“Considering you’re a werewolf and probably have better instincts than I do, I’m willing to go along with that,” Rory said. “So what’s the plan?”
“I’ll keep trying to contact Erin and Elliott, but since they haven’t answered my calls or replied to my texts yet, I doubt they’re going to.” And Sawyer would be lying if he said that still didn’t sting. “In the meantime, we keep working with STAT to figure out what Yegor is up to.”
Rory nodded. “Okay. What about Harley? Are you going to talk to her?”
Sawyer didn’t have to think about it. “Yeah. I just have to find the right time.”
“Bollocks,” Rory said. “Something I learned from experience is that if you wait for the right time, you’ll be waiting a long time. Take my advice and talk to her. Or you’re going to end up regretting it.”
* * *
Harley heard her teammates talking softly in the kitchen at the same time she picked up the delicious aroma coming from that direction. She smiled as she hurried down the last few steps, touched her new family was keeping the noise down so they wouldn’t wake her up. She hadn’t meant to sleep in, but after Sawyer left this morning, she couldn’t help snuggling his pillow and breathing in his scent. When she opened her eyes again and looked at the clock on the night table, it was well past noon.
She’d hoped Sawyer was back from his teleconference with MI6, but he was nowhere to be found. She supposed the reality of both their jobs had to intrude on the fairy tale that had been last night at some point…no matter how perfect that fairy tale might be. Her teammates, on the other hand, were all gathered around the big table having lunch.
“Hey,” she said, giving them a smile as she walked over to the counter where everything was set up buffet style. She was half afraid there wouldn’t be much food left, considering Caleb ate more than the rest of the team combined, so she was pleasantly surprised to find a nice selection of pita sandwiches, kabobs, salad, and baklava.
“Late night, huh?” Caleb asked.
She shrugged as she took two pita sandwiches from the tray and put them on a plate, then filled a bowl with salad, adding as many tomatoes and cucumbers as she could find, burying the whole thing under a mountain of feta cheese and dressing.
“A little bit,” she admitted.
Setting the plate and bowl on the table, she went back for iced tea and a slice of baklava, then sat down beside Misty.
Harley was just biting into the pita sandwich, savoring the combination of grilled chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, tzatziki sauce, and feta cheese when she realized everyone was staring at her. Had she dribbled sauce on her chin?
“What?” she asked.
Instead of answering, her teammates only grinned, each of them looking like that proverbial cat who ate the canary.
That’s when it hit her. Well…crap.
“You know about Sawyer and me, don’t you?” she asked softly.
On the other side of the table, Jake tapped his nose. “I knew the moment we walked in the house last night. Obviously, I had to tell Jes.”
“Obviously,” Harley muttered, then glanced at Misty. “Let me guess. You saw my note and couldn’t resist the urge to share, right?”
Misty laughed. “Actually, Forrest saw the note but had no idea what you were referring to, so I had to translate.”
Across from Harley, Caleb let out a snort. “Damn. For a bunch of secret agents, you guys aren’t very observant.” He looked at her. “I figured out you and Sawyer were a thing since that night Erin, Forrest, and I relieved you guys at the villa when I saw the bite marks on your neck. Never knew you were into the kinky stuff. It’s always the quiet ones.”
Caleb waggled his brows at her, making Harley roll her eyes.
She vaguely remembered Sawyer nibbling on her neck that night they’d been pulling surveillance duty at the house in Kalambaka. She hadn’t considered Sawyer might have broken the skin. There certainly hadn’t been any marks on her by the time she’d gotten back to her hotel room that night. Then again, she was a werewolf. A little nip like that would have healed up in minutes.
She speared a juicy tomato and popped it into her mouth. No doubt, her teammates had spent the entire morning talking about her and Sawyer. She definitely wasn’t embarrassed they were sleeping together, but having everyone know about it made her feel a little off-balance. She guessed she’d been on her own for so long, she’d forgotten what it meant to be part of a family where everyone knew everything about each other.
“So,” Jes said, leaning forward with an eager smile. “Is it serious? Are you guys going to keep seeing each other after this mission?”
Harley didn’t even have to think about the answer to that question because she’d already thought about it while she’d laid in bed after Sawyer left, blissed out beyond belief.
“It’s serious for me,” she admitted, sipping her iced tea. “I wouldn’t have slept with him if it wasn’t. And while I’d love to keep seeing him, I’m not dumb enough to think it’ll be easy to do that. I’m STAT and Sawyer is MI6—at least for the moment—so seeing each other is going to be difficult.”
“Forget about that stuff for now,” Jake said before she could continue with the whole list of obstacles—the list she’d compiled while showering this morning and having a minor panic attack over the depth of her feelings for a man she’d slept with once. “Would you want to make a relationship work with Sawyer if you had the chance?”
Harley looked at Jake to see him studying her with an earnest expression. “Sawyer and I haven’t talked about anything like that yet.”
“Too busy doing other things with your mouth, huh?” Caleb teased with a chuckle that earned him a smack on the shoulder from Jes, a glare from Harley, and a laugh from everyone else.
“Never change, Caleb. Never change.” Shaking his head, Jake turned back to Harley, dark eyes intent. “You didn’t answer the question. I asked you what you wanted, not if you and Sawyer have talked about your future yet—although you should. So what do you want out of this relationship?”
She took another bite of the chicken pita and chewed thoughtfully, aware of her teammates looking at her. How had she gotten so lucky to have friends like them?
“I want to find a way for us to stay together,” she admitted quietly. “I know this is going to sound insane since I’ve barely known Sawyer for a week and we’ve only slept together one time, but I’m already falling for him. He’s the most amazing, sweetest, most perfect man I’ve ever met.”
Harley held her breath, waiting for them to tell her she was losing her mind. That no one could possibly fall for a guy this fast. But instead, her teammates all looked thoughtful, as if her bizarre proclamation was the most normal thing in the world.