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“Biological need,” she’d gasped after she’d collapsed in a sweaty heap next to him. “I can’t help it.”
“Don’t apologize. I’m all for it.”
“So we can keep having sex even if we aren’t…”
“I’m okay with it if you are.”
“Thank God.” Her heartfelt exclamation made him laugh.
Luckily, they both made each other laugh on a regular basis. This would be a lot more difficult otherwise.
Sometimes she fantasized about more. She knew she had feelings for Granger—strong feelings—but they were all mixed up because of hormones and pregnancy and worries about the future. So she didn’t try to figure them out.
Besides, the man was hard to read. He kept a lot to himself. They were still getting to know each other—under very unique circumstances, if you thought about it. Depositions, corruption investigations, surprise pregnancy…what next?
Nineteen
The lawyers finally ran out of questions, and the videographer was instructed to turn off the camera.
“We’d like to thank you for your willingness to testify,” the State Department lawyer told her. “It’s not often we have such a solid witness to this kind of thing.”
“Really? Even with iPhones everywhere?” She used the back of the chair to haul herself to her feet.
“When we’re talking about people with a lot of money, things change. People are afraid to go up against them. Or they make it clear they’re willing to delete their phones, for a price. We’re grateful you didn’t do that.”
It had never occurred to her.
“But beyond that, you have a good memory and you’re clearly observant.”
“I am?” She wasn’t used to getting the sort of compliment that didn’t refer to her hair or her eyes.
“Absolutely. Those are good skills to have. I hope they come in handy for you.”
She hid a burp; that was something else that happened a lot lately. “I’m sure they will once this little one comes along. For modelling, not so much.”
Outside, she collapsed with gratitude into the car Granger pulled around. A hybrid SUV; she’d insisted on the hybrid part, he’d vouched for the SUV. That was how they made most decisions. When they had different opinions, they talked it through, and somehow managed to resolve it. He didn’t dismiss her “gut instinct,” and she didn’t mock his “logic” too much.
“How’d it go?” Granger asked her as she fastened her seat belt over her swollen belly.
“They seemed happy, or as happy as corruption lawyers can be. They said I’m very observant.”
“You should join the FBI. There could be an opening soon.” His wry smile made her laugh. He kept talking about quitting the FBI for good. Even on leave, he was doing some consulting for them. But there was another project he was working on too, something that involved phone calls and internet research. It seemed to be some kind of suspect search, but she didn’t know the details and he didn’t want to talk about it.
But it bothered her that he kept it to himself. Obviously it was very important to him. She knew it had nothing to do with the FBI because he only used his personal laptop for it. Didn’t he trust her? Or maybe he didn’t want to be “close” in that way.
Again, the man was hard to read.
They drove through the crowded streets of Manhattan toward her apartment in Gramercy Park. Thanks to their time in Lake Bittersweet, they already had some basic ground rules established. But now they weren’t quite so much of an odd couple as before. She made an effort to be more tidy—there was a baby coming, after all.
He, on the other hand, declared that he wasn’t going to be a neat freak when the baby came. “That would be asking for heartburn.”
“Trust me, you don’t want that.”
“I’m going to teach myself to relax. Immediately.”
After that, she sometimes caught him deliberately messing up a pile of books, or circling around a stray smudge of jam on the counter, pretending to ignore it. She couldn’t help laughing at his efforts to become more easygoing. Luckily, when she laughed at him, he took it in stride, his stern face cracking in a brief smile.
“I was thinking,” he said as he eased the SUV into a parking spot. On-street parking was a nightmare in this neighborhood, which was why she’d always used the subway. But she couldn’t ride the subway when she might throw up at any moment.
