Chapter 22
Alex could not stop smiling at work the next day.
It didn’t matter that someone in accounting had screwed up the billing to one of Gray Tower’s major clients, and she had to make calls to smooth things over.
It didn’t matter that Jack was being a complete grump because he and Kat had finally picked a wedding date, and she had been chattering nonstop about venues, catering, and floral arrangements.
All that mattered was that she had the most amazing night of her life with a man she was beginning to care about a lot.
She had found it quite easy to slip off into a fantasy world when thinking about Nathan.
She had caught herself many times daydreaming about what sex would be like with him.
It got to the point where she wondered whether she could slip into Miles’ private bathroom and relieve the ache between her thighs—something that rarely ever happened.
“Hey!”
Kat’s voice broke Alex from her daydreaming, and she snapped her head up from her paperwork to see her friend walking into Miles’ outer office, an odd expression on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“What’s it going to take for me to make Miles mandate couples therapy for Jack and me? You know, as a part of work…stuff. Because we’re coworkers, and we’re getting married.”
Alex sighed and asked, “What’s he doing now?”
“He’s being an asshole is what he’s doing,” Kat grumbled.
“Well, that’s normal. How is he being an asshole this time?”
“He’s getting moody about the wedding planning. He never wants to talk about it. It’s like he doesn’t care.”
“He’s a guy,” Alex said, shrugging. “He probably wants whatever makes you happy. Besides, I thought we were going to do that together.”
“Yes, and when exactly is that going to happen? We’re doing a December wedding!”
“He’s turning you into a grump as well,” Alex noted. “There’s more to it than wedding planning.”
“Well…” Kat looked around nervously. “Jack’s turning forty next year.”
“So is Gabriel,” Alex reminded her.
“Yeah, I know. It’s just that he’s been complaining about how his neck hurts if he sleeps funny, and he tweaked his knee on a mission a few months ago. It apparently will never be the same again. His words, not mine.”
“Does poor Jacky need to retire?” she teased, smirking.
“No! He’s fine. It’s just that…” Kat trailed off.
“It’s just that what?”
“He mentioned kids. He said he doesn’t want to be too old to care for them.”
Alex blinked. “We’ve never talked about this, but do you want kids? You’ve been so focused on your career that I never thought about you as a mom.”
“I actually do want a family.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“He has it through his head that I don’t want them right now because I’m too young.”
“You’re twenty-seven. How much older do you need to be?”
“Exactly.”
“Have you told him this?”
Sighing, Kat said, “I tried. He’s being difficult.”
“Jack? Difficult? No way.” Alex chuckled.
“Shut up,” Kat grumbled.
“You need to show him you’re ready sooner than later.”
“I know he’ll give me babies whenever I’m ready because he loves me, and that’s what Jack does. He’ll change diapers in his fifties if he thinks that’s what I want, but I want him to understand I’m ready to go now.”
“Like right now?”
“Yes. I was thinking about not taking my next pack of birth control pills.”
“Oh, wow. Then tell him that. He’ll go nuts.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Kat blew out a sigh.
“Great. Good. Fantastic. Let’s change the subject to something not so personal about me and focus on something personal about you. How is Blue Eyes? Are you still seeing him?”
Dang it. Alex was hoping Kat had forgotten about that, but obviously, as her best friend, her dating life was a big deal, especially since Alex had never dated before.
“We’re still seeing each other,” she confirmed.
“Is it serious yet?”
“It’s getting there,” Alex said, and meant it.
Nathan was important to her, and she hoped one day he could come out of the shadows so they could be together permanently.
“Wow! Do I get to know his name yet?”
“No.”
“That’s disappointing.
“Just give it some more time. This is a big thing for me.”
Kat nodded and said, “Sure. I get it.” Then, she stared at Alex and smiled. “You look happy, just so you know. He must be good for you.”
“He is,” Alex agreed.
It was at that point that Miles messaged her to come into his office.
Sighing, she said, “Boss wants me. I’ll talk to you later. Let me know how it goes with Jack.”
“Will do,” Kat said, spinning on her heels and trotting out the door.
Alex grabbed her tablet and let herself into Miles’ office. He gave her a thin smile and gestured for her to sit on a chair by his desk. He looked flustered, and Alex’s heart sank.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Miles told her. “I’m fine. We’ve had another report of a building explosion in Philadelphia.”
That’s where Nathan went, she realized. Don’t panic. Don’t panic.
“What happened?” she asked.
“We’re not sure. The government is being cagey.”
“They’re not asking us to look into it?”
“No, and that’s not the only place that has gone up in flames. There have been spots all over the country, both East Coast and West.”
“That sounds…” She paused, choosing her words carefully. “…scary.”
“Yes. The problem is we were involved in one of those explosions, and we know who was behind it.”
Alex tensed.
Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.
“The rogue super soldier,” she offered.
There was no point in hiding it. Everyone had gone over that mission. The best strategy would be to glean whatever information she could from Miles and let Nathan know. She hated to do it, but his mission was too important. He was too important.
“Yes,” Miles agreed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he or the people he’s working for are behind this.”
“Like a group of Conglomerate killers?” she supplied.
“You could say that.”
“Wouldn’t that be helpful for Gray Tower? They could take out Conglomerate targets without the company getting involved, putting our men and women at risk?”
“Yes and no. I’m all for the proverbial ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend,’ but we don’t know what the end goal is of this group. For all we know, they could stand for something worse, and if we help them by inaction, we could end up digging ourselves into a bigger mess.”
“What do you propose?” Alex asked.
“We’re keeping the same strategy as before: subdue our rogue super soldier and anyone helping. But instead of doing this, if Gray Tower agents run into him, we’re going to search for this guy.”
This was not good. She needed to tell Nathan immediately.
“You don’t agree?”
“Uh, well,” she began hesitantly. “It feels like we’re searching for trouble.”
Miles frowned and said, “I value your opinion, Alex, but we do need to find this soldier and anyone working with him.”
“Okay,” she said softly. “Is there anything else?”
“We’ll have a briefing on it later today. Schedule the list of people I send you and give them a vague reason without disclosing any sensitive information.”
“Absolutely.”
She got up from her seat and began tapping away at the screen of her tablet.
“Oh, and Alex?”
“Yeah?” she asked, spinning around on her heels.
“You’ve seemed…different this morning. Everything okay?”
“Different how?” she asked carefully.
“Happy. You look happy.” She could feel her cheeks growing hot, knowing her cheerfulness was due to Nathan. “You don’t have to share with me, but if there’s something good going on, I’m glad.”
Alex knew she had to give him something.
She told him everything, and this was the first time since she had met him that she was keeping secrets.
Plus, she wanted to tell him the good things that were going on in her life, mainly Nathan.
She had to be careful what she said. He had already broken boundaries.
She didn’t want him trying to figure out who she was seeing so he could run a background check on the guy.
“I’m seeing someone,” she told him.
Alex held her breath, waiting for his response. This would be the first person she’d had an interest in since working for Miles, and it was a big deal.
“You’re seeing someone…” he repeated, blinking owlishly. He furrowed his brows before finally grinning. “It’s about damned time, Alex. Who is he? When do I get to meet him?”
“I’d rather not say…for now. I told Kat the same thing. I don’t want everyone from Gray Tower to run a background check on him or to show up at his work. I really like him. I don’t want to screw this up.”
Miles nodded. “I understand. Will I get to meet him?”
I hope.
Trying to tell as much of the truth as she could, Alex said, “If everything goes well, then yes.”
“Good. I’m happy for you. I can’t begin to tell you how lost I was when my wife and I separated.
Candice keeps me grounded. I’ve always wanted you to find your someone, especially since you’ve expressed to me so many times that you’ve wanted to find a person you could spend the rest of your life with. ”
She had cried to Miles many times about how much her rapist had messed her up, and he had sat there and listened to her stoically, letting her get those emotions out.
“Yeah,” she said softly. “I hope he’s the one.”
And she did. As she left Miles’ office, her thoughts went back to Nathan. He told her he’d be resting today, but when she got home, he’d talk to her about the thing that was bothering him. She hoped it wasn’t too bad, but with the way things were going, maybe it was?
? ? ?
Sucking in a breath, Nathan began the process of putting on his armor.
He couldn’t procrastinate any longer. He was now well rested, sleeping the whole night in Alex’s bed.
When she had gotten up for work, he had too, but he’d quickly gone back to grab a few more hours of sleep.
Then, he ate more food, worked out to get more of his strength back, and showered.
There was nothing left to do but face his rogue AI.