Two months later…
“Excuse me,” Ally said to the workman, busy putting the final touches on the gold stenciling outside the new offices of Macmillan Security. She smiled and thanked him as he held the massive glass door open for her.
She had to admit, it was nice to see the place buzzing with activity. The official reopening might be in two days, but it looked like everyone was back to their regular routine already.
Not that any of Carter’s team had been idle since the night that Lucas Addams had reduced their old office to rubble. The days immediately afterwards had passed by in a blur of police interrogations and FBI interviews, but Carter had stayed true to his word, and taken full responsibility for all their actions.
Of course, the moment Ally presented all the evidence of why they’d had to run and fight for their lives, they’d set him free. But even though he’d been fully exonerated, it didn’t seem the higher ups in Sacramento were too keen to have him set up shop in their city again. So, Carter had moved his team eighty or so miles down the road to a temporary office in San Francisco until they could fix up a more permanent space in the heart of the Financial District.
Ally smiled as she looked around the lobby. She might not like the commute to come see Carter, but she had to admit, the new place was nice. Modern but not cold.
The city seemed a better fit for him as well, more suited toward his fine tastes.
So, why he’d stuck with her after the fog had cleared, Ally would never figure out.
Ally waved to the receptionist as she approached the desk. “Is he back there, Diane?”
“Of course,” Diane said, with a twinkle in her eye. “And calling me every five minutes to see if you’ve arrived yet.”
“It’s not my fault that I’m late,” Ally said, slowly shaking her head. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to park in this freaking city?”
Diane’s laughter followed Ally as she started down the hallway behind the reception desk.
She poked her head into the offices and cubicles that she passed on her way to Carter’s office. Some people said hello back. Some even smiled back. Some, like Bowie, barely nodded in acknowledgement.
Well, it wasn’t like she was expecting to be greeted with hugs and kisses just because she was the boss’ girlfriend. Though she would have thought that all the work she’d done to topple Fuller, thereby creating the biggest political corruption scandal in half a century and saving the lives of an entire Special Forces team, would have at least counted for a friendly wave.
Dare to dream, Weaver.
A moment later, Ally was stopped short by a pair of slim arms wrapping around her middle.
“Ally,” a voice squealed in her ear.
Charlie.
Ally turned around, and hugged her friend back.
Turned out, there was some love for her in this building, after all.
“I was hoping you would come and see us before we opened up,” Charlie said. “So, what do you think of the new digs?”
Ally smiled. “I like them.”
Charlie tilted her head to the side as her eyes narrowed, “Like them enough to move here?”
Ally laughed. “Have you seen what they charge for rent in this city?”
“Oh, come on,” Charlie said, throwing up her hands in exasperation. “Didn’t they cut you a huge check when you signed that book deal?”
An amused chuckle bubbled from Ally’s lips. She shook her head. “Sadly, huge isn’t the adjective I would use to describe it. Besides, I’m still writing the book. It won’t come out for months.”
“You know,” Charlie said, giving her a sideways glance. “You could always move in with the Captain until it hits the shelves.”
Ally threw her hands in the air. “I’m not discussing that.” She slowly started backing down the hall.
“It’s just a suggestion,” Charlie tried.
Ally turned around and sped her steps toward Carter’s office. “Not talking about it,” she called out.
“Just saying,” the voice followed her.
Ally threw open Carter’s door, happy to hide behind something. Carter looked up from the work in front of him on his desk as she slipped inside.
“What does Charlie want now?” he asked.
“To know when I’m going to move in with you.”
Carter put the tablet in his hand down on his desk and stood up. “That makes two of us, then.”
Ally crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I already told you. When you agree to have Thanksgiving dinner with my parents.”
Carter rolled his eyes. “Your mother hates me.”
“That’s not true,” Ally said. She shrugged her shoulders when Carter shot her a look. “It’s not totally true. She just blames you for the death of her precious porcelain figurines.”
“She should be thanking me for the life of her precious daughter instead.”
Ally waved his words aside. There was no way she was ever going to get her mother and Carter to see eye to eye. Their first meeting had been a disaster.
“My dad likes you,” she tried.
“Smart man,” he said.
“And my sisters want to know when you’re going to bring some of your friends over,” Ally said with a wicked smile.
Carter smiled as he slowly walked over to her. He wrapped his hand around hers as his eyes locked with hers. “You know I can’t in good conscience let any of my men walk into such a dangerous situation.”
Ally laughed. She lifted herself up on tiptoes and laid a kiss on his cheek.
“That’s all right,” she said, giving him a wink. “I still love you.”
The tender look in his eyes intensified as he looked down at her. Ally knew that look well. More than that, she knew how it usually ended—with their clothes strewn around the room and contented sighs.
Ally wasn’t sure that was the best way to christen his new office…at least not while there was a whole floor of people that could walk in at any minute.
She stepped around him and headed to the window. The view looked over the city and the bay. It was gorgeous in the sunlight. She could only imagine how stunning it would be at night.
Carter stepped up behind her and ran his hands up her arms.
“So what do you think?” he asked.
“I think it’s very high up,” she said.
“Twenty-three floors,” he said.
Ally let out a long whistle. “There’s no way we’d survive that drop.”
“That’s why I stowed parachutes under my desk.”
Ally let out a giggle, but turned her head when he didn’t laugh back. Carter’s expression was flat.
“Wait, you’re joking, right?” she asked.
“Come on,” he said, turning away. “I’ll take you out to North Beach for lunch.”
“No, seriously,” Ally tried again. “Tell me you’re joking.”
Carter shrugged, but a mischievous twinkle shone in his eye. “No, really. There’s a lot of good places for lunch there.”
Ally glared at him as the image of gliding down between the skyscrapers to the city streets below floated through her head.
Carter ignored her stare and walked to his desk. He pulled his jacket from his chair. “Then maybe after, we’ll swing by my new place, and I can try to persuade you to make it your place too.”
Ally shot him an amused look. She wasn’t going to lie. She might be holding firm on her decision, but she couldn’t wait to see what tricks Carter was going to pull out to get her to change her mind.
“You’re not giving up on this, are you?” she asked.
He walked over to her and cupped her face between his hands. “Not until my home becomes our home. Not until my bed becomes our bed. Not until your face is the last thing I see when I fall asleep every night, and the first thing that I see when I wake up.”
Ally couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face at his words. It was a tempting thought.
A very tempting thought.
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