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“Great. How long will it take?”
“Not long. I’ll call right now, if I can use your phone.”
“Sure.” He finished packing up his stuff while she made her call, then took a seat on his bed while she collected the rest of her things from the bathroom. “What did they say?”
“They’re emailing me the complete list, but Coran owns two homes on this side of the country. One in the Hamptons.”
Kyle snorted. “Of course he’d have a place in the Hamptons.”
“I know, right?” She plopped onto the mattress across from him to put on her sneakers.
“Where’s the other one?”
She laced her shoes, then looked up at him, grinning. “Atlanta.”
“Seriously?” Finally, something might be going their way. “That’s only four hours from here. We can grab breakfast before hitting the road and still be there by this afternoon.”
“What is it with you and breakfast?” she asked, shaking her head.
“Meal of champions, Duchess.” He pushed to his feet and winked. “Besides, it’ll give us a chance to figure out how to handle things once we arrive.”
* * *
Two hours later, they were zipping down I-16 headed for I-75. Natalie had taken the opportunity, and Kyle’s generous offer of his phone, to clean out her email and answer a few messages she’d gotten from her team about their upcoming visit to Coran Williams’s Atlanta homestead.
They’d decided that they’d try knocking first. Weapons wouldn’t be involved unless absolutely necessary. They’d call in local law enforcement, if needed. After firing off one last text to her boss, Natalie set the phone aside and stretched, rolling her stiff neck and gazing out the window at the passing scenery. “How long until we get there?”
“Another couple hours, maybe. Looks like there’s some road construction outside the city that might slow us down a bit.” He tapped the GPS again, then glanced over at her and smiled. “Why? Can’t wait to get away from me?”
She shrugged. “No. Actually, I’m kind of having fun on this mission.”
“Really?” His shocked tone made her grin.
“Don’t sound so surprised. It’s been nice, getting to know you better. I’ve missed connecting with your family.” She stared out the window, feeling oddly sad. “Nick’s deployments were such a big part of his life, it’s almost like I never really got to know him.”
“Hmm.” Kyle didn’t look at her, his attention focused forward, his thumb tapping on the steering wheel. “But you and Nick were together for years. Surely you guys got to know each other pretty well, right?”
“Yes and no. I mean, we did all the usual stuff—movies, dinner, lazy afternoons watching Netflix and just enjoying being together—but Nick was a pretty private guy. He never liked to talk about himself much. And most of his SEAL missions were top secret, so he couldn’t talk about those even if he’d wanted to. In some ways, it’s like there was this whole side of him I never knew.”
Kyle was silent for a while before finally saying, “You can ask me anything you want, and I’ll answer if I can.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. Well, I’m not sure what to ask.” She chuckled. “Weird, huh?”
“No. Not really.” He gave her half a smile. “The offer stands. No expiration date.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Silence reigned for several minutes, but she could feel the weight of Kyle’s glances just the same. Her whole left side tingled, as if he’d physically caressed her.
Finally, Natalie couldn’t take it anymore. “What?”
“Nothing.” He looked away again, frowning.
