When I end the kiss, I place my palm on my chest. “Thisisyour heart to complete. And I love you with every beat of it.”
He doesn’t say it back this time, which is fine because he’s said it plenty since yesterday. And the fact that he hasn’t arrested me yet speaks volumes.
Instead, he does something far sweeter.
Wordlessly, he removes my hand from my chest. After kissing my palm, he slowly presses it right over his heart. The love shines in his mocha eyes, sparkling radiantly in the reflection of the bright bathroom lights.
With his poetic gesture, he tells me I’ve got all of his heart as well.
No matter what our rocky future holds, nothing will take that away from us.
Over breakfast,he checks his phone about forty-three times, give or take a dozen. It’s admirable that he hasn’t been pushing me to start talking from the moment his head left the pillow. However, the clock is ticking.
I work this afternoon and am here without a vehicle or my uniform. He still needs to drive me home before he can hit the office or wherever FBI agents go to start their workday.
Time isn’t a luxury we have. And there’s a lot I need to say before we can part for the day.
Hold up. Am I even allowed to go home? Or to work? Is it safe? If it wasn’t yesterday, it likely isn’t now. Unless something changed when he was doing his hot guy special agent thing last night while I was eating him out of house and home.
The time for stalling is gone.I don’t need to pull my big girl panties up. They’re already at waist-level. If Reed isn’t gonna start, I’ll do it.
I set my empty glass of orange juice on the table, push my plate away, and fold my hands in front of me. “Okay. Let’s do this. Shall?—”
He holds up a finger to cut me off while he finishes chewing. Like only the finest servers do, I’ve caught him mid-bite. I’ll need to add that to the special skills section of my resume.
Once he’s done, he dabs the corners of his sexy mouth with his napkin, then lets his face fall slack. “Do you think they keep a record of how many revolutions the wheel has made on the Wheel of Fortune? It must be in the trillions.”
Drats. I was all ready to get down to business, and now I have to consider his question before I can move on.
Nah. I know this trick. I wrote the book on it.
Instead of chasing him around Chaos Corner, I redirect us to more pressing matters.“Is that what you were searching on your phone one of the fifty-two times you’ve checked it in the last ten minutes? Or was it stuff about the case? Youdoremember the case, right? The one you’ve been hounding me about for weeks.”
He picks up his bagel, eying it with overly intense speculation. “Life’s short. Do something to a bagel.”
That one gets a barking laugh out of me. He smirks victoriously, making one of his dirty dimples pop.
When my laughter fades, I give him a slow clap. “Wow.”Clap. “This is what it feels like.”Clap. “I had no idea it was this annoying.”Clap. “Bravo.”
Just when I think I’ve got him back to his factory settings, he doubles down. “Be that as it may, still may it be as it may be.”
I thud both hands on the table, my fingers splayed wide. Leaning forward, I give him my angriest of angry eyes. “Reed. Knock it off. This isn’t a game you can win. I’ve been training for this since shenanigans first flabberbusted the nincompoop codswallop.”
In a gesture at odds with his typical disposition, he cranes his head dramatically until one ear touches his shoulder. Then he sticks his lower lip so far out it’s a trip hazard and hits me withPuss in Bootseyes. “Teach me your ways. I’ll never abracadabra jacuzzi feet the way you do without your tutelage.”
Keeping a straight face after that performance is impossible, so I allow a two-note laugh before I affix the mask of a woman resigned to deal with the hard stuff.
“Reed, as much as I want to, we can’t avoid this anymore. You know that as well as I do.”
Solemnly, he nods and slumps against the back of his chair. “Being a grown-up sucks.”
“Agreed. Now, shall I start at the beginning? Or do you want to ask me your interrogation questions? How does this work?”
His answering sigh sounds the way I feel—haggard. “Let’s clean up first.”
He pushes away from the table and takes our plates into the kitchen. I join him to help tidy. I’ll give him this small win. Maybe he needs to collect his thoughts. A few more minutes to avoid my demise can’t hurt.
Much.
