“Free useandfree food. What’s in it for me?”
“All seven missing person cases,” he replied. “Legit, they’re yours.”
She sat ramrod straight. “What does that mean?”
“Check.”
Slash beelined upstairs to her home office, returned with her laptop. She logged in to ALPHA, then hopped over to her cases.
“Whoa.”
All seven missing person cases had been reassigned to her.
“Now, they’re yours,” he said. “You’re primary. I’m available as your partner, but I didn’t list myself.”
“You didn’tlistyourself? How does that even work? You hacked into local law enforcement?—”
He stopped her with a kiss. And her body hummed with joy. A soft tender kiss, then several more.
“That’s better,” he said. “Going forward, kissing first, talking next.”
“I love that,” she said. “I’m going to take that message with me when I train with BLACK OPS. We kiss first, then we fire off a round or two for target practice.”
He smiled. “Seriously, maybe the world would be less violent if everyone started off with a kiss.”
“Hello? Ever heard of the kiss of death?”
“There is that.”
“Okay, so you’ve got friends in high places.” She pushed out of the chair, pulled two glasses. “Water?”
“Thanks,” he replied.
After filling them, she sat back down, and she waited for him to tell her how in the hell he’d pulled this off.
“I’m the friend in high places,” he said.
He looked so sincere, she wasn’t sure how to respond, so she said nothing.
“I’m going to confide in you,” he said. “I’m doing everything right this time ‘round.”
“This time around?”
“I’m trying to move my chances from one to two percent,” he said.
“Yeah, that’ll win me back,” she said, her voice thick with sarcasm.
“That’s a one-hundred percent increase.” His adorable smile made her heart pitter-patter in her chest.
“You go girl,” she said, and he laughed.
“I have a new position at the Bureau. Deputy Director Special Projects.”
She started laughing, hard. So hard, she flinched from the pain. Gales of laughter had her holding her midsection. This was one of the funniest things she’d ever heard.
When she finally got herself under control, she said, “I’m in pain from training, but that was worth it. I can’t remember the last time I laughed that hard.” She chuckled. “You’re Deputy Director, and I’m a princess from a faraway land.”
He put his dish in the dishwasher, then held out his hand. She stared at it.
