“Oh,” she said as she shut the door behind her. “You got a night off?”
“It didn’t go over very well,” he said carefully. “I was supposed to be at an event with Penny.”
Reyna frowned. She knew it was a part of his cover, but she didn’t have to like it. “And you chose to come here instead?”
He nodded. “I chose to see you. I would rather see you.”
“She didn’t like that?”
“You’ll probably see it on the news in the morning,” he said blandly.
Reyna’s eyebrows lifted. “That bad?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “It doesn’t matter.”
“But your cover…”
“Don’t worry about my cover.” He bridged the distance between them. “I’ve been investigated enough since your disappearance. My cover is solid.”
Beckham’s hand ran up her arm, over her shoulder, and came to rest on her neck. Her heart beat a tattoo. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and she breathed him in.
“Why don’t you bundle up and I’ll tell you all about it?”
“Bundle up?” she asked breathily. Her mind was on his hand on her neck and his lips so near hers…and the bed and the warmth of the room.
“I’m taking you out.”
Her eyes snapped up to his. They were dancing in the faint light. “What do you mean?”
He grinned a dark, mischievous smile. Then he planted an achingly soft but commanding kiss on her lips. “I’m breaking you out for the night. That is,” he said, offering her his hand, “if you’ll have me.”
With her heart in her throat, she placed her hand in his. “I’d love that.”
He brought her hand up to his lips, staring down at her the whole time. “Then you are going to need more clothes.”
Beckham retrieved a bag from the closet and passed it to her. A few minutes later, she was decked out in winter clothes, including a sleek peacoat. She wrapped a dark scarf around her neck and slipped a pair of gloves into her pockets.
Beckham held his hand back out to her. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she said, a thrill running through her as she put her hand in his and followed him out of the room.
Beckham clicked a new lock into place. They’d added security to her room since her breakout. It did make her feel a little better that not just anyone could get in, but notsogreat, since she could no longer get out if she wanted to.
“They’re going to install a hand scanner soon,” he told her with a short laugh.
“Great,” she grumbled. Talk about overkill.
She followed Beckham down the hall to the elevator and then zipped up the five floors. She could barely keep still as it opened to the antechamber. Beckham drew her closer again.
“You are full of unrelenting energy,” he breathed into her hair.
“I’m here with you, and we’re going out together. I don’t know how you can expect me to be calm.”
“Calm is not your natural state of being.”
“Where are we going, anyway?”
Beckham laced their fingers together and didn’t answer. Of course he didn’t answer. She knew asking was futile. Beckham wasn’t one for words. When he wanted to keep a secret—well, he’d already proven he was plenty adept at it.
