Chapter 15
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Hours later, after organizing another helicopter trip and then a drive to San Diego, all three arrived at Rubin’s apartment. Rubin unlocked his apartment door, and she stepped inside and cried out, “This is such a bachelor pad.”
He turned to her, frowning. “What makes it a bachelor pad?”
“Nothing is on the walls. There’s no real decor. … It’s just sterile.”
“That’s not a bachelor pad,” he corrected. “It’s home to somebody who travels a lot. Plus I just moved here from the base not all that long ago.”
She frowned and then nodded grudgingly. “You could be right,” she agreed. Then she laughed and asked, “So, can we get confirmation that the vote is over?”
“I hope to. I’ve already got a couple messages in,” he said, with a nod to Hayden. “You?”
He nodded.
“And? What’s the news?” she asked them.
“We’re just waiting for somebody to get back to us.”
“Perfect,” she muttered, then shook her head. “Let’s get some coffee. I would absolutely love some food that isn’t fast food.”
“I don’t think the coffee shops or restaurants around here would consider themselves fast food,” Rubin pointed out, “but I’m not taking you out in public until I know the vote is done.”
“Right,” she muttered, glaring at him.
He laughed and raised one eyebrow. “That glare of yours might get things done in your world, but we’re wise to it now. Last time we handed you off to someone, we had to find you again. One time is enough for me.”
She slumped. “Yeah, it doesn’t take long to understand that.”
“I’m serious about that glare.”
She snorted. “Nobody takes me seriously.”
“Taking you seriously is one thing,” Hayden noted, “but you seem to be the little kid nobody listens to.”
“That’s not fair,” she protested. “I’m well over legal age.”
“Oh, I know you are,” he declared, “and believe me that our friend Rubin has certainly noticed.”
She flushed at that, glanced over at Rubin, and muttered, “You would never know by looking at him.”
Rubin raised both hands. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She shrugged. “You should know.”
“I don’t know anything,” he stated, glaring at her. He turned to Hayden, whose grin was a mile wide. “You need to stop setting her off.”
“Nope. … Not happening,” he said, chuckling. “You two are way too entertaining.” He rolled his eyes, then went into the kitchen and made coffee. While they were just sitting down to relax with a cup, Rubin’s phone rang. It was Mason. “You’re on Speakerphone.”
“The vote is over,” he confirmed. “However, we still don’t know who was behind this. Her father won’t take my calls. So I’ve got feelers out, but you’ll need to give it a bit before I hear anything back. How is she holding up?”
“She’s had a pretty rough few days,” he admitted, “but I would say she’s doing okay. She does want an escort back to New York City though.”
First came silence, and then Mason replied, “I’m not sure we’re authorized for that.” More silence then with a more curious than concerned tone, he asked, “Is she likely to cause trouble?”
“Not in the way you would imagine.”
At that, Hayden started to laugh and added, “Hell yeah, she might cause trouble. I can all but guarantee it. It’s not so much that she wants us to escort her as she wants Rubin to, and that’s the difference.”
After a moment of awkward silence, they heard Tesla giggling in the background. Mason, his tone amused, asked, “So, Rubin, how do you feel about one more trip?”
“It’s not one more trip, boss. I have to get back again, right?”
“Of course you do,” he agreed. “Do you have any holiday time coming?”
“Some, but it’s not as if I don’t have other jobs, and we haven’t even been debriefed on this one.”
“Good point. So, how long will it take you to debrief, or should you do that after you escort her back home?”
“After, he should do it afterward.” Tricia called out, leaning toward the phone. “And hello, by the way. My name is Tricia.”
“Hi, Tricia,” he replied. “I gather you’ve been giving them fits,” he quipped.
“Not at all,” she stated. “They’ve been giving me fits. And let’s be clear that they are the ones who deserted me in Germany,” she cried out in outrage. “Like, who does that?”
“Yeah, my apologies on that part,” Mason replied. “Apparently we have some leaks to be dealt with.”
“You need to take care of that,” she snapped. “It was ugly back there, and, for the record, I specifically asked them not to leave me, but they wouldn’t listen. They gave me some lame drivel about authorizations and orders, but that’s ridiculous.”
“They did have orders,” Mason stated. “My orders. So, it’s not that they wouldn’t listen but that they couldn’t.”
“Same thing,” she muttered, with an airy wave of her hand, which of course Mason couldn’t see, but that was beside the point. “Besides, I think Rubin should be allowed, if not required, to take me home. I’m not going alone, and I need him to get me back to my life.”
“Yeah, and how many days do you think it’ll take for him to bring you home?”
She grinned at the look on Rubin’s face beside her and replied, “Two weeks.”
“Say what?” came the exclamation from Rubin.
“It’ll take a bit, you know? We have work to do,” she declared.
“What work?” Mason asked curiously.
“Oh, you know, some packing, some moving, and, of course, this place isn’t anywhere near big enough for us,” she pointed out. “So, there’s definitely some logistics to take care of.”
At that, Hayden went off in an absolute howl that Rubin, staring at her in shock, couldn’t even react to. Mason, his tone cautious, asked, “So, has Rubin weighed in on this plan yet?”
She grinned at Rubin. “How could he, with Hayden acting like a moron? However, if I could hazard a guess, I would say that we’ll work it out.” With that, she didn’t even give any of them a chance to reply as she ended the call.
She glanced over at Hayden and then back at Rubin, who stared at her with a slightly stunned but bemused expression, along with a telltale twinkle in his eyes. “What? You’re too proper. It would have taken you forever to get around to it.”
*
Hayden left them both soon afterward, still chuckling and laughing at them.
Tricia added, “That’s okay, funny man, but we’re going to need your help down the road.”
He nodded and smiled. “Not a problem. Got a few other guys with trucks who can come lend a hand as well.”
“Perfect,” she said, grinning. As soon as he was gone, she looked over at Rubin and asked, “Are we done now? Will we have any more interruptions?”
“I don’t expect any right now.”
“Good.” She walked over, wrapped her arms around his neck, then laid a kiss on him that had his knees quaking.
When she finally lifted her lips and pulled back ever-so-slightly, he stared at her in shock.
“You really don’t move quickly, do you?” she asked.
“No. It wasn’t something I needed to do right now.”
“Maybe not, as women start taking bold steps,” she shared.
“However, I’ve been tossed around, picked up, kidnapped, and drugged by terrible people with dubious intents.
Not to mention being flown and driven countless miles in planes and in the back seats of God only knows how many cars.
I just want to know that it’s all over with and that I can finally relax and celebrate for a little bit. ”
“Sorry, but I can’t do that. We’re still missing some pieces to this mess.”
She dismissed that statement with a wave of her hand. Then she kissed him on the nose and added, “You don’t need to be quite so shocked that I want us to move in together.”
“It’s not that I’m so much shocked,” he began.
“Oh yes, you are.”
He nodded. “Okay, so yeah, I am shocked,” he admitted, “but it’s not that I’m not up for the task.”
“Good, because this shouldn’t be a task. That sounds like a short-term thing.”
“No,” he disagreed, with a smirk. “I have known for quite a while that there wouldn’t be anything short-term about it.”
She beamed a huge smile in his direction. “It’s not as if we had a proper chance to get to know each other yet.”
He nodded. “At least not the way I would have liked to.”
“Exactly,” she said approvingly. “So, this is just a prelude, yeah?”
“And the moving part?” he asked.
“I’ll be working with the university to graduate remotely.
And since their lax security contributed to the kidnapping, I expect to find them very helpful in regard to my request. And my job can be done from anywhere, so moving is not a problem,” she stated, with a smile. “This will just be a whole lot better.”
“So, you’ll just move in with me?” he asked, with a note of amused but shocked disbelief.
“No, of course not. I’m sure your place isn’t big enough for everything,” she clarified. “Yet I’m sure we can find something that will work.” Then she wrapped her arms around him, pressing up close. “Unless, of course, you don’t want anything to do with me.”
He leaned down and took her lips with a fierce possessiveness that made her melt against him.
When he finally lifted his head, she whispered, “Good, that’s what I was hoping for. But again, you’re a little slow. We’re still standing, and I should be flat on my ass by now.”
He laughed as he picked her up and brought her to his bed, setting her gently down. “I thought maybe you would want a shower or something.”
“I would love a shower,” she agreed, lying on her back.
Then she turned over, propped herself up on her elbows, and stared at him in delight.
“That’s right. We’re in an apartment, and we have privacy.
We can really enjoy ourselves.” She started stripping off her clothes with wild abandonment as she walked to the small bathroom.
He watched in amusement as gorgeous pink cheeks disappeared around the corner, shaking him out of his fugue, and he raced behind to find her already adjusting the water temperature.
She looked over at him and smiled. “As I said—”
“Don’t say it,” he interjected, as he shucked off his clothing and stepped under the hot water with her. He smiled as he pulled her up close. “Believe me that you don’t have to tell me twice.”