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“Really, I can find my way—”
“I can’t let a civilian wander around the program alone. This here is Jorge,” Dean nodded at an approaching young man with a wicked grin. “He’s a good kid and will take care of Casey. Won’t you?”
“Yes, sir.” Jorge’s gaze traveled over her from head to toe before he gave her a wink. “Ma’am.”
“And after you’ve shown Casey to the kennel, I’ll let Martinez know you’re to run laps with that lazy dog of yours,” Dean growled.
“Worth it, sir,” Jorge said.
Violet opened her mouth to say something to the little perv, but Dean’s hand rested on the small of her back, propelling her forward gently. The heat of his palm burned through her shirt and branded her skin. She’d been trying to push the memory of his hands from her mind, and now she would have to start over again.
The silence between them was so loud, it actually hurt her nerves. Why wouldn’t he talk? He’d obviously been trying to get her alone.
Unable to stand it anymore, she blurted, “I appreciate you not telling Casey that we’ve met before.”
Dean grunted. “That’s an interesting way of putting it.”
Okay, he’s definitely perturbed. “And I’m sorry I didn’t call, but as you can see, I kind of have my hands full.”
Dean’s hand fell as they reached the lobby, and he shrugged. “It’s fine, really. We had fun. It doesn’t have to be anything more than that.”
“Oh, well”—What the hell did she say to that?—“thank you for being so understanding.”
“My pleasure,” he said.
Considering how eager he’d been to give them the tour and get her alone, this conversation was a bit anticlimactic.
Silence stretched between them once more, and Violet twisted her hands in front of her nervously. “Dean—”
“Violet, is that you?”
Violet saw Tyler sauntering up to them and grimaced. “Hey, Tyler.”
“Such a surprise to see you. How are things?” Tyler asked.
Violet glanced at Dean, who appeared to be clenching his jaw tighter than a steel trap. Obviously, Tyler was trying to make an awkward situation worse, and irritation pricked her temper. “About as well as can be expected, I guess.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Tyler actually put his arm around her and gave her shoulders a quick squeeze. “Hey, but that concert was fun, right? When you see Tracy, tell her I said hi.”
Violet shrugged off Tyler’s arm with gritted teeth. “I’ll do that.”
Tyler slapped Dean on the back with a grin. “Well, I’m sure you two kids have a lot to talk about.”
“Get the fuck out of here,” Dean said with a snarl.
Violet’s gaze shifted back and forth between the two as Tyler took off down the hall laughing. “I hope he doesn’t mention the concert to anyone. The last thing I want is any of this getting back to Casey.”
“I’ll make sure he keeps his mouth shut. We’re supposed to be professionals, although you probably couldn’t tell. I apologize for Sergeant Best.”
“It’s okay, you can’t always control the things your friends do.” Violet almost reached out to touch his arm but dropped it at the last minute. Between the security guards and Tyler waiting in the wings, she didn’t want to cause any more talk. “I really do feel bad about how things happened after . . . ”
Dean cut her off with a shake of his head. “Violet, listen, we both got what we wanted. We said we’d try it once, and we did. No apologies, recriminations, or regrets. But in light of Casey and the fact that we’ll be seeing each other a lot during his stay, let’s just forget it ever happened.”
How was she supposed to forget about them when she’d be seeing him every day for over a month? How was she going to forget those lips on hers, trailing down her body and making her scream? “Can you do that? Just forget that anything ever happened?”
It wasn’t a fair question, considering she’d been trying to do that very thing before today, but it had seemed like there was something more he’d wanted to say to her. Had she read into all of his looks? The tour? Had he really just been acting normal, and she’d seen something more because she’d wanted to?
He looked her dead in the eye, his expression blank. “Honestly, I’d forgotten about it until you showed up here today.”
