Page 73 of 72 Hours

He smiled. “Heard about them! They can’t be parted. All that time of keeping a low profile, now apparently they’re Couple of the Year at the Department and loving the whole damned notoriety. They’re off fieldwork of any kind, but their specialty is on support, of course, and they’re invaluable wherever they are. They said they’d come over next week.”

I snuggled up against him a bit, and maybe he took it as a cue.

“Are you worried about the job, Tanner? The Team?”

“Not sure it’s the job for me after all,” I said slowly. “Can’t deny I’ve made some royal fuck-ups. Maybe this is the prompt for me to take a break.”

He tensed against me, but he didn’t insult me by shouting me down. I could almost feel him gathering the words in his mind before he spoke. He was much more forthcoming these days, and it was astoundingly welcome.

“You’re very good at your job,” he said. His thoughtfulness was like a special gift to me. “You always have been. The mistakes haven’t always been your fault. The way you played Greg was magnificent. I couldn’t have done it like that. You saw what would provoke him, and what would placate him. You saved us all, probably.”

“And you? Do you question your future with the Department?”

He was quiet for a moment, but I was a man of change too. I was teaching myself to allow him time to think, restraining myself from leaping into his silences with impatience and provocation of my own.

“I’ll see. I’m enjoying a break from what you call my ‘mission-mode’ for a while.”

“You look good on it.” I lay back against his chest and could feel his heartbeat, deep and steady against my own. Fucking fine. I didn’t curse quite so much nowadays, at least not aloud. Getting mellow, I guess. It wasn’t the worst way to be.

Niall shrugged, but his voice sounded pleased. “I’ve had some discussions with Phil. There are new components on the market that we think we could make up into cutting edge sound equipment. It’s just a thought, but he’s very skilled on manufacture.”

“What about Sheri?”

Niall sighed. He knew my teasing by now. “Yes, she was there too. They’re good together. She needs to talk about it, though, every now and then, with someone who understands. I mean her kidnapping, the scenes with Greg. It’s her way of coping.”

“And you’re her confidante, not me,” I said gently. “It’s cool.”

“And I want to spend time with you,” he murmured against my ear. I turned so that he wouldn’t get a mouthful of hair and got a mouthful of my kiss instead. It was hungry again; seemed we were always hungry for each other.

The couch sagged with satisfying flexibility as I twisted on top of him and nipped at his throat. We were heading for another session of touch and passion and satisfaction. I wondered if he’d tested the couch in the shop before he bought it, lying back in its comfort with thoughts of me beside him, sinking my head back against the cushion and spreading my legs to grip around his hips....

It was a pretty fine place to be.

IT WAS WHEN WE WERE yawning and ready for bed—to sleep—that he put a hand on my arm and turned me to look at him.

“Tell me what’s on your mind, Tanner, if it’s not the work for the Team.”

I shrugged. “It’s nothing maybe. Just wondering when you’ll be looking for a new apartment. I’m sure the Department will still help. Guess I could go back to my old place, too, some time. Brush off the cobwebs, get used to those five flights again.”

He pursed his lips. “We could look for somewhere together.”

We could indeed. My heart started beating faster, and I didn’t think it was because of the thought of all those stairs. Dammit, I felt like a giddy kid again. He did that to me on an embarrassingly regular basis.

“But not yet,” he continued.

“No?”

“I’m happy enough here, aren’t you?” He looked worried, really, at the thought of moving back out. We’d made quite an impact on this trailer park, but they didn’t seem to want to stone us out of it yet.

“Yes, I am. It’s good. We’re good here.”

“And if we’re not, we have Dylan to watch our steps for us.”

We both smiled at that. Junk was still getting used to Niall, but Dylan gave his full approval. Apparently, he still thought he had to keep up his guardianship, in case of future attacks. He often slept at the foot of my trailer steps, he checked out every visitor we ever had, and he accompanied Niall all the way out of the park every time he went to the store.

It was a good feeling.

It was late, and we’d made out all damned evening to the sounds of smooth, sexy music, but Niall still ran a hand down into the small of my back and sighed that sigh that told me his mind was on fucking, not faithful friends.