EIGHTEEN #3
“Cannon.” She paused, then pushed through anyway. “Why keep me here at all? I can go into WITSEC and work with Sierra remotely.”
He studied her for a long moment, arms still crossed. “You want the honest answer?”
“Yes.”
“Jolie’s got Monk smiling like an idiot most of the day.
If you saw how he was when he first got here, you’d understand how big that is.
Stina’s always the comic relief around here, and this base doesn’t feel like a tomb anymore.
Between the curtains and that ridiculous painting and baked goods, Sierra’s morale is better than it’s been in years.
” He uncrossed his arms and dropped them to his sides.
“You add to that. Whatever else you bring to this case—and you bring plenty—you’re part of why this team’s holding together right now. ”
Her throat was tight, and warmth spread through her chest with a fierce, unexpected wave.
She cocked her head. “Cannon. Was that a compliment?”
“Don’t get used to it.” His jaw twitched, almost a smile. “And if you ever repeat what I just said, I’ll deny every word of it.”
A startled laugh bubbled out of her, and he looked pleased with himself as he walked out.
After he left, she sat on the edge of the bed again, running through her conversations with both leaders—Doyle, her boss in a different world, and Cannon here. She would do her best job for both of them.
Her career was secure. She still had valuable work to do. The best part of all…
She could do it right here with Reid.
She rushed out and searched his room first. Finding it empty, she hurried through the tunnels, past the cute desk and the “window” at the far end. She discovered him in the gym, kneeling in front of her partly assembled treadmill, muttering at an instruction manual.
She froze in the doorway, heart throbbing in her throat with joy and love and so many other emotions she couldn’t put into words.
She must have made some noise because he turned his head and saw her. A grin spread over his face and he pushed to his feet.
“Come see.” He waved her over.
She moved toward him, her pulse thundering with all the things she wanted to say.
“Watch this.” He pressed a button and the screen lit up. He flipped through the settings, showing her mountain trails, desert canyons and coastline, the imagery so clean it looked like she could step right into it.
She spun to him and threw her good arm around him, resting her cheek on his chest. “Thank you.” Her voice caught.
“Oh, Ryss.” He squeezed her back and bowed over her, brushing his lips over her hair.
She pulled back enough to see his face. “I have a surprise for you too.”
He raised a brow.
“I’m staying.”
He gaped at her for a second, face blank. “What? You’re serious?”
She nodded, letting her excitement show at last. “It’s a liaison position. Cannon and Doyle agreed.”
His expression shivered and then his face crumpled and he yanked her against him, squeezing the breath out of her. “I’ll have you for good,” he rasped into her hair.
Tears flooded her eyes. She drew back and cradled his jaw, searching his eyes. “We’ll have each other, Reid.”
He crushed his mouth to hers with the fever of a man who’d just been handed his whole future.
A commotion at the door interrupted the moment, and they swung as one to see Jolie and Stina bursting in, both in tears.
Caryssa rushed forward to see what was wrong. But Jolie launched herself into a hug that nearly knocked Caryssa off her feet.
Stina threw her arms around both of them. “We heard you’re staying!”
She hugged them both tight. “I am!”
When they broke apart, Stina pressed a package wrapped in tissue paper into her hands. Just when Caryssa thought her heart couldn’t fit anything else, in walked two friends—and an entire Blackout team with them.
Between rolls of tape and package bombs, everyone on this base had become the family she hadn’t known since she left Philly.
Eyes brimming with tears, she looked at Stina and Jolie. “For me?”
They nodded.
“Open it,” Jolie urged.
Reid held the gift while she used her good hand to unwrap it. An uneven tangle of mismatched yarn fell into her hand.
“We both worked on it,” Stina said.
Caryssa unfurled the item to see it was a scarf. It was lumpy and it wasn’t perfect. In fact, it was downright ugly.
Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I love it!”
She wound the scarf around her neck and met Reid’s stare. His jaw worked hard and his eyes were suspiciously bright.
“Are you crying?” Her voice was watery.
“Smoke damage,” he said. “Slow healer.”
They all burst out laughing, and the ladies embraced her again before they left the gym.
Alone with Reid again, she slipped into his arms, right where she belonged. Where she’d always belonged.
He brushed his lips over hers in a lingering kiss that sent shivers through her and made her push closer to the hard length of him.
He dropped his forehead to hers. “Welcome home.”
Those two little words were true in a way nothing had been in six long years.
She stared into the eyes of the man she loved. “Yeah,” she whispered, smiling through her tears. “I think it finally is.”