Page 59 of Keel

Shock coursed through him. “Really?”

She nodded. “Yes. I want to give some to a charity. I’ve been thinking about domestic violence shelters and programs. Something that would help women escape abusive relationships, giving them somewhere to go.”

“That’s great.”

“I need to investigate a few places and see what I can do.”

“I’m impressed.”

“What do you mean?”

“I could tell you were a good person from the moment I met you.”

She shook her head. “I don’t need that much money to survive.”

“True, but still, it’s impressive that you weren’t thinking of yourself only.”

“I mean, I did think it would be easier to live, easier to do things like get a car and be able to pay for things like food and clothes, but I want to help.”

“Thank you.”

“What are you thanking me for?”

“For giving to others. Not enough people are willing to give.”

Frankie stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. He threw an arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. Holding her felt right. He’d told her he loved her, and she hadn’t pulled away. She’d said those words to him, and it felt good.

The connection he had with Frankie was more than just feelings. It was deeper. He could see them staying together. Maybe things would change, and they wouldn’t feel love forever. But he hoped they could work past anything that threatened to split them up and stay together. Working on this relationship with her would be worth it.

Chapter 35

Living with Frankie was easy. They fell into a pattern that felt right. He went to work, then came home to help her finish cooking dinner. On weekends, they hung out, sometimes with people he worked with, other times alone. Their sex life was great. Better than he expected. Having sex multiple times a week was not something he thought he would ever have, but it was so nice. Frankie initiated sex almost as much as he did, and she certainly enjoyed what they did together.

Two weeks after they’d declared their love, work started demanding more of him. Frankie was great about it, but he didn’t like having to stay late for things that could have been taken care of earlier in the day.

He still loved his job, but was getting annoyed with a few aspects that they shouldn’t be dealing with. On Monday afternoon, after an excellent weekend with Frankie, they received news that some stuff was popping off overseas, and they would need to stay late. He accepted the situation without complaint. This was a part of their job. It wasn’t a late meeting that could have taken place earlier in the day with some planning.

Evaluating situations that could impact the US was a major part of what they did. There were still kidnappings of US citizens that happened, though they were fewer than in previous decades. They got involved in the rescue if it had anything to do with national security or a person associated with the government. Those cases were rare. Usually, kidnappings were about money, and other organizations were involved in those situations.

He sent a text to Frankie telling her he would be late, and she replied that it was okay and that she would see him when he got home. She sent another note a few minutes later stating that she was headed to Garnet’s house for dinner and would stay until around eight or nine that evening. He liked that she was friends with Ansley and Garnet.

Since they’d declared their love for each other, which also was the night of the storm, Frankie and the other two women had grown much closer. They did yoga together when the guys went out for runs on the weekends, and they got together at least once during the week for some sort of meal where they checked in and talked about life. It was nice that she had close friends and seemed to be healing.

Keel slid his phone into the cubby outside the conference room and headed in, ready to hear what the issue was this week. Hopefully, this wouldn’t take too long or end with them jumping on a flight to somewhere overseas.

He was thankful that the men who developed the Delta program had been adamant that the people who went on the mission had final say in how the mission happened. They would never be tossed into a situation where they had no say in what they did or how they did it.

They settled in their seats, and the briefing started. Based on the information, he didn’t think they would be heading out in the next week. The situation was building, but it wasn’t about to boil over.

Frankie couldn’t stop laughing. “So the guy got stuck in the reformer?”

Ansley nodded, her laughter building again. “Yes. And he’d come in there so smug. I shouldn’t laugh at his expense, but he’d all but told us we were weak and stupid for doing Pilates.”

Frankie shook her head. “Oh no. That’s totally inadvisable. The women who do Pilates are super strong.”

Ansley grunted. “The first week after starting Pilates, I thought I was going to die.”

“From what you’ve told us, it sounds hard,” Garnet said.