Page 18 of Shadow

She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t mock me, Ripley.”

“Baby girl, I would never. I’ve always admired your long-term plans. And I’ve always had faith that you would follow through with them. Now, why don’t you show me around this place?”

“You didn’t get a tour the other night?”

Ripley shook his head. “Not really. Peter gave me a quick one of the main space, then I showered in Gage’s office and had a drink with Carrie before she tossed me her keys and told me to go see you. Good thing, too.”

“Oh stop. I would have been fine even if you hadn’t shown up.”

He tucked a hand beneath her chin and glared. “You were running back into a burning building. You ought to have a belt taken to your ass.”

She cursed her body for reacting. But she willed herself not to let him know he had an effect on her. “Do you want that tour or not?”

She stood to get away from his touch and drained the rest of her drink.

He set his half empty glass on the bar and held out his arm. Olivia held up a hand indicating he should wait, when she saw that Darci and Carrie were sitting on the couch between Bradley and Peter, their playtime clearly over.

“Excuse me for a minute. I need to say hello to someone.”

Crossing the room, she waved at the foursome as she approached.

“Olivia,” Darci squealed and moved to get up. Bradley stood and helped her.

“There you go, pet. Be careful.”

Darci rolled her eyes. “I’m going to scream if I have to hear be careful one more time. I had a baby, not a major injury. The doctor told you I’m healing just fine.”

Bradley smacked her ass. “Behave.”

Darci grinned and held her arms out to hug Olivia. “It’s so good to see you, gorgeous.”

Olivia hugged her tight and kissed her cheek. “You too. Congratulations on the little one. I can’t wait to meet him.”

Darci grinned. “I can’t wait either. Come over to the house sometime. You haven’t seen the new place yet.”

Carrie stood too and hugged Ripley. “Told you she’d come around,” Olivia heard her say.

She tried not to roll her eyes. There was no point in making a scene. If people wanted to think she was taking him back, let them. She knew the truth, and Ripley would figure it out soon enough.

“I was just giving Cannon a tour,” she said to Darci. Behind her, Ripley cleared his throat. OK, so using his first name was a dick move. Especially in this environment where he’d asked her not to. Protecting identities was a core principle at Exposure, despite the contradictory name of the place.

“Sorry,” she muttered when she turned to find him glaring.

“I’ll let you two get back to it then, before Bradley has a coronary that I’m standing for too long.”

Olivia grinned. “A bit overprotective, is he?”

“He was a bit overprotective when we first started dating. This is next level. And you should see him with the baby.”

Bradley cleared his throat. “I’m right here, pet.”

Darci turned and shrugged. “It’s true. You tried to make me go on maternity leave four months before the baby was born.”

Olivia kissed Darci’s cheek again. “I’ll see you again before I take off, babe. I’m happy for you.”

She turned to Ripley, and this time took the arm he offered. “You already saw the bar and main dungeon. If you go down the same hall where Gage’s office is, you’ll find the other rooms. We don’t have private rooms exactly, but if someone wants a little privacy, we don’t mind if they close the door as long as they tell someone what they’re doing.”

Ripley smiled down at her. “From what I hear, you haven’t been back in six months and yet you still say we.”

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