His frown deepened. He uncrossed his legs and straightened. “Maybe you should focus and get it done so we can stop having to separate.”
She smiled. He expected nothing but her best effort, always, undiluted, uncompromising. School had been hard once her mom passed. And now, after everything that had happened with her stepdad, well, it was nice having someone believe in her.
She walked to him and slipped into his arms. Though he was much larger than she was, she felt they were a perfect fit. She pressed her ear against his chest.
“Do you want me to follow you down?” he asked. “I could stay overnight and see you settled.”
Fiona shook her head. “That would only make this parting the longest one ever. For an entire day, I would be dreading your heading back here.”
“I could stay with you and commute to work.”
Fiona pulled back to look up at him. “It’s more than two hours each way. That’s a waste of your time. I’ll be fine.” Her hand touched his cheek. “And you’ll be fine.”
He shook his head. “I’ll be hollow. My ancestors had the perfect term for that. ‘Mahasani.’ It means you are the me that lives outside of myself. When you’re not near, I’ll have nothing.”
“That’s beautiful. Was that from your Lakota ancestors?”
He nodded.
“Will you tell me about them sometime? I know so little about my own family. It amazes me how much you know about yours.”
“I will.” He touched the security necklace she wore. “Don’t take this off.”
“I won’t.”
“Call me if you need anything.”
“You’ve seen to everything. I’ll call you each night.”
“Call me anytime.”
His hand caught the back of her head as he bent to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered against his lips, “I don’t want to wait, Kelan.”
“We have only a little over a month to go. We’ll wait.”
“I miss you already,” she said as he eased her back to her feet.
“Go, so you can come back.”
*
Selena knocked quietly on Val’s door, glad as hell the other doors in his wing didn’t have peepholes. She heard no sound from inside, but a short moment after her knock, his door opened. Val stood there, shirtless and barefoot, wearing only his jeans.
“Can we talk?” she asked.
He smiled and stepped back, giving her access to his room. “Closed door or open?”
She looked up at him, hesitating long enough for the cerulean pull of his eyes to wash over her. “Closed.” She set her jaw and moved through the narrow entrance hall.
“S’up?” he asked, shutting the door and following her deeper into his room.
She faced him. “I don’t make friends easily. I don’t take on lovers easily, either.”
His grin widened. He folded his arms, tucking his hands by his armpits as he spread his legs. “Darlin’, if you’re gonna fire me or hire me, don’t leave me standing in this nether world.”
“I kissed Owen.”
Val’s brows lifted. “Did you like it?”
“It was nice.”
“Uh-huh.”
She shook her head. “I talked to him this morning. Told him it wasn’t going to go anywhere, since I work for him.”
“How’d that go?”
“He offered to fire me so that he could move me into his bedroom.”
Val laughed. “Bastard.”
“I have to say the same thing to you.”
He stepped closer, all humor gone from his eyes. This close, she had to look up to see his eyes, but she refused to, focusing instead on his Adam’s apple.
“Selena”—he touched the back of his knuckles to her cheek, drawing his hand down her neck—“give me a chance.”
She started to shake her head, still avoiding his eyes. “You’re smoking hot, Val, but you’re more than your looks. You have a big heart. You love this team.”
He bent and placed the barest of butterfly kisses on her cheek. “Don’t do this, Sel. Give me a chance. I can be the guy you want.”
“But I can’t be the girl you want.” She took hold of his wrist and finally looked into his eyes. “I can’t come between you and Owen.”
“Fuck Owen.”
“It would be different if you and I weren’t on the same team.”
“I’ll quit.”
Selena didn’t hide the shock that offer sent through her, but reality quickly chased it away. “And do what? Come to resent me for burning your bridges and forcing you to leave the team?”
“I would never resent you.”
“I want to be friends, Val. I don’t want to cross this line.”
He stared into her eyes. She could almost see the doors to his heart and his soul slam shut. He dropped his hands and stepped back. “Got it.”
She lowered her head and nodded. She had not expected this to hurt—him or her—as it did. “Okay.” She flashed a look at him. “Okay.” She sighed, then headed out of his room.
Chapter Three
Greer’s phone vibrated. The caller ID showed it was the professor. “Hi, doc.”
“Greer.”
“Did you find Sally in your census?”
She took an audible breath. “No. I’m sorry. But I did find something interesting. Can you come to my office?”
“Sure. I’ll be there in a couple of hours.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m camping. Up in the Medicine Bows.”
“How are you getting reception up there?”
Greer knew Owen had pulled some strings to get additional satellite relays deployed, but that was need-to-know info. “Who knows? I just am. Couple hours, doc. You gonna be there still?”
“Yeah. Call me when you’re here. I’ll let you in. They lock the building down early in the summer.”
Greer folded his campsite and loaded his things into the SUV he’d hidden in the woods. He’d been camping near the Friendship Community to observe its behavior. He wanted to see how often the WKB members came onto Friendship property, what the Friends did during the day, during the night.
Once he was on the road to Wolf Creek Bend, he phoned Max to let him know where he was headed.
“Need a shotgun rider?” Max asked.