Maybe Gabby wasn’t the only one out of balance.
Markus dismissed Ed’s prophecy and turned his attention toGabby. “Let’s meet on the mats. I want to talk without everyone listening in.” He gestured to the other cubicles filled with spies.
Her stomach dropped. “Um, okay.”
With a feeling of dread, she hit the locker room and changed into a matching set from Target, leggings and a shirt with a built-in bra. Why were people on the internet trying so hard to convince the world that a bra was a shirt? In Gabby’s world, a shirt was still a shirt, and it was going to stay that way, damn it.
Markus was waiting for her in a muscle shirt and pants that left her struggling to keep her eyes up.
“How was your night?” he asked.
“Um…” She strained to focus on his face and keep from drooling. “Just the usual chaos at home.” She shut her eyes as she reached for her toes. Focus on stretching.
“That bad, huh?”
“Yes, although Justin let me into my bedroom again, finally.”
When Markus gave her a funny look, she explained. “I guess that sounds weird. He redecorated it for me and wanted to surprise me like it was a reality show reveal.”
“Your bedroom…”
“Yep, my bedroom.” She said the word slowly and glanced up from under her eyelashes to gauge his reaction.
He was very alert, she might even say eager, to hear about her bedroom. “Is it nice?” he asked.
She smiled softly and leaned into the flirting, angling toward him. “Very.”
“What color is it?” He might as well have asked what color her panties were.
“Pink.” She let the “p” pop on her tongue.
In a less flirty tone, she said, “Honestly, it’s sort of a disaster.Justin kind of forgot I have two kids and live with my grandmother.” She shook her head. “It’s gorgeous, but—” She shook her head. It was a little too Samantha fromSex in the City. She’d have to tone it down.
“What did he do?”
She shook her head. “I can’t even say it out loud. Lucas is going to be scarred for life.”
Nodding in an “aww yeah baby” way, he said, “It sounds like Justin did an A+ job.”
Gabby had never been so relieved to flirt. They were back to normal. Flirting at the office.
Markus stopped doing what he was doing. “Can we talk?”
“We are talking.” Gabby smiled.
He ignored her flip response. “You’re not going to back out of this mission, are you?”
She shook her head. “Absolutely not.”
Markus’s features relaxed. “Good.” His eyes were downcast. “I trust you. I haven’t been in the field for real since Darcy died.”
Gabby released her thigh stretch and stumbled. “That’s not entirely true. You were in the club the night we took Orlov down.”
He huffed out a laugh. “Gabby, let me walk you through that night from my perspective.”
“Oh-kay.” That had been a great night.
“That was the night you tranquilized me. It was my first night in the field after getting pulled because Agent Strong didn’t think I was psychologically ready after losing a good friend.”
