“Got a minute?” I ask as I wind my way through the equipment.
“Sure,” he replies. He snags a towel hanging on the rack, then swipes his face with it.
When I reach him, I take a deep breath and let it out. “I hate to do this… but I think I’m going to have to turn in my resignation.”
“Jesus fuck, Cruce,” Kynan mutters angrily. “I thought I told you to let that shit go. It wasn’t your fault, and—”
I shake my head, holding my hand up to silently cut him off. “It’s not that. I hear what you’re saying about it being on Barrett for sending the email, but that’s not why I’m here.”
“Then what is it?”
“She’s in D.C.,” I say. “It’s her home, and well… I can’t really ask her to come to Pittsburgh. I think her work is far more important than mine, so I’m thinking I want to move to D.C.”
Kynan huffs out a breath of dismay. “And what will you do there? If you go back to the Secret Service, you could end up anywhere, although, admittedly… the president would probably give you a plum assignment or something to keep you there.”
“I hadn’t really thought about it that much,” I say truthfully. “Only that while I love this company and the people here, I don’t think Barrett can have her career here. So I’m going to have to go there.”
Kynan cocks his head thoughtfully, then his eyes light up. “What if I made your job a little more mobile?”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Well, missions are geographical, so whether you two were based here or in D.C., you’d have to travel if you stayed on at Jameson. But otherwise, you could live out of D.C. and travel here as needed. It’s not ideal, but fuck, Cruce… I don’t want to lose you. You’re a fantastic addition to our team.”
I hadn’t even thought that what he’d just offered could be possible. There’s such a unique camaraderie at Jameson, and the bond between the team members can’t be discounted. Still, if it lets me keep the best of both worlds—Barrett and a job I really like—then I could make it work.
“I appreciate that,” I say, sticking my hand out. He gives it a rough shake before returning to the squat machine.
I pivot, heading for the door.
“Cruce,” Kynan calls.
I look over my shoulder.
“If you’d hurry up and finish that fucking report, I’d tell you to hop the next plane out of here to go talk to Barrett about it.”
My grin is wide when I nod. “Thanks, boss. Going to do that now.”
CHAPTER 27
Barrett
“I’m bored, Cage.” Sighing, I lean my head against the seat and watch the D.C. scenery as he drives me home from work.
“Why’s that, doc?” he asks as he casually maneuvers through rush-hour traffic, one hand propped at the top of the steering wheel, his other resting loosely on his thigh.
For the past three days, he’s been driving me to and from the lab. During that time, I haven’t held back on meaningful conversation with the man. He is, after all, the closest connection I have to Cruce outside our texts and phone calls.
I learned early on Cage doesn’t really know Cruce and vice versa. Until recently, Cage has been based out of the Vegas office, while Cruce is new to the organization. I’d point blank asked him that first day how well he knew Cruce, determined to pick his brain hard.
When I realized he wouldn’t be much help, I’d still kept talking to him. A loose connection to Cruce was better than none.
I sigh again. “It’s just… how do I find work that satisfies me after I’ve managed to figure out one of the most elusive scientific formulas in humanity’s history?”
“Braggart,” he replies affectionately, and I shoot him a short smile.
“Seriously,” I mutter. “I feel so… useless.”
“It’s easy.” Cage coasts to a stop at a red light, shifting slightly to focus on me. “You find the next elusive formula, then put that gargantuan-sized brain to work on it.”
I wrinkle my nose, an automatic reaction to that suggestion.
Cage frowns in response. “Don’t you want to do that? Isn’t that why you’re bored?”
“No.” The tone of my voice is slightly whiny. “I want to be bored on a beach or taking a cooking class.”
“Yeah,” he replies with a shake of his head. His attention returns to the road since the light turns green and traffic starts moving. “That makes no sense whatsoever.”
“It’s just…” I start off, trying to explain something that doesn’t even make sense to me. “It’s just that my whole adult life has been devoted to a singular cause. I’ve spent all my time, exclusive of sleep, working on it. While it fueled and motivated me, and ultimately fulfilled me, I want…”
My words trail off, unable to quite express my angst.
“You want Cruce,” Cage fills in the rest.
“No,” I say in quick denial. “I mean… yes, of course. But it’s more than that.”
“You want a life with him,” he guesses.
“I want a life,” I manage to say. “An all-encompassing one. I want to do the things normal people do. Binge-watch Netflix, take vacations, repaint my cabinets.”
“And…” he prompts.
“And I want to be in a relationship,” I murmur, shifting closer to him as I give up my deepest desire. “With Cruce. Forever.”
Cage’s lips curve upward, and he nods at something up ahead. “Now might be your chance to discuss those things.”
I jerk my head up to peer out the windshield, my townhome coming into view. Cruce sits on the front steps, and a jolt of exhilaration flows through me. My heart expands and fills with unfettered joy, and yes… I want him forever.
Cage has barely brought the car to a stop at the sidewalk in front of my house before I’m leaping out.
“Later,” I call to him, slamming the door before he can reply. I don’t even hear him drive off, but I assume he does leave.
Cruce stands from the stoop, then dusts his jeans off. He jogs down the three steps to the sidewalk, barely making it to the bottom before I launch myself at him. He’s laughing when my body hits his, and I wrap my legs hard around his waist as I press my face into his neck.
“What are you doing here?” I mumble.
“Came to see a pretty girl to have a serious talk,” he replies. Heart starting to hammer, I pull back slightly in question. “Let’s sit on the porch, okay?”
I nod, reluctantly letting him lower me until my shoes hit the sidewalk. Cruce takes my hand, leading me up to the landing. We sit down, side by side. He stares down the block in the direction we’d been returning from on our run the morning my first kidnapping attempt happened. It was only a few weeks ago, yet it seems like a lifetime already.
What Cruce and I have been through together makes it feel like I’ve known this man for an eternity.
I’ve realized even that’s not enough time for me. The only question now is if he feels the same? For all I know, his “serious talk” is to break up with me.