Storm (Linear Tactical #10) - Janie Crouch Page 0,24

a little breathless. “I guess they’re our chaperones.”

He trailed a finger down her cheek. “You okay?”

“I’ll admit it’s been a while for me. I’m out of practice.” She felt foolish admitting that.

“Seemed just fine to me. More than fine.”

She wasn’t sure if the heat coloring her cheeks was from embarrassment or delight. She looked at the floor. “That was my first kiss since Jared.”

Just thinking about him had tension creeping back into her muscles. She walked back toward the punching bag. She was too tired to hit at it anymore. But, God, how she wished it was Jared for real. She wouldn’t be too tired then.

Noah stayed back against the barn wall. “You want to talk about your panic attack today? Do you know the trigger?”

Yeah, she knew today’s trigger. That hadn’t been difficult to pinpoint. “Today I found out that Jared has appealed the judge’s refusal to grant bail.”

Noah’s walked over, his jaw tight. “That’s a pretty good reason for anxiety.”

“I got the call this morning, and thought I was handling it fine. Kept calm. Asked my questions. Hung up and went about my day.”

“And then?”

She tapped her head against the bag in frustration. “I’m in the middle of vacuuming and the next thing I know, I’m curled up under the table screaming. Bree thought I was being murdered.”

He slid his hand between her forehead and the bag the next time there was an opening, stopping her head-butts. “A panic attack is understandable after getting that news, even hours later.”

She rubbed her eyes. “I wasn’t as upset that I had the attack as much as that it took me so long to find my way back out of it.”

Trapped back in that hell, Jared’s voice calling her stupid.

You’ll always be mine.

She shrugged, trying to get the sound of his voice out of her head. Just like earlier, she couldn’t push the voice out.

She thought she’d been stronger than that. Made more progress.

“Progress isn’t always linear.” She didn’t realize she’d said the words out loud until he responded. “It’s jagged. One step forward, two dozen steps back. But it’s still progress.”

“Yeah. I guess.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple. “Let’s get you some water. You’ve given yourself quite the workout.” He reached up and flexed his jaw, feeling it with his fingers. “Gave my jaw a workout, too.”

She was about to apologize again when he winked at her.

She elbowed him gently in the side. “That’s what you get for baiting me.”

“Just promise you won’t tell Tanner. My brother will never let me live it down.”

“Oh, I make no promises.”

They got inside and he tossed her a water bottle from the fridge. “What details did you find out about Jared’s release?”

She took a sip. “Denver law enforcement will notify me if he’s granted bail since my restraining order is still in place.”

“Then let’s just hope the judge has the good sense to hold up the original ruling. Tanner says there’s a lot of evidence against him.”

“I know it’s unlikely he’ll be released,” she whispered, “but it’s still possible. Here I was, thinking I had years before I had to worry about him, and he might be out in a few weeks.”

“Hey.” He walked over and gently squeezed her shoulder. “Let’s not borrow trouble. You’ve been working hard for months. You’re not the same person you were. And once he’s tried, he’ll go away for a long time.”

“I know. Everything just caught me off guard.”

His hand eased her against his chest, and she didn’t even think of pulling away. She burrowed against him.

“You going to be okay?”

She nodded against his chest. “Being here with you helps. Sparring helped a lot, too. And the… you know, definitely helped.”

Thank God he couldn’t see her face. It had to be on fire.

“I was pretty fond of the you know myself.” He poked her gently in the side.

She leaned back to harass him about teasing her, but when she caught sight of his face, she couldn’t help herself. She reached up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on those soft lips again instead.

She’d be embarrassed about how she couldn’t seem to keep her lips off of his if it all didn’t feel so good. If it didn’t start fire crackling in places she’d thought were frozen solid.

She’d had to freeze herself in order to survive. The thought had her drawing back from him.

Concern laced those green eyes. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t want you to ever feel like you owe me anything or