When she arrives, her detail has to stay out in the hall, because minearen’t going anywhere yet, and there’s not enough room in there for all of us. She heads to me first and hugs me. She looks like hell, her eyes puffy from crying, and with only the barest traces of makeup on her face. She’s pulled her hair back into a low ponytail, too.
Kev was asleep, but during the quiet hubbub of her entrance, he awakens.
She immediately breaks away from me and goes to him,leaning in and hugging him, whispering to him.
I lean in. “Kiss him,” I whisper in her ear, and she gives me a strange look.
I nod. “It’s okay. They know now. They won’t tell.”
I spot the way her gaze softens, maybe even close to tears again. She leans in and kisses Kev, on the lips. “Love you, Sir,” she whispers.
He manages a pained smile for her. “Love you, too.”
Then she turns and reallyseems toseeme. She points at the private bath. “Go get a shower,” she orders. “I won’t leave until you’re done. I’ll stay with him. I have time.”
I kiss her for that. “Thank you.”
I’ve been afraid to leave Kev’s side. Other Secret Service agents have brought us food and coffee as we request it, but other than to use the bathroom, I haven’t left Kev’s side since they brought me here once hewas out of surgery.
I quickly strip and stand under spray that’s not nearly hot enough for my tastes, but then I realize it’s probably a safety feature to prevent scalding.
I flip it over to cold for a moment, shivering as the biting edge of the water chips away at my exhaustion a little. Back to warm, and now it feels hotter. I quickly shave in the shower, hoping I haven’t butchered my facein the process, but I’ve shaved faster under worse conditions, so I’m used to it.
Ten minutes later, I’m back at his bedside and feeling more human. I don’t bother putting on a tie, and I roll the sleeves of my fresh shirt up my forearms and leave the top button open at the neck.
Shae looks up at me. “Maybe you should go home and sleep.Haveyou slept?”
I shake my head. “I’ll nap now that he’simproving. I’m not leaving him yet.”
“You can’t live here at the hospital.”
Watch me, is what I want to say.
What actually comes out of my mouth is, “We’re completely moving him into the residence when he’s discharged.”
Now I get the eyebrow. “We are?”
“Yep. He’s going to need to recover, he won’t be able to handle the townhouse’s stairs at first, and he’ll want to work, you know he will.Can you think of a logistically better option?”
She presses her lips together in a pitiful and nearly successful attempt to hold back her smile. “No, I can’t. I’ll notify the Chief Usher.”
“And I want him in the second floor, not the third floor,” I add.
She glances over at the agents, but then meets my gaze. When she speaks, she drops her voice. “We’ll officially assign him to the third floor.”
I arch my eyebrow at her. “You know damn well where he’ll be.”
Yes, she does. He’ll be in our bed, with us.
Not that the public will know, or even most of the staff. The second and third floors are off-limits to the public. Yasmine signed an ironclad NDA that will protect us, but she’s dedicated to the kids. I have no worries about her loyalty, and they love her, too.
“You need to contact Sec.Bryant and tell her to shove it down the pipe that Kev gets a detail from now on. Otherwise, you’ll need to EO it.”
She presses her lips together in that way I know so freaking well, but my girl nods. “I’ll call Sasha.”
I kiss her. “Thank you.” I finally get Shae out of there after a promise that I’ll nap. I know I need to release my detail and let them change out, but I’m afraid to.
I needto deal with Eisenthal, now, so he doesn’t pull them. Publicly, Shae needs to follow chain of command to keep things looking legit.
