“So we can make our point by staying down here alone forever?”
“We could.Except it’s a Dysaic security system.Even if we shut them out, one of the guys would hack through it.”
“And I’d be arrested for sullying you.”Whether they got to the sullying or not.“You have some tenacious friends.”
“None so much as you,” he said and kissed her temple before sliding off the stool and away from her arms.“You want coffee?”
Yes, okay, they should be smart, sensible adults.Shit, that meant refraining from the Irish variety.
“Coffee’s good.”
“Coming up.”
She paused before satisfying her curiosity.Paused.And paused.That was a respectable duration, right?
“Why aren’t you?”she asked, taking his place on the stool as he went to fire up the coffee machine.
“Aren’t I, what?”
“One of those Colliers.Why did Casp and Knox get seats at the table…” She didn’t know much about Knox’s role.“Why were you cut from the team?”
He flashed her a smile as the coffee trickled into the cups.“Truth is, they’ve been trying to cut me back in since the moment I gave it up.Knox, especially, isn’t wild about me being out on my own.”
“He doesn’t trust you?”
“In his view, the closer we are together physically, the more he can look out for me.I stay so far from the seat of power, we don’t see much of each other in the flesh.”
“That’s sweet.He wants to take care of you.”
“More keep an eye on me.Not that he’s judgmental.He’d sulk, but he’ll always support me.And now he has Jane…”
“His wife?”
He came to give her the coffee.“Yeah.She’s a mother hen.”
She laughed.“What does that mean?”
“She can be…” he pondered.“High-strung, she worries, wants everyone to be safe, happy.Often at detriment to herself.”
“And Knox is okay with that?”
He shook his head after lowering his cup from his lip to put it aside.“Knox?Fuck, no.She’s the only thing in the world he’d choose over family.He does a good job at putting her first when she neglects herself.”
“You like her?”
“I love her.She’s not remotely close to the type anyone thought Knox would end up with, but, somehow, it works.”
That was good.Happiness was good.Love coming from the strangest of places was familiar.And segued her right into…
“We never did anything when I was underage.”The foam on her coffee split and coasted, bubbles bounced off each other or gathered close.“Spence and I.People think we did.The media.Everyone.That was the big scandal, right?A teacher runs off with his student?”
“That was the word.”
“I was never his student either.People forget that too.I was on scholarship at the institute, but he was never my…”
Forever and a day ago.In some ways those memories didn’t feel like hers.It had been so long since she’d relived that time.
He cupped her face.“You don’t have to talk about this.Your past changes nothing between us.”
