Solid Steel (Unseen Enemy 6)

John ‘Griff’ Griffin glanced over at his partner, wondering for about the ninetieth time just what the hell was going on with her. She hadn’t been the same since she’d returned three weeks earlier from her sudden and still-not-explained six-week leave-of-absence from work. Griff had pushed and prodded a bit, naturally, but the woman that he cared about like a sister, and loved about as much, was a stranger to him lately.

Not that Selena Perez looked any different. Well, maybe a bit tired, but then again, she and Griff had been on night duty for the past week and they were both wiped out. It was eight a.m. now, and they’d just finished a twelve-hour shift. Worse, the client was a real pain in the ass, an entitled diva who wouldn’t listen to a single thing her bodyguards said. Griff resolved to get his boss, Dallas Foreman, to speak to the client today. If anyone could handle the spoiled brat, it was no-bullshit, my-way-or-the-goddamn-highway Dallas.

Right now, though, Griff’s attention was one hundred percent on Selena. Surreptitiously, he shot her tiny glances in the car inside mirror, just quick looks without actually moving his head. What he saw bugged him, and he tried to really name what it was that was causing his disquiet.

She was staring out the passenger-side window, but he’d lay his next month’s paycheck that those amazing dark eyes saw exactly nothing. He couldn’t see her face, but he suspected that she was biting her full lower lip – a new habit, one that Griff had only seen emerge over the past three weeks. It was like she was physically holding in her words; forcing herself to not speak.

He snuck another look at her, saw that her curvy, athletic body was slumped, almost boneless. That wasn’t like her, not at all. Selena was strong physically, even stronger emotionally and psychologically, and her body language had always reflected this. Now, though, she just looked… defeated.

By what, though? What in hell could have taken down this woman? The woman who had voluntarily enlisted in the military to get a college education, the same education that she’d abandoned without a second of thought to go to Iraq and Afghanistan and proudly serve her country? The woman who’d survived three tours, and roadside bombs, and firefights, and an ambush one night while on patrol? Selena Perez had shot her way out of more than one deadly situation and she’d not only survived, she’d saved others as she'd done so.

After she came back state-side, she’d gone straight to work as a bodyguard for the most prestigious and professional outfit in Denver, Dallas’ firm, Solid Security. Traditionally a male world, bursting at the seams with huge ex-military guys, Selena fit in just fine. Dallas had no issues at all with hiring a woman if she could kick ass and shoot straight – and Selena Perez could do both. With her damn eyes closed.

So, Griff was looking at a woman who didn’t back down, didn’t even flinch, fucking not ever, and who sure as hell never admitted weakness or vulnerability or defeat. Her tired, beaten-down demeanor wasn’t her, not in her core and her heart, and Griff wondered if someone had hurt her. If they had, it would have had to be bad – about as bad as it could get – for Selena to still be reeling from it nine weeks later.

He cleared his throat. She jumped a bit and turned her head to look at him.

“Breakfast?” he asked gruffly.

“Oh.” She blinked, like she was waking up. “Oh, no. Thanks.”

“Aw, c’mon, Selena.” Griff gave her his slow grin, the one that she always responded to with a smile of her own, but not today. “We ain’t had one of our breakfasts since you got back.”

“Yeah, well.” She shrugged. “I’ve been busy.”

“With what?” he asked, trying to keep it all casual and non-threatening. “What you got going on?”

Right away, that gorgeous face slammed shut. Griff actually saw her shut down, shut him out. Those lips tightened, those curved cheekbones got more angular, those eyes hardened.

“Nothing much,” she responded, her tone cold. “So just drop me at the office, OK?”