Shielding Gillian (Delta Team Two #1) - Susan Stoker Page 0,89

if she’d been able to see Walker during the week. They spent the weekend he’d returned from his mission together, and it had been harder than she’d thought it would be to leave to go back to Georgetown on Sunday night.

But they both had work they had to get done. Their phone calls and texts were much more intimate after they’d spent the weekend making love, and Gillian loved the change.

Walker hadn’t been kidding, he was very protective and concerned about her. But it hadn’t been a hardship to send him quick notes letting him know when she left her apartment and when she returned.

He didn’t care where she was, as long as she returned home safely afterward. It had actually been Gillian who’d suggested that maybe they could both download a tracker app on their phones. He’d agreed in a heartbeat.

So now at any time of day, she could click on the app and see exactly where Walker was, and vice versa. It felt a little stalkerish, but Gillian couldn’t deny that it made her feel safe that he knew where she was at all times.

The Howard anniversary party was quickly approaching and because it involved over three hundred guests, it was taking up most of her time and energy. She had a few small parties and gatherings that she was also planning and executing, but those were pretty straightforward and didn’t take much effort.

Today, Gillian was meeting the Howards’ daughter downtown at a catering company so she could taste different kinds of cakes and make the final decision on what she wanted at the anniversary party.

Since the meeting was at ten, Gillian hoped the Austin traffic wouldn’t be too bad getting into the city. She’d already scoped out the area and there was a parking garage within a block of where they were meeting, which was a relief. She hated trying to find parking downtown.

Gillian knew Walker was busy that morning with meetings, but she decided to give him a quick call just to say good morning. He’d told her that she could call whenever she wanted, he’d always pick up as long as he wasn’t busy.

“Hey,” he said after only two rings.

“Hi,” Gillian said happily. She didn’t always get to talk to him in the mornings, so she was pleased when she’d been able to catch him.

“Did you have a good morning?” he asked.

“No.”

“No? Why not? What happened?” Walker asked worriedly.

“I didn’t get to shower with my boyfriend,” she said with a pout. “And I had to get my own coffee, and my Wonder Woman coffee mug was dirty.”

“Oh, you poor thing,” Walker said, the relief that she’d been kidding easy to hear in his tone. “Sounds like your boyfriend is being a slacker.”

Loving their banter, Gillian beamed. “I don’t know, he more than makes up for not being around during the week when we get together on the weekends.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah,” Gillian said with feeling. “How was your morning? How’d PT go? Did you run a marathon this morning for fun?”

He chuckled. “Only six miles. Then we hit the obstacle course and ran through that a few times.”

“A few?” Gillian asked. She knew he and his friends had probably done it at least twenty times in a row. And had probably put on their rucksacks for half of those rotations. Walker and the others were serious about staying in top physical shape. She knew it wasn’t easy for Walker, since he was getting close to forty, but she’d seen him work out…there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he was just as fit as his friends who were years younger.

“You on your way to Austin?” Walker asked, turning the conversation from him.

He did that a lot, and at first it irritated Gillian, because she thought he was trying to avoid talking about himself. But eventually she realized that he wasn’t trying to dodge her questions, he just wasn’t self-centered in any way, shape, or form. He told her once that he asked her a lot of questions because he was more interested in her. If he couldn’t be with her, he wanted to know everything about what she was doing and thinking. It made him feel closer to her. How could she argue about that?

“Yeah. I left about ten minutes ago. There’s a bit of traffic, but it’s not too bad.”

“You can’t wait to eat cake this early in the day, can you?” Walker asked with a chuckle.

Gillian smiled. Walker had found out all about her