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Jensen grinned. “Ah, my fans. To the fans!”
“And the team,” TJ said.
“To the team!” we repeated. We tossed back our drinks in long gulps.
It was like eating pine needles and questionable eggs and chasing them with champagne.
“Maybe Sunday was a little bit Jensen’s fault,” I told Red.
Conversations buzzed around us, but she and I stayed silent. I, for one, had no idea how much longer our attendance was required. I hoped it could be counted in minutes, or maybe even seconds, and not hours.
“Gather round, kids,” Penn called from across the room. “Tactical and logistics are having a dance-off and the rest of you are the judges.”
While Sparks, Kessler, and Li protested, Red set her glass on the bar and said goodnight to the team. I had my answer: our attendance was required exactly zero more minutes. She glanced at me and raised her eyebrows, then slipped out of the room. I took that as a reiteration of her earlier invitation, then wondered if she meant for me to follow her immediately or to wait a while. Shit, I wasn’t used to second-guessing myself in a relationship. Then again, I reminded myself, that was the problem: this wasn’t a relationship.
TJ laid a hand on my shoulder. “Stop torturing yourself and go. What you and Bond are up to is no one else’s business.” He shot me a hard look. “Unless it interferes with another mission, in which case it’ll be my business.”
I grinned, said, “Yes sir,” just to piss him off, waved goodnight to the others, and left the room at a casual pace.
When I was out of the team’s sightline, I picked up the pace and took the stairs two at a time. On the third floor, I stopped outside Red’s quarters and took a few seconds to catch my breath, then lifted my hand to knock. The door swung open before I made contact. She pulled me inside and I pushed the door closed behind me. While I’d meant to speak first and kiss second, instinct took over. I backed her against the wall, threaded my hand in her hair, and pressed my mouth to hers.
She arched into me. We pressed our bodies together and deepened the kiss. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and ground against me. Then she pulled slightly away with a groan.
Breathless, she panted, “About our agreement.”
“Stupid fucking agreement,” I interrupted her. “I was hoping for a renegotiation.”
She grinned at me. “Pretty sure that’s what’s happening right now.”
“Yeah? You’re willing to extend the terms for a few more nights, maybe as long as I’m here with the team?”
She sighed in relief. “Thank God. I was worried you would propose just tonight, and to be honest, Hero, I’m not sure that’s enough for me.”
“Glad to hear it.” I kissed her again.
“There is one other thing,” she whispered against my mouth.
I pulled back a bit and stared down at her, caressing her cheek. “About your job?”
She nodded. “I’ve been experiencing physical manifestations of my mental and emotional states.”
I touched my forehead to hers. “Like I said Saturday night, you’re overwhelmed and you need a break.”
“It’s more than that. I need a change of career.” She kissed my palm. “I’m not asking you to talk me out of it. I just wanted you to know.”
I traced my finger down her throat and over the top of her blouse. “Your career is your business. I’ll support whatever you want to do, as long as you’re sure.”
“You think I’m not sure?”
After spending a few days with her and her team, I’d observed that she was somehow among them, yet not of them. But she loved them and they loved her. Their chemistry was like lightning in a bottle, hard to catch and harder to hold. Maybe it was easy for me to see because I’d walked away from the opportunity to join a pretty great team at the Chicago PD. I was thankful every day I’d landed on my feet in Bennet’s organization, but some days I still regretted my decision, even though I’d had no choice after the incident with Kerri’s ex. Would Red live to regret hers?
She touched my face. “Hey, where’d you go?”
“Still here.”
I smiled at her and buried the memories I would never share with her, the one secret I would never reveal. No one, not even Bennet or Kerri, knew that it wasn’t rationality or better angels that had kept me from killing Kerri’s ex in cold blood. It was just dumb luck. I couldn’t bear for Red to know I had been a split second away from becoming a murderer. Being in her arms made the darkness recede, so I would stay there for as long as I could. Part of me hoped chasing down O’Dell’s killer would take a very long time. And after that... Well hell, by that time, I had a feeling if my choice was between joining a roster and giving up Red completely, I’d be signing up for a team uniform. But that was a discussion for another day. Tonight was for us alone.
“Answering your earlier question,” I continued, “I think you’re the smartest person I’ve ever met, and you’ll be brilliant at whatever you do.” I kissed the corner of her mouth. “And I have a few brilliant ideas myself about how we can spend the next few hours.”
