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“You thought you had wings. Trust me, no one wanted you behind the controls.”
Callie stepped up to him and gave his ass a tap, this time. “I don’t know. I think if anyone could fly, it’s you, baby.”
That got him another round of groans and razzing. The guys all calling himbabyfor the rest of the night, while batting their eyes. Making kissing faces. Callie merely grinned the whole time, looking sexy and hot and so damn beautiful it made his chest ache. Right where the bullet would have killed him if he’d been one second slower at clearing the room.
His buddies stayed until he’d lost a hundred bucks at poker, then filed out, still laughing. Shoving each other as they argued about who got to ride shotgun. Wyatt lingered behind, toeing the wooden floorboards on the porch until Booker finally gave the man a punch to his arm.
He leaned against the post, eyeing his friend. “Just spit it out.”
Wyatt crossed his arms over his chest. “Spit what out?”
“Whatever you’ve been wanting to say all night but had to wait until the rest of the guys were out of earshot.”
“That obvious?”
“Please, how long have we known each other?”
Wyatt chuckled. “Too long if you ever make me fly a chopper, again.”
“You did great. But that’s not what you wanted to say, so… Just spit it out.”
His buddy looked over his shoulder, glancing inside the house.
Booker sighed. “Calliope’s in the bathroom getting ready for bed. She acts all tough, but the past few weeks have really taken a toll. Hell, the past year’s taken a toll. It’s just us, so…”
“I know a guy who works in the DEA. His brother’s a SEAL. We did a few missions together. Anyway, with all the stonewalling you’ve been getting about what was in that evidence that was worth Higgins following us all the way to Big Sky instead of hopping a flight to Mexico, I asked him to discretely dig around.”
Well shit.
“And?”
Wyatt checked the doorway, again. “He didn’t have any names, but it’s bad. There’s talk it involves some bigwig in DC. That it might take years to unravel exactly who’s involved.” Wyatt took a step back. “I just wanted to let you know. I get Callie’s a brilliant agent, but… I just don’t know how safe it’s going to be for her.”
“Not safe at all, if my guess is right.”
Booker cursed under his breath, spinning to see Calliope standing just inside the door, his shirt hanging down to her knees, her hair pinned up in some kind of messy bun.
Wyatt snorted, swatting Booker across the shoulder. “In the bathroom, my ass.” He nodded at Callie. “I wasn’t trying to hide anything from you, I just didn’t want to upset you. I know this has to be a hard pill to swallow.”
She shrugged, but Booker didn’t miss how the small smile she flashed them didn’t reach her eyes. She’d been faking it ever since they’d come back from Puerto Rico, and he knew it was eating at her. “I knew there’d be fallout. Just not sure how much, yet.”
“Let me know if you want my buddy to dig a bit deeper. Bastard’s brother owes me so…”
“I’m sure DC will be perfectly vague the next time we chat.”
Wyatt glanced at Booker, then said goodnight, yelling at the guys to stop playing all that eighties crap before jumping in his truck — driving off. Booker watched the taillights fade before heading inside and making his way to the bedroom. She was standing by the window, gazing out across the fields, looking so lost he had to physically stop himself from rushing over and asking her how to fix everything.
Especially when he knew he couldn’t fix it. That it was something she had to come to terms with on her own. All he could do was be there to help her pick up the pieces. Put them back together in a way he hoped would include him in her life.
Her phone rang, again, and she let her head bow forward before she silenced it, then tossed it on the chair.
Booker walked over to her, taking her in his arms. Hoping she didn’t pull away. Having her lean against him eased the jumpy feeling in his gut. And he knew, no matter the cost, they’d find a way to make them work.
Callie hummed when he kissed her neck, tilting her head to the side in order to grant him better access. “I hope this is the start to some mind-blowing sex because I’ve been wet since we got back, and there hasn’t been a damn thing I could do about it.”
“Are you saying I haven’t kept you satisfied?”
“You were kind of busy dying on me.”
