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Familiar sounds from Echo Team’s headquarters followed him toward the team’s employees-only restroom at the end of the hall. Phones ringing. Voices carrying from nearby offices. The occasional burst of laughter.
Not bad for a team that’s only been operational a few months.
Their growing success was due, in part, to Janie Reynolds—Emmett’s now-fiancée. Six months ago, the investigative reporter had uncovered an entire network of criminals and killers while looking into the disappearance of a White House intern.
He and his team had helped stop the people responsible, but not before Janie had paid a hell of a price. And she wasn’t the only one.
Devon.
Her beautiful face filled his mind as he entered the restroom.
Brilliant. Funny. Sarcastic and sweet.
She was also a woman Blake thought about a lot more than he probably should. Not that she had any idea.
For now, that was probably for the best. She’d been through enough without him complicating their friendship with feelings. Especially when she may not feel remotely the same.
He washed and dried his hands, then headed to his office down the hall. When he sat behind his desk, three monitors glowed in front of him.
A new email waited on one. Echo Team’s scheduling software remained open on another. And on the third . . .
His phone buzzed.
Blake reached for it, smiling when he saw a new text was waiting.
Devon.
He opened the message. A computer meme filled the screen. Bold, white words ran across the bottom: When you spend six hours debugging code only to realize you forgot one semicolon.
A second message appeared beneath it.
Thought of you.
Blake laughed as he typed back.
That happened one time.
Three dots appeared almost immediately. Another text popped onto the screen.
Sure it did.
His lips curved into a grin.
You weren’t even there.
She didn’t miss a beat.
Didn’t need to be. I know your type.
Blake laughed again. A few months ago, they barely knew each other. Now she was giving him crap from eight hundred miles away.
He sent another message to Devon.
For the record, I fixed that bug in under six hours.
Her response was almost immediate.
My hero.
