Actual Stop (Agent O’Connor #1)(11)
Mark’s phone rang, giving me something else to focus on besides the vision now seated next to me. “Excuse me.” He picked up the receiver and spoke into it. “Secret Service, Jennings.”
Allison turned to me then, and my muscles seized. “It’s great to see you, Ryan.”
Her low, throaty voice sent the chills back up my spine and sparked warmer feelings in other, more intimate places. The air molecules in the room were suddenly too large to fit comfortably inside my lungs and seemed to have a weight and texture to them. Damn, even smug, the woman looked incredible. Stop thinking about her like that, I scolded myself. My tongue felt like it had swelled three sizes, and a horrendous taste dribbled down the back of my throat.
“Allison,” I finally managed, ignoring how choked the word sounded. My body felt both feverish and clammy. I tried to swallow, but my mouth was completely devoid of moisture. It didn’t take a genius to figure out where that dampness had gone, and I couldn’t seem to stop the tumult in my heart. I also couldn’t think of anything else to say. Not something I wouldn’t later regret, anyway.
Allison tossed her jet-black hair back off her forehead and out of her eyes in a familiar careless gesture that made me clench my teeth and catch my breath. Her olive skin was, of course, absolutely flawless, and as much as I hated to admit it, she was a vision of strength and beauty in her exquisitely tailored pin-striped suit. A bittersweet ache spooled inside me and continued growing larger and larger until I was sure my body would no longer be able to withstand the pressure. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I’d burst open, gushing an embarrassing array of emotions messily onto Allison’s shoes.
“I’m sorry, Agent Reynolds,” Mark said, his voice breaking against my dark thoughts. “I have to take this. Would you mind getting Agent O’Connor up to speed?”
“My pleasure,” Allison said. Her gaze slid back over and locked onto me with such force that I was pinned to my chair. “Agent O’Connor, is there somewhere we can speak privately?”
I nodded, but my mind had fixated on the “privately” part of that statement, and I had to force myself not to hyperventilate at the notion that I was going to be alone with her for the first time in years. Heads couldn’t explode like they did in the movies, could they? I hoped not.
“Sure. Follow me.”
I left Mark’s office in a daze, acutely aware of Allison Reynolds trailing me.
Chapter Four
The walk to my office wasn’t far, but it gave me more than enough time to tie myself up in knots. I tried forcing my muscles to relax, but my efforts didn’t make so much as a dent. My thoughts were rapidly traversing some seriously rough terrain, and all the twists and turns rattled me.
I opened the door to my office with a trembling hand and blinked at Meaghan, seated behind her desk. She grinned at me, but her face fell almost immediately, and she appeared concerned.
“Ryan? Are you okay?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t know how. I shook my head a little and took a step inside. Allison was hot on my heels, literally, so close I could actually feel the heat radiating off her body. I so didn’t want to go there. Trying to ignore her, I moved toward my own desk in the hopes of gaining some distance and much-needed perspective.
“Meaghan.” Allison’s voice was warm as she greeted my officemate, who’d stood and approached the door. She opened her arms and hugged Meaghan briefly. I was irritated that the move ignited a small fire of jealousy in me, though I pushed it aside. I didn’t need even one more negative emotion churning inside me. “It’s nice to see you. How’ve you been?”
Meaghan returned the hug, although her expression seemed odd. Guarded. “It’s nice to see you, too. How’s D.C.?”
Allison gestured with one slender hand, and the sight of her unadorned fingers sparked memories I really didn’t want to get lost in at the moment. “I hate it. I absolutely do not want to be there, and I’m practically counting the minutes until I can come back. But I’m making the best of it. How about you? Are you ready to move on yet?”
“No. I’m content to stay here for the rest of my career.” Meaghan glanced at me again as she said that, her face still unreadable. “What brings you up this way?”
“You haven’t heard? Harbinger planned a last-minute trip to the Stock Exchange for Monday. I’m doing the lead advance.”
That explained a lot. The President of the United States, codename Harbinger, was coming here. Allison was on PPD. In fact, now that I thought about it, the only thing that surprised me was that she hadn’t returned to New York sooner. She’d been on the detail for years now. POTUS was up here all the time. She should’ve been up at least a handful of times, even just to work the shift, but as far as I knew, she hadn’t set foot in New York since she’d left several years ago. Maybe she’d engineered that deliberately. The only way for me to know would be if I asked, and that wasn’t about to happen.
“Congratulations.” Meaghan’s expression and her tone contrasted with the word.
I’d quickly begun to tear through the disaster that was my desk, trying to locate the office phone list. That intelligence advance for Iran wouldn’t conduct itself. Plus, I wanted to seem hard at work. I was staying out of the conversation and focusing all my efforts on extinguishing the fire in my cheeks. And I was becoming annoyed because my blush might actually be getting worse. I inhaled slow and deep as I counted four beats and then exhaled to the same tempo. It helped. Somewhat.