She was wearing only the rosary that Callen had given her. It was ruby and diamond, and she wore it a lot. For a long time, she did battle with God and her role in this world, but she’d come to grips with it.
As a mother, she had to be open to all kinds of things for her children, and she had one that loved God and wanted to be a nun.
She wasn’t nun material, but their daughter was.
Moving toward Callen, she went into his arms, and he hugged her.
“You smell nice too,” he said. “I personally like the dress. It shows off your legs,” he admitted. “Whatcha got on under that LBD?” he asked.
She snorted.
“My dignity, and that’s it.”
He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Later, I need to get acquainted with your dignity. I’ll be the one wearing lechery. They should meet up.”
She grinned at him.
“Any day, Callen James.”
At Gene, she touched his face. He looked nice in his tuxedo, too. They’d just come off a rough case, and she was glad to see that he was holding up.
Their world wasn’t easy, but he was doing double duty holding Ethan up for the time being. Going back to Damascus had been a bumpy ride for everyone—including her partner in the field.
“Look at you. Cleaned up and ready to party. Save a dance for me,” she said.
He brushed a piece of her hair out of her face. It was hanging down from the updo.
“You know it. Who am I to say no to the newest award recipient?”
She snorted.
“I tell you what. You can have this award. I’ll take a step back, and you get to be the man of the hour.”
Yeah, no.
He was more of a supporting character in their world, and he liked it that way. Nothing pissed him off more than having the media talk about him.
It made him twitchy.
Giving him a kiss, he accepted it, and wrapped his arm around her waist.
Their relationship was a work in progress. It wasn’t easy at times, and that was mostly because they didn’t have sex to clear the obstacles.
Being in love with someone was one thing, but making a partnership out of it, when neither was attracted to each other, made for interesting moments.
Still, they made it work.
Like now.
A kiss, the act of love, and the comfortableness of two people bound together due to the love of another man could help just about any situation.
“Don’t listen to the men. You’re killing it in that dress. They’re just jealous that I’m going to steal you away,” Gene teased.
She laughed.
“I mean, I do like a big man,” she said.
