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That left her alone with Zy in a room quickly emptying of guests.
He pressed a hand to his ear. “All clear.” Hunter must have replied with something affirmative, because Zy nodded and took her hand. “Let’s go.”
Silently, they entered the elevator, and he pressed the button for the tenth floor just before he disassembled his communication device, turned it off, and shoved it in his pocket.
Their ascent began quietly. Tessa yearned to say something, but what? Their time together was almost over, and she looked at him, already aching for the moment they’d have to part.
Suddenly, he stabbed a button on the elevator panel. The car lurched to a stop.
“Fuck it.” He grabbed her hand again.
Her heart started racing. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know. There are so many things I want to do with you. To you. Baby, I haven’t stopped thinking about you.”
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you, either.”
He wrapped his fingers around her arms and pulled her against his body. “I’ve tried to act like you’re just a co-worker or a friend, but I can’t anymore.”
Never mind racing, her heart now thundered in her ears.
Tessa knew that pursuing anything with Zy wasn’t smart. She had Hallie to think about. And being with him might end their careers or shatter her heart. In that moment, she couldn’t bring herself to care. “I can’t, either.”
Zy cupped her face, his eyes impossibly bluer as he stared. “You’re serious?”
“Yes. Are you going to kiss me?”
He hesitated. “I want to so fucking bad it would probably terrify you. But if I do right now, that dress won’t survive the rest of the elevator ride.”
Tessa swallowed the desire threatening to choke her. “Then when?”
Zy let out a shuddering breath like he had to grapple for patience. “I dropped off some shit in the office the other night, when I came back late from that op in Houston. I overheard the bosses talking. They’ll be issuing the new employment contracts just before the Fourth of July weekend.”
Ones that might not include a nonfraternization clause that would mean the end of their jobs if they got involved?
“That’s only three weeks away. If the contract crosses my desk and that clause isn’t there, baby, then fair notice: I’m coming for you.”
And she would welcome him—happily. Never mind that, as a single mother, she had no business jumping into a relationship without strings or boundaries. Never mind that Zy could crush her. She would take every moment he would give her. “I’ll be waiting.”
July 3
Butterflies banged inside Tessa’s belly as she headed for the conference room late Thursday afternoon. A glance at the corner of the office told her Zy’s desk was empty. Apparently, he was even more eager to get to the conference room than she was. That giddy something in her stomach churned again.
As she race-walked to the corner of the office, she passed One-Mile, who had just come in from an op last night and now stood at the coffee bar, looking like he dragged ass. Cutter had taken the week off to be with his mom, brother, and some friends on the lake for the long Fourth of July holiday—a blessing since he and the sniper were at each other’s throats all the time these days.
As she walked into the conference room, Josiah and Trees sent her a sidelong stare, then walked out, thick envelopes in hand.
“What’s going on?” she whispered.
Were the bosses handing out the contracts for everyone’s reading pleasure over the long weekend?
They both shrugged, but something on Trees’s face looked tense.
“Come in, Tessa,” Hunter insisted. “And shut the door.”
Her heart dropped to her belly as she did, shutting the two operatives outside. “Of course.”
In the chilly room, Hunter, Logan, and Joaquin stood at the front. Zy lounged in an office chair on the far side of the room. He watched as she approached, and Logan gestured her to the seat nearest them, on the left.
She flipped to a blank page in her notepad and took her pen in hand. “I’m ready.”
But she was nervous as all get-out. Was Zy in some trouble? Was that why the others had been handed their papers and let go for the weekend?
“Put the pen down,” Joaquin instructed.
She did, her heart thudding in response to his ominous voice.
“We want to talk to you.”
The first thing that went through her head was Muñoz telling everyone that if the employees had to hear from him, it wasn’t a good thing. Tessa swallowed. “Of course.”
Logan grabbed two envelopes off the credenza behind him and sent one sailing in Zy’s direction before slapping the other on the table in front of her. “Here are your new agreements. Read them over. Some of the stuff in here is negotiable. If you have a question or a problem, the door is open. We want to help you work through your issues.”
