Page 67 of No Reason to Trust

“I’ll email the list to you.” She tilted her head and held his gaze. “You sure she’s not interested in re-joining the FBI?”

“She’d do it as a last resort,” Jake said, trying to be as honest as possible. “But it wouldn’t be ideal. She’d much rather continue working for Blackhawk Security.”

“I understand,” Diana said. She raised one eyebrow. “And you’re not interested in transferring to the Helena office?”

“Honestly?” Jake cleared his throat. “Not really. I told Livvy I’d do it if I had to, but she knows that’s not what I want.”

“Thank you for being so honest with me,” she said. “And thank Livvy as well. I wondered how sincere she was about getting her job back, and now I know. She would have done a great job, like she did before she left, but it wouldn’t be what she really wanted.”

“No, it wouldn’t be.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Thank you, Diana, for being blunt with both me and Livvy. I’m guessing she’ll go back to Montana after her leave is over and talk to Mel and Dev. Hopefully they can work something out.”

“I hope so, Jake. In the meantime, take a few days off while Livvy’s here. Enjoy yourselves. Figure out what you’re going to do. And when she goes back to Montana to talk to Mel and Dev, you can throw yourself back into your job.”

“You know I will,” Jake said.

“Absolutely.” Diana smiled, then shooed him toward the door. “Now go home and enjoy your time off with Livvy.”

Jake pushed the chair back and stood up. “Thanks, Diana. You don’t have to tell me twice.”

Chapter 25

Jake didn’t text Livvy with any of the details from his meeting with Diana because the situation was too complex to pare down to a couple of paragraphs. He did text her that he’d talked to Diana, and they’d discuss it when he got home tonight.

As he studied his text before he sent it, his gaze kept going back to ‘when I get home tonight.’ That was what he wanted. A home with Livvy. And he knew Livvy wanted that, too. So they’d work together to make that happen. He was willing to do anything, and he knew Livvy was, as well.

Once he’d texted her, he tried to put the situation out of his head and focus on his work. The last thing he wanted was to let his personal life interfere with his job. He’d never done it before, and didn’t want to start now. Although Livvy was in a completely different category than other ‘distractions’. Livvy was his life, and he found himself thinking about her too often during the day. Picturing her in his apartment. Wondering what she was doing. Counting the hours until he’d see her again.

Eventually, he had to shove everythingLivvyout of his mind and focus on his job. But he couldn’t stop himself from checking the time on his phone far too often.

Finally it was five p.m. and he could leave. He gathered together all the papers he didn’t want to leave in his office -- there was still at least one Russian mole in the Bureau -- and headed for the door. Once in his car, he was careful to drive the speed limit. But it felt like forever before he pulled into his parking lot.

Instead of waiting for the elevator, he ran up the three flights of stairs. Unlocked his door and stepped inside. “Livvy?” he called. “You here?”

“In the living room,” she answered, but moments later, she appeared in the hall and threw herself at him. He caught her and buried his face in her hair, then kissed her like he hadn’t seen her in weeks.

When he eased away, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Let’s sit down. I have a lot to tell you.”

He told Livvy that Diana couldn’t hire her temporarily, and Livvy nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t think that would fly. It was worth asking, but I was pretty sure I knew what her answer would be.”

“Yeah. We talked about you being posted here for Blackhawk Security, and she was more positive about that. Not that she would send jobs your way, but she knows a lot of people in D.C. A lot of companies. I got the impression that companies often called her for recommendations about bodyguards. She assured me she’d keep you at the top of the list.”

Livvy drew a deep breath. “Well, that’s something. That will definitely help my pitch to Mel and Dev.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I thought that, too.” He turned to face her and took both her hands in his. “How about I take a vacation day and we fly back to Helena this weekend,” he said. “You can talk to Mel and Dev, and we can spend a long weekend together. I want to save my vacation time to spend with you.”

Livvy nodded slowly. “I don’t want to leave you so soon after finding you,” she said. “But you have a job to do, and so do I. And the sooner I get myself on another assignment, the sooner I’ll have ten days to spend with you in D.C. afterward.”

Jake nodded. “Yeah. Ten days sounds wonderful. Let me call the airline and make reservations.”

* * *

Two days later, when they landed in Helena after a long flight with a connection, they headed for the long-term parking lot and climbed into Livvy’s car. As they drove into Helena, Livvy smiled over at Jake. “I’ll drop you off at the hotel you stayed at last time, then I’ll go to the Blackhawk Security compound. Talk to Mel and Dev and see what I can work out with them. Then I’ll stay with you at the hotel, since technically, my ten days leave isn’t over yet.”

“Sounds great.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her mouth as she started the car.

After Livvy had dropped Jake off in downtown Helena, she drove back to the compound and parked. She tossed her luggage into her apartment, then went in search of Mel. She knocked on her boss’s door, and when Mel called, “Come in,” she stepped into her office.

Mel frowned. “You’re here a lot sooner than I expected. Did things not go well with Jake?”

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