His heart squeezed at her selfless offer. She had enough to handle without adding his issues. “Maybe later.”
“You told Marcus we’re friends. Are we, or were you just saying that to encourage Marcus to talk to me on short notice?”
He stilled. “Do you want to be friends?”
Kristi edged closer, her face tilting up toward his. “I do.”
“I’d like that,” he murmured. More than he should.
“I’m a good listener. I’d like to be your sounding board when you’re ready to talk.”
“Fair enough.” He tugged her into motion again. “Do you want to see Crime Town?”
“As long as I don’t end up a hostage in a fake bank robbery or something.”
Rafe chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.” From a fake crime or the real thing. No one was going to hurt Kristi again on his watch.
CHAPTER NINE
An hour later, Rafe escorted Kristi to the main building. Butterflies took flight in her stomach when she realized Rafe had held her hand for the whole tour of the PSI facility.
She cautioned herself not to make anything out of the innocent touch. She’d been around the SEAL long enough to know that he took her protection seriously.
She liked Rafe’s protective streak. Although she and Hugh were friends, he never worried about Kristi’s safety, not that he had reason to be concerned about protecting her before now. When they ate dinner together, he didn’t mind if she drove herself to the restaurant. If they walked from one place to another, he didn’t insist on walking closest to the street. He didn’t even walk Kristi to her SUV after dinner was over if they arrived separately. Without asking, she knew Rafe would have insisted on escorting her to her vehicle and following her home to ensure she arrived safely. Hugh Ward was no Rafe Torres.
She understood what Callie had seen in Rafe. Oh, he was handsome and polite every time she’d talked to him when he was home on leave from the Navy. But now that she’d seen him in action, he was everything she dreamed about in a perfect date. Callie had been blessed to have Rafe in her life.
After Rafe opened the door and ushered her inside the building, he stopped. “Do you need anything before you talk to Marcus? Water, tea, a snack?”
Her stomach lurched at the idea of food. Kristi swallowed hard. “No food.”
He cupped her cheek lightly, concern in his eyes. “Is your headache worse?”
She shook her head. The invisible bear was still pounding on her head with that mallet, but the pain meds from the medics helped. No, her problem was the upcoming session with the counselor. She so did not want to talk to him about her kidnapping.
“What’s wrong?”
“I dread talking to Marcus.” She sounded so lame. Kristi wrinkled her nose. “Ignore me. I’m being ridiculous. Talking to him won’t hurt me.”
“Come here,” he murmured. When Kristi moved into his embrace, he closed his arms around her and held her against him.
Rafe didn’t speak or ask questions. He just held her. By degrees, the tension inside Kristi uncoiled until she could take a full breath. Although reluctant to move, she said, “We should go.”
“Take the time you need. Marcus will wait.”
Kristi indulged her need for comfort for a few more minutes, soaking up his warmth and strength. Finally, she glanced up at the dark-eyed operative. “I’m ready now. Thank you for the hug. I needed it.”
A smile curved his mouth. “No thanks needed. I think the hug did me as much good as it did you. Do you want me to stay in the room with you while you talk to Marcus or wait in the hall?”
“You would stay?”
“I’d like to be there for you, but the choice is yours.”
She hated to be a coward, but she had bad memories of talking to a counselor after the first kidnapping when she was younger. “Stay with me.”
“If you change your mind during the session, tell me and I’ll wait in the hall.”
Overwhelmed with gratitude for his kindness, she rose on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
Rafe’s arms tightened around her as his gaze dropped from her eyes to her mouth. “I shouldn’t do this,” he whispered, but slowly lowered his head until his mouth settled on hers. He gave her plenty of time to stop him. She didn’t.
At the touch of his mouth on hers, fire streaked along her nerve endings, bringing every inch of her body to life. When his tongue brushed against her bottom lip, asking silent permission