Page 74 of Baby One Last Time
He patted the bed, looking entirely unperturbed for someone who’d received a pretty plausible death threat. Metaphorical death, but still. “I said I resigned. I didn’t say X accepted it. Well, she did, but there were conditions.”
“Conditions.” I sat back down beside him, but kept my arms crossed over my chest.
He glanced there, grinned as if his mind had wandered somewhere inappropriate for a minute, then looked me in the eyes. “She said I could leave, but I couldn’t take you with me. Not without giving you a chance to know what you’d be missing. She’d been kicking around an idea for half a year, inspired by our success when we were a crew.”
“The idea to make the mythical Alpha Team a reality.” I chewed on my lower lip. “I guess our propensity to bump naughty bits blew up those plans.”
“The plan got back on track after we were separated, and X agreed to let me go if I stayed long enough to pick your next crewmate.”
“You picked Mai?”
He nodded. “I told X I’d pick the best person, man or woman, to take my place at your back. It took a while to sift through the new recruits to find her. In the meantime, you started to go rogue, presumably to flip the bird at X. And then...”
“Then Henderson got shot on my watch. You don’t have to say it. He screwed up, too, but then I shut down and...the rest is HR history.” I crawled up beside him and leaned my head on his shoulder. “So you traded your job for mine.”
“As much as I would like to remain that noble in your eyes, that’s not exactly what happened.” He kissed my forehead and I snuggled closer. “X knew I was close to leaving a year ago, before we brought you into HEAT. She says she has you to thank for getting another year out of me.”
I sat up so I could see his face. “Penn mentioned you’d wanted out a while ago. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“Because when you came into the company, I wasn’t in such a hurry to leave.” He squeezed my hand. “But when she split us up, it was excruciating. The promotion, the pay increase, the perks—none of it mattered without you.”
“Wait, I knew about the promotion, and I figured there was a pay increase, but perks?” That chapped my hide. “I lost youandgot diddly-squat.”
“You’re losing the thread here, Cynth.” He sighed but couldn’t hold back his grin. “You got her attention from the minute you came into HEAT, and now she wants you on her elite team. And you did get a twenty percent pay raise a few weeks ago.”
“But you won’t be there.”
“No. I’ll be somewhere better. In your life.” He lowered his voice to a silky whisper. “In your bed. As soon as they let me out of here, in fact.”
“Nowyou’relosing the thread.” I traced his cheekbone with my fingers. “What’s your plan if you’re no longer an agent?”
“My plan was to make my brother’s life hell,” he said. “But he, much to my chagrin, is thrilled to have me work at Bespoke full time. And I won’t be totally out of the agency’s loop. My company will still provide cover jobs for some of the agents.”
“Anyone particular in mind?” I traced my fingers down to the pulse in his throat, which hammered faster at my command.
“I can think of someone I’d like to have under me.” He pulled me closer with a growl. “And over me. And bent over my desk.”
I leaned in for a hot kiss, which was only partially complete when the snick of the curtain sliding open made me jump out of Derek’s bed. Eight people, all of my teammates plus X, let out a cheer.
“Um, excuse me?” Derek’s surgery nurse pushed through the crowd, “I told you all not to come back here.”
“We just wanted to check on Pussycat and Loverboy,” Jensen said.
X glanced at him and arched an eyebrow, but he moved to the other side of Mai to escape her scrutiny. It was only a matter of time before someone slipped up and told her about the recording of Derek and me. Like I said, chatty Cathys. Maybe while he was in surgery, I’d bite the bullet and tell her myself. What was the worst she could do to me? Stupid question. Maybe I’d wait until she left the country and then tell her over the phone.
“It’s time to take you into surgery, Mr. Wilder,” the nurse said. As if on cue, three of her colleagues joined her. “Dr. Bond, would you and your friends...?”
“You heard the lady,” Bond said, shooing the team toward the door. “Wilder, we’ll see you on the other side.”
“Whatever you do,” Jensen called over his shoulder, “do not walk toward the light.”
Alder nudged him hard in the ribs.
“I know that means me, too,” I told the nurse. I blew Derek a kiss and turned to leave.
“Hey blondie,” he called, and I turned back to face him. “Before you go, I want to do that other thing the right way.” His eyes glowed with affection. “I love you, Cynthia Kessler.”
I laid a hand over my belly to calm the butterflies and forced my voice out through my tight throat. “I love you too, Derek Wilder.”
