“I’ll have Grif bring it up.” Cade reached for the phone. Rio pulled up the first file and started reading. If he knew what they had, then he could fill in the extras. He just hoped it was enough for Cade’s bosses to allow him to stay, or at least to not send him back into the lion’s den that was his family.
Neither noticed the hours passing as they worked. They munched on sandwiches and sipped coffee, but neither saw Harper place them on the desk.
“Cade, I need you to verify this intel coming out of Russia,” Rock’s voice made them both jump.
“Fuck.” Cade scrubbed his eyes with his fingers, “I didn’t hear you coming.”
“You and Rio have been lost in your own world all day,” Rock grinned at them both, “It’s kinda like watching me and G when we are heading on a mission. You show him a file, he either agrees or disagrees. You both talk with your hands back and forth.” He pointed to Rio, “He types shit into the computer. There are touches and smiles. It’s like intel like this isn’t only your jam but freaking foreplay.”
“I—uh—” Rio stuttered.
“I’m just fucking with you,” Rock smacked him on the back, “You go on, you’ve done enough today.” he told Rio. “You, my friend, we have work to do.”
“I can stay and work.” Rio said. The last thing he wanted to do was leave, he’d been enjoying the day. Working with Cade was easy.
“I need him for some classified stuff.” Rock blew out a breath. “So you might as well eat, sleep, whatever, just, you don’t have the clearance for this bit.”
“Oh—um—” Jeez, why the hell did he sound like a mumbling teenager when it came to Cade’s bosses. Bah, they would think he was an idiot.
“Go on,” Cade nudged his knee. “I’ll be there soon.”
“You want me to go to Victor One?” He didn’t know where he was meant to be going, they hadn’t got around to it.
“Shit,” Cade pushed back his chair.
Before he could stand, Rock waved him off. “I’ll take him, I need the verification on that intel, stat.”
“Yes, Sir.” Something in Rock’s tone obviously told Cade that this couldn’t wait. “You good with that?” he asked Rio.
“Sure.” Rio saved all the files he had been working on and powered down the computer. “If I am not in my room, I’ll be in the gym.”
Cade scribbled a code on a piece of paper and handed it to Rio. “You can wait in my room, that code will get you in the door.” He immediately patted himself on the back when he saw the smile Rio gave him as he took the paper.
“See you later,” Rio winked at Cade, then turned to follow Rock out of the War - Room.
“I’m so screwed.” Cade whispered the words to himself. He knew he was screwed. The more time he spent with Rio, the more time he wanted to spend with him. But damn, he hadn’t been expecting the jolt in his heart when he realized it.
Chapter Thirteen
“Cade?” Rio knocked softly on the door to the room Rock had pointed out as Cade’s. He had eaten, been to the gym, come back, and showered. It was now almost ten PM, surely Cade was back by now. He chewed on his bottom lip before knocking again.
“He went in there about half an hour ago.”
Rio spun around toward the voice. He stared at the man who had been introduced as Angelo. He hadn’t heard the door behind him opening, but apparently, they were now neighbors. “Oh, good, maybe he’s in the shower then.”
“If ya have the code, go on in.” Angelo told him. “If he’s sleeping or in the shower, he won’t hear you knocking.”
“Thanks.” Rio rooted in his ass pocket for the piece of paper Cade had given him earlier and tapped the code into the panel next to the door. The green light and the click told him it worked. He pushed the door open.
“Have fun,” Angelo snickered behind him.
Rio refused to allow his teasing to make him blush. He willed the red not to climb up the back of his neck, and shot back, “I intend to.” He softly closed the door behind him. “Cade?” A quick glance around the living space told him the suite was identical to his. Seeing no sign of Cade, he headed to the door opposite where he thought the bedroom should be and pushed it open.
There you are.“Cade?”
“Mmh.”
Rio moved over to the bed and peered down at him. Sleeping in his clothes, boots and all, could not be comfortable right? It didn’t take him long to decide it would not be comfy; before he went back to his own suite, he could fix that. He reached out and started to unlace Cade’s left boot, tugged it off his foot, and moved to do the same to the right. Both boots off, he reached for Cade’s belt and undid it, then managed to wrestle his jeans down past his hips.
