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“Let me guess, you want some time off? Some slimeball broke your heart and you need a couple of days to get over him?”
“That’s a terrible guess. It’s no wonder you work behind a desk. You don’t have the instincts to be a real PI.”
Klarov huffed back a chuckle, “I’ve got enough instincts. I’ve never fallen for anyone while I was undercover.”
“Fallen for?” Gracie scoffed. Klarov didn’t reply, simply raising a knowing eyebrow at her.
Gracie scowled back at him, taking a seat in front of his desk. She had absolutely no interest in discussing her love life with her boss, nor did she want to admit that perhaps he was right to say that she had fallen for Chesney.
Despite the plans that they’d made after the confrontation with Huang, Gracie had yet to see him. He’d had to cancel their plans to meet up later that evening and although they had messaged a few times since it had not been enough for Gracie.
Now, two days since the confrontation, they were finally getting together to celebrate the end of the case. Gracie was going to drive over to Chesney’s house as soon as she finished at the office.
She was nervous to see him, it was the sort of nervousness that verged on giddy excitement. She had missed him. During the case, she'd seen him all day, every day. His sudden absence had felt odd, uncomfortable even. But the time apart had also given her time to reflect.
Klarov was right, she had fallen for him. She’d fallen hard, and now she needed to take things a little slower and find out if there really was a spark between them or if it was all just the excitement of the case and working undercover, spending all her time watching a hunky guy.
“I’ve got another case for you. Sorry, no time off for you!”
“I wasn’t going to ask for time off,” Gracie said, protesting quietly, her attention already on the paper file that was right in front of Klarov. His hand rested on top of it and he started drumming his fingers, a distracted expression on his face.
“No?” Klarov lifted the file and shoved into one of his desk drawers. “Maybe you should. Did you ever sort things out with Chesney?”
Gracie didn’t roll her eyes at him, but it was only a matter of extreme restraint. “Klarov…”
“Did I ever tell you about my ex?” Klarov said, his voice loud and slightly sarcastic. The two of them never discussed their personal lives with each other and they both knew Klarov had never told her this story before. Gracie shook her head anyway. “She was...well, she was the one, Gracie. The One. Except, you know how it goes. There’s always another case, and we don’t exactly work 9-5.”
Klarov sighed heavily, turning his chair to the side so that Gracie could only see his face in profile.
“Things didn’t work out?”
“They did not,” Klarov said, his voice turning wry but Gracie could hear the sadness that it belied. “You never know when you’re going to meet someone, someone that makes you feel joy from the second you wake up in the morning. I do have another case for you...but it can wait.”
Gracie cocked her head, considering. Klarov was usually a demanding boss, he wanted the best from his employees and he didn’t care if that meant pushing. Except, he wasn’t pushing her now, maybe underneath it all, Klarov was a bit of a romantic after all.
She dragged a hand through her hair, not sure how to deal with a Klarov that seemed to have actual feelings. She was too used to him being an ass. She had plans for tonight and a break from work would be nice.
“I’ll be in tomorrow morning,” she said, getting out of her chair. “Night.”
There was no response from Klarov, so she hesitated in the open doorway, before looking back at him. Klarov’s mouth was downturned and his eyes unseeing: he was wrapped up in the memory of an ex that Gracie hadn’t even known existed.
She felt a fondness for him, despite how irritating he was, he was still a friend. “Night, Peter.”
Calling him by his first name snapped Klarov out of his thoughts and he grinned up at her.
“Night, Gracie.”
Gracie pulledup in front of Chesney’s house, parking the car and taking a few seconds to calm down. Eagerness thrummed through her, and just a touch of fear.
What if Chesney didn’t feel the same way that she did? In all the ways that counted in life, Gracie was confident and self-assured, yet Chesney had somehow wormed his way through all her defenses.
Something moved in her periphery vision and she looked around sharply; her self-preservation instincts had always been strong. There was Chesney, coming out of his house toward her. He must have heard her parking.
The late afternoon sunlight caught in his hair and as he smiled at her she couldn’t help but smile back, amazed she could ever be afraid of this meeting. This gorgeous man was staring at her like he’d never seen anything more wonderful than the sight of Gracie, slumped in her car, slightly grubby after a day of paperwork.
Gracie got out of the car, not rushing, but savoring the feeling of anticipation. It was like she had been walking a tightrope and now, willingly, she was going to step off the rope and fall into the unknown. It was exhilarating and it should be terrifying but as long as Chesney smiled at her like that, then Gracie wouldn’t be afraid.
“C’mere, you!” Chesney muttered, but Gracie had already thrown herself into his waiting arms. He held her tight, her body pressing into him so that she could feel the muscle and solidness of him through their clothes. Nothing had ever felt so right to Gracie, her body lighting up with the memory of him.
