nose was all red, and she sounded stuffed up with her cold.
“He doesn’t … he’s not …” Teresa stammered, feeling her cheeks heat in embarrassment as she tried to explain it wasn't like that. She still hadn't told her friends that she knew Micah, there hadn't been time, and she didn't want to dig into old wounds, reopening them.
Besides, she’d been hoping everyone would just assume the reason she was a little off was because of the break-in and almost being kidnapped. That was certainly enough to throw anyone off, even someone like her who had a reputation for being calm under pressure, and practical in her approach to everything, including the dark and often disturbing work they did.
It wasn't that the things they saw didn't affect her, they did, deeply. It was just that she had learned early on how to compartmentalize and just do what needed to be done. That’s what she did every day, and when it got to be too much, then she had a good, long cry in the shower where no one would hear her.
“Lunch just arrived. Why don’t we take a break and eat?” Ava suggested, popping up beside Chelsea.
“I'm right in the middle of something, I’ll take a break in a bit,” she said, refocusing on her screen. She wasn't really in the middle of anything that couldn’t wait, but she didn't want to give Chelsea a chance to pursue her line of questioning.
“You’ll take a break now,” Micah informed her, appearing seemingly out of nowhere even though she knew he’d been in the room all along.
She’d just been doing her best to ignore his presence.
Something that was becoming increasingly harder to do.
The way he ordered her, swooped in, and tried to take over irked her, and she tossed him a glare. “I said I’d take a break later,” she ground out, doing her best not to let on how deeply this man affected her and knowing she was failing, which only irritated her more.
“But you won't. You’ll just keep working, pushing yourself too hard, and completely forgetting that you were injured yesterday.”
“Boy, does he have your number,” Chelsea whispered.
“Take a break. Eat some lunch, drink plenty of water, and then take these.” Micah set two white pills on the table beside her, then added a bottle of water and a sandwich.
While she knew she could refuse, Teresa also knew that if she put up too much of a fight, she’d only draw more suspicion. Already, Chelsea was hinting at there being something between her and Micah, and Ava wouldn't be far behind. If she wanted to nip that in the bud, she couldn’t go overboard.
“Fine,” she huffed, closing her laptop. “I’ll take a short break.”
“Good. You're a hard worker, and that’s amazing, but taking care of yourself is also important,” Micah said, and the warmth and genuineness of it made it hard to stay mad at him.
Her focus as a teen had always been taking care of her mom and brothers, making sure the housework was done, Arthur was entertained, and there was food on the table. But ever since they met, Micah’s focus had been on taking care of her.
It had been sweet back then, but now it was … she wasn't even sure.
Unsettling.
Truth was, she’d spent a whole lot more years hating him than she had loving him, and that was hard to undo, even if she wanted to. Which she didn't. Definitely didn't. Although that smile did do things to her. Things she didn't want to admit, even to herself.
“He’s so sexy and protective,” Chelsea whispered as Micah disappeared out the door, leaving Teresa thankful for the respite.
