Chapter 34
Garnet stood in the den, amazed by the mess. There was glass everywhere. The carpet would have to be replaced, along with some furniture.
She hadn’t asked what happened to Pearson, but based on the lack of blood inside, he hadn’t died in here.
They were alive, which she was very happy about.
Pearson could have come in here and killed them both, or just Ansley.
Garnet turned her head and met Ansley’s gaze.
She moved at the same time Ansley did, and they were hugging and crying.
After Link contacted the insurance company and snapped photos and a video, they started cleaning. Three of the guys started moving furniture out of the front room, where the carpet had to be replaced. Brady swept up the glass in the entryway, piling it in the corner so no one stepped on it.
Ansley still had her arm around Garnet as they watched the men work. It could have gone so much worse.
“We survived,” Ansley said.
Garnet nodded as she blubbered out a laugh. “We did. I’m so sorry about your house being shot up.”
Ansley waved off the apology. “It’s not a big deal. I mean, now we have a great story to tell because we survived.”
“Thank goodness you both survived,” Link said as he moved into the kitchen to grab a trash bag.
“Yeah, and I didn’t like that carpet in the front room anyway,” Ansley said.
Link stopped beside them. “You know it’s funny, we talked about buying new carpet for that room last week.”
Ansley giggled. “Glad we didn’t make any decisions.”
“True. Now we can get new carpet, and the insurance company will pay for some of it.”
Ansley reached out and squeezed Garnet’s arm. “Maybe we should do pizza. We’ve got a lot of guys here.”
Garnet nodded. “I’ll place an order now. It might take a while for them to get the entire order made and delivered.”
After checking with Brady, she placed the order. Garnet intended to pay for the pizza, but the guys tossed cash at her, telling her to keep it. She felt guilty, but none of Brady’s friends seemed to hold it against her.
She spoke to the police and the MPs. Her boss called, and she knew other government agencies would get involved now that Pearson had played his hand. She had no idea how she could explain this all away without telling some version of the truth. She just hoped they believed her story.
Somehow, a window company had been able to make it to Link’s house, so they had new windows installed, and their house was secure before nightfall. They’d taken the damaged furniture to the dump and gotten rid of the carpet.
Link and Ansley said they were happy with the progress they’d made. Garnet said she felt bad, but neither of them had been injured, and that was the most important thing out of this whole mess.
Bean told Garnet they still had one guy they needed to find but assured her they were safe since the guy wasn’t in the States. They would be safe tonight.
It was close to nine when they made it home. Garnet looked exhausted. He was tired, too, but felt satisfied with what they’d accomplished.
“I’m exhausted,” Garnet said as she yawned.
“Same. Thank you for helping clean.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “I feel responsible.”
He cupped her cheeks. “No one blames you for what happened.”
“Maybe, but I blame myself.”
Brady pulled her close. “Don’t blame yourself. That guy who was shooting up the neighborhood is to blame. Not you.”
“He’d just called, and I went in to talk to Ansley, to ask what she thought. I never got to ask her the question.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. Twice this month you’ve been through hell.”
“Yeah. I don’t like it. I enjoy working on computer problems, not people shooting at me.”
Bean nodded. “Yeah, being shot at sucks.”
“And you do it for a living.”
He chuckled. “I do, but not without body armor on and weapons so I can return fire.”
“That would make a difference.” She couldn’t hold back the yawn and stretched her hands over her head. “I’m glad you’re back here.”
“So am I. But I’m also glad we kept at it and figured out who initiated the whole thing.”
“I have to head back to DC for a meeting at the end of the week.”
He turned and met her gaze. “I don’t want you to leave. I mean, you can go to the meeting, but I want you to think about moving in.”
A thrill ran through her, and she nodded. “I like that idea.”
“So you’ll move in with me? I mean, you don’t have to do anything. We can get to know each other.”
Heat rose up her chest to her face, and she knew her cheeks were flaming red. “So about that. I’m not experienced. I’ve only done that once, and it wasn’t great.”
He squeezed her arm. “It’s okay. We can take it slow.”
She stared into his eyes, seeing his honesty shining through. Brady really was a good man. “But what if I want to move fast?”
His body tightened at the thought of both of them naked, their bodies pressed together, heat growing between them. He pushed away the initial thought. She needed to take it slow. Their first time wasn’t going to be while she was exhausted.
“We’ll get to know each other, and when we do finally come together, we’ll make it special.”
Her green eyes stayed on him, and desire rose. He pushed it down, knowing it would be better to stretch this out.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you for telling me.” He leaned in and brushed a gentle kiss over her lips.
He was messy and covered in dust from cleaning up Link’s house. He needed to shower before bed and planned on jacking off in the shower.
When he dropped into bed beside her, she rolled to face him and put her hand on his arm.
Sparks slid down his spine. The last time he’d had someone hold on to him as he slept had been on the side of a cliff with Keel.
They’d both held onto each other, making sure they didn’t roll and drop to the valley below.
This was much nicer, and it got his heart moving.
He smiled to himself as she sighed. Her breath evened out as she drifted off to sleep. She still had her hand on his arm. There was no way he would move.
He woke with her hand still on him. Warmth spread through him, and pleasure vibrated along his nerves.
He glanced down, seeing the sheets pitched up.
He didn’t want Garnet to think she couldn’t sleep with him, or he’d wake with a hard dick, so he slipped from the bed and headed to the bathroom.
No question, living with Garnet was worth it, but he had to get control of his libido.
When Garnet came out of the bedroom, he was just finishing his breakfast. Her smile warmed him. She walked over and took his mug from his hand before leaning in and kissing him. Her gentle fingers on his neck were driving him crazy.
“Good morning,” she said before heading over to grab coffee.
“Good morning. I hope you slept well.”
“I did. How about you?”
“It was good knowing you were safe and that no one was after you.”
She let go of a heavy sigh. “It does feel good. I’m not looking forward to heading to DC.”
He nodded. “Do you want me to go with you?”
She shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine.”
His phone buzzed. “Ugh, I have to go.”
She moved to him and kissed him again. “I’ll see you this evening. I’ll set up my travel today and send you the information.”
He nodded. “Thank you.”
Before leaving, he pulled her close and gently brushed his lips over hers, wishing they could spend all day together. Soon enough, it would be the weekend, and then they could really get to know each other.
Spending time with Garnet was something he looked forward to. He’d never lived with a woman, but living with Garnet was easy. As their relationship grew, he knew it would only get better.