As we reached the top of the path that led down to the rooms, we stopped. The stars were out and we were far enough from New York that we could see the Milky Way stretched across the sky, a million glittering pinpricks in a deep blue blanket.
A few weeks ago, I’d felt like there was nothing in my future. A big, fat, dark zero. Now, all I could see ahead were possibilities. Some short term, like teaching Calahan how to make decent coffee and him teaching me how to cook. Some long term, like...well, I didn’t want to jinx things by thinking about it too directly, but...I looked at Lily and Bull as they walked hand-in-hand. That. Even the idea of a little Calahan junior running around was starting to seem not totally crazy, off in the far future.
The temperature was finally starting to drop and despite my sweater I gave a little shiver. Calahan pressed in close behind me and wrapped his arms around me, shielding me from the breeze. I snuggled my cheek against his and just sat there for a while, soaking in his warmth, utterly satisfied.
At last he stood, stretched, and walked around in front of me. He looked down at me and rubbed at his stubble. “What?” I asked.
“Figure this is a good time to remind you that I’m crazy about you.”
Hearing that still made a hot bomb detonate in my chest. I flushed, fumbled for words and couldn’t find any. But when I looked up at him, I think my expression did all the talking because he smiled.
“And I want to say something,” he said. “We’re good together. And I don’t just mean….”
And those big blue eyes crinkled and he goddamn smoldered at me.
I drew in a shuddering breath as electricity crackled down inside me from my flushed skin, setting my heart thumping against my ribs and then turning dark and hot as it moved down towards my groin. This man did it to me every single time.
My hands tightened on the chair’s wheels and I rocked forward like a racehorse waiting for the off. Eight seconds, I estimated. We could be in our room, on the bed, in eight seconds. Maybe seven.
But he wasn’t done. “I mean everything. Talking to you. Spending time with you. We even work well together. I trust you more than a lot of the people at the FBI.”
“Mm-hmm,” I murmured, looking up at him. I felt drunk and heady. My fingers were itching with the need to dive under his shirt and slide across his chest.
“What I’m trying to say is, when you put us together, we’re more than the sum of our parts.”
“Enough math,” I told him breathlessly. “Get down here and kiss me.”
And he did.
The End
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Agent Calahan first appeared in Texas Kissing (which is also Lily’s story) and then in The Double. The story of how hacker Gabriella met Russian hitman Alexei is told in Kissing My Killer.
Hold Me in the Dark Page 31