“But not pizza,” he teased.
“Ohh.” She shoved at his chest.
But it was no use. He wouldn’t budge. Which was exactly why she preferred to be on top.
“Relax.” He brushed his lips over her forehead. “Marin is always making a cake. In fact, if you ask her nicely enough, she’ll make an entire cake just for you.” He punctuated the last three words with three kisses to the tip of her nose.
She deflated beneath him. “I doubt that. Marin hates me.”
“Marin doesn’t hate you. She doesn’t know you. Give it time. You two will be borrowing each other’s shoes before you know it.”
Give it time.
His words held the promise of a relationship with his friends in the future. A relationship with him. There went her breath again. The very idea of being the same person—the real Quinn Darby—for the rest of her life was pretty damn tantalizing. Especially if most mornings started out like this one.
“Now, where were we?” he asked before taking the lobe of her ear between his teeth.
Any worry she had about her future—their future—evaporated quickly, replaced with potent, urgent desire.
*
They traveled back to DC in the sheriff’s Blazer belonging to Ben’s brother-in-law.
“Rich is sailing the Seas the Day back,” Ben explained when they parked the SUV in a marina in Old Town Alexandria. “Just in case your Russian friend is still keeping tabs on me.”
“I didn’t realize you Secret Service types were so skilled at covert activities,” she teased.
“I’m skilled in a lot of things, if you recall,” he reminded her with a wink.
“Yeah, well, I might need a few more demonstrations before I score you on RateMyLover dot com.” She bit back a laugh at his hungry look. “But for now, can we just go get the card?”
He guided her toward a Metro station. “Tell me there isn’t really a RateMyLover dot com.”
“Don’t worry, Cyber Stud. Your performance was commensurate with your ranking on the site.”
This time she did laugh at his expression. Tucking her arm through his, they made their way down the escalator and into the station. She was well aware their bantering was just a way of dealing with the tension brought on by their return to the city. Real life and her mission seemed so far away at the lighthouse. Shortly, she’d finally have her hands on the intel she’d been tasked to retrieve. But what if the Secretary of Homeland was right and it was all just a red herring? Where did that leave her? Or her parents?
As if sensing her unease, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close so he could brush his lips over the top of her head.
“Easy, Brit. It’s all going to work out,” he tried to reassure her.
With no choice but to believe him, she relaxed into his embrace and allowed herself to simply enjoy the ease of his company all the way downtown.
To say that the Secret Service headquarters building was nondescript was an understatement. She nearly plowed into the back of Ben when he steered them off the sidewalk in the middle of H Street and into the darkened glass doors of a brown brick building with no identifying signage. It was early afternoon on a Sunday in June and the streets were teeming with tourists. Someone among them could be working for Alexi. She glanced back warily at the passersby, but no one seemed to take notice of either of them.
It was a whole different story once they made their way inside.
“Well, hello there, Agent Segar,” a woman’s voice called from the reception desk. “What’s a handsome guy like you doing here on a beautiful summer afternoon?”
He sauntered over to the desk and bussed the receptionist on the cheek.
“Hello, yourself, Dorothy. You know I can’t keep away from you.”
The woman’s cheeks grew rosy. “Then what are you doing with a girl young enough to be my daughter on your arm? You better not have come here to tell me you’re ditching me as your plus-one for that White House wedding and taking her instead.”
“You don’t need me as your date to the wedding. I know for a fact Adam has saved you a front row seat.” He motioned for Quinn to step closer. “Dorothy Bergs, I’d like you to meet Quinn Darby.”
“Nice to meet you,” Quinn said, feeling a tad uncomfortable he was announcing her presence when she was supposed to be playing dead.
They were looking for a potential traitor. One who could tell Alexi she was still alive. She shot him a warning look but he was too busy charming the receptionist.
“And this must be the secretary’s niece.” As if reading her mind, Dorothy’s voice had gone up a decibel or two.
He didn’t miss a beat. “Yep. The secretary wanted me to show her around.”
Dorothy pulled out a visitor badge and handed it to Quinn.
“Normally, visitors, including family, have to wait in the reception area.” She indicated a sunny atrium room off to the side. “But the secretary has made an exception for you to visit the cyber lab. You must be very special to her.”
She took the badge from the receptionist. “Um, yes. She’s my favorite aunt.”
“I figured.” Dorothy pinned Ben with a serious look. “She wanted me to remind you to have her niece back to the residence in time for tea.”
“Got it.” He linked his fingers through Quinn’s and tugged her toward the security station. “We won’t forget.”
Quinn planted her feet. Before they left the lighthouse, she’d tucked her handgun into her bag just in case they ran into any trouble along the way. There was no way she could go through security without setting off alarm bells.
He gave her a quizzical look.
“I didn’t think things through.” She motioned to her camera bag.
Rolling his eyes, he looked over at Dorothy for assistance. The receptionist, who was clearly more than that, jumped right to the rescue.
“I can hold that heavy camera bag here at the desk.”
Dorothy reached for the bag, but Quinn held tight. Relinquishing it likely meant losing the last of her firearms.
“Do you want the list or not?” he murmured softly.
“That’s playing dirty.”
He arched an eyebrow at her.
With a resigned sigh, she handed the bag to Dorothy. “The secretary will be peeved if anything is disturbed in there.”
Dorothy smiled admiringly as she took the bag. Quinn wasn’t sure but she thought the woman mumbled “well played” beneath her breath. Once they’d made it through security, he latched onto her arm and propelled her toward the lift.
“Thanks for not trusting me to protect you,” he said once the doors had closed them in.
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like you’re going to beat the bad guys over the head with a hard drive. One of us should be armed.”
“You’re perfectly safe in this building.”
“Can I trust Mrs. Moneypenny not to take my last gun?”
Her James Bond reference had his face relaxing. “If Secretary Lyle wants you to have it, you will.”
“I’m really beginning to dislike your beloved secretary.”
The doors opened to the sun-filled center atrium. Catwalks linked the rows of offices behind glass walls giving the workspace a vibe of relentless energy. The building’s airy, open interior could not have been more different from its bland exterior. Quinn was busy admiring the architecture when two men rounded the corner. Before she knew it, Ben had her pressed up against his body and his lips locked with hers. Not that she put up much resistance, eagerly returning the kiss with a sigh.