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Since Madeline was settling in for a talk, he resisted the urge to look at the screen again.
“I heard about that op.”
He didn’t bother stopping the gripe from rumbling out. “Everyone is making such a big deal about it. It was nothing. I was just doing my job.”
Appreciation gleamed in her eyes. “Most would be bragging. After saving—”
He cut her off. “Look, I know what happened. I don’t want to talk about it. Not even with teammates.”
“The guys said you’re humble.”
He gave her a flat look that made her snort.
“All right, I’ll stop harassing you about the op. You got Casey’s position tonight, I see. Anything happening among our guests?”
“Like watching goldfish in a bowl.”
This time she chuckled. “I already like you, Declan. When I actually like a person, I tend to jump right into being their friend. So why don’t you tell me why you look like you’ve been dragged through Stone Pass behind a snowplow?”
God, that pain in his head swelled to a stabbing crescendo. Where did he even start? How he’d sneaked off to the hayloft to have sex with the woman he was guarding and then outed himself to her by pulling his weapon?
“Just had a rough night is all.” His gaze shifted to the screens. He narrowed his eyes on the bunkhouse. If he’d glanced over even a second later, he would have missed Belle leaving.
The black-and-white footage didn’t do her much credit, but he could still tell how stunning she looked in a long gown and gloves that skimmed her elbows.
The breath stopped moving in and out of his lungs as he watched her turn toward the path leading to the barn where the gala was being held.
Christmas Day and he was stuck inside these four walls, watching people talk and drink champagne onscreen.
When he ripped his eyes away from the woman he couldn’t shake now that he’d had a taste—or ten—he locked gazes with Madeline.
She offered him a tight smile. “I can see what’s eating at you now.”
He huffed out a sigh. “Respectfully, of course, you don’t know shit about me.”
She rocked a little in her desk chair. “That’s true. But I saw your face just now when that woman walked out of the bunkhouse. Is she the one you’ve been guarding?”
He swallowed around the dry lump in his throat. “Yes.”
“And the one from the garden too?”
He gave her a sharp look. “What do you know about that?”
Her eyes creased at the corners with a smile she didn’t let come to full realization. “You should get that freckle on your right butt cheek checked.”
“Hell.” Of course there were cameras in the garden. The entire team probably saw the footage of him and Belle on that bench in the falling snow.Andthey’d laughed at the freckle on his ass.
“It’s not a freckle. It’s a birthmark. And it’s fine.”
She smiled in response.
For all his experience and skill, he hated being seen as the rookie, yet he’d been acting like one. He deserved whatever names he was called.
Madeline suddenly stood. “Get out of that chair, Declan.”
He cocked a brow. “Why?”
“Because I’m taking your shift so you can go to that party with your friend.”
