Page 26

“We share a garage,” he answered easily, and softened his look. “I mean, if you need anything, like an omelet because you’re too sick to get out of bed, I live right next door, and I mostly work from home.”

“Thanks. That’s really sweet. It was a nasty virus, but I’m feeling much better now. Honestly, I’m still feeling a little post-viral fatigue, but I’m on the mend.” Big honey eyes with dark circles searched his look.

He stepped back and tipped a nod inside. “I’ll go change. Come on in.”

“Oh, that’s okay, I can wait at home.”

“I’ll only be a sec.” Quick changes weren’t foreign, but he hoped his suit wasn’t dusty. Shouldn’t be, after Lana and Archer’s wedding a few months back. The public wedding. The actual ritual had been in the back of a jeep while Archer was a breath away from death.

He closed himself in his bedroom and opened the not-for-everyday side of his closet. Next to the suit, he had tactical gear, disguises, or stuff that was only needed on the rarest of occasions, like scuba gear and crampons.

The simple black suit that was officially now vintage. Lana had given it the stamp of approval for the wedding, so it shouldn’t be too out of style. A long, thin, choking strip of deep blue fabric was pooled and irretrievably wrinkled in the bottom of the bag.

Fuck it, he hated ties anyway.

He ducked into the bathroom to brush his teeth, checked that his hair looked okay, and strode out to join his date.

In the wide-open nothingness between his foyer and kitchen, Eryn paced, tapping her fingers at her sides.

“Hey.”

She turned on her heel and stopped fast. Honey eyes widening, her lips pursed, and she cleared her throat and choked a laugh. “Wow. You just had that lying around, huh?”

“The job.” He stuffed his hands into the pant pockets. “Ready?”

“Let’s go,” she said, and led the way out.

“Your car or mine?” He nodded ahead to her ancient piece of shit that might have a few hundred miles left on it, if she was lucky. He tilted a look at the rear bumper as they reached the garage. “Are those… zip ties?”

“Do you know how much they wanted to charge me to secure the bumper, for a car with one foot already in the grave?”

One eyebrow lifted as he landed a long look at her.

She tilted a look back, daring him to question her methods.

He huffed a laugh and nodded ahead at his car. “I’ll drive—no offense or anything, but… I mean, I might get called into work and need to get someplace quickly…”

She looked him up and down, still several inches shorter in her heels. “I’m not sure you’d fit in my car.”

She slipped into his passenger seat and angled to look at him. “If you could schedule that work call for right before the long-winded, self-congratulatory speeches start, that would be fantastic.”

“You got it.”

Night after night of long drives with nothing to show for it. At least he now knew the area like the back of his hand, including the way to the hotel. Eryn watched out the passenger window, her lips bit tight together.

He pulled onto the road.

She squinted hard. “I should have been clear. This isn’t a date date.”

“Okay…”

“I mean, I don’t do relationships.”

“I don’t do relationships, either,” Vann said in a low, soft voice, not wanting to startle her from whatever she was working out.

“Nice parry.” She sat up straighter and turned to face him, fiddling her tongue in her teeth as she rared up to un-bury the conversation from seriousness.

He huffed a laugh and shook his head. “Seriously. With my job, it’s not safe to get close to anyone.”