Mine

She almost turned around but then she heard footsteps. His footsteps. They thundered except for those instances where he wanted to sneak around. It was an impressive skill.

Arms wrapped around her from behind and his chin rested on her shoulder. The move struck her as so normal it almost freaked her out. She didn’t do dating and ordinary. Just the thought of it made her flinch inside.

But something about Gabe smoothed out the usual rough spots. Things that had her twitching and panicky with other men barely registered. With him, life zipped along in a way she hadn’t experienced before.

She chalked the feeling up to her current place in the world. Nothing stayed certain. She didn’t even know what she could do now and where she should start. She ruled out Montana as her new home base thanks to the snow, but that left a lot of options. Every time she tried to run through them in her head she thought about Gabe and Virginia.

Now she thought about his strong arms and all the things he could do with those fingers. She had to say something or risk dragging him back to bed, and that sure was a tempting idea. “What’s happening today?”

“A plane crash.”

The words sank in and she spun around to face him. “What?”

He rested his hands on her hips and stared down at her. “Not a real one.”

“Okay.” He sounded so serious, as if she thought he might really bring a plane down with them on it. Though there was a tiny part of her that did wonder if he could actually pull that off and have them all walk away safely—not that she intended to find out today. “Well, I guess that’s good news.”

“Andy and I set it up.”

“When?” And why hadn’t they filled her in?

“It was in our list of potential plans. We decided to set it in motion because of the Rick piece and the obvious fact someone you used to work with wants you, at the very least, followed and your movements analyzed.”

“Aren’t you enterprising.” If she’d had more people like Gabe working for her she might not be in this mess. She’d only landed on everyone’s radar this time because of a rogue agent under her watch. She’d raised concerns but no one listened. Then when everyone overreacted by trying to neutralize the rest of her team, she stepped in. Thanks to that she didn’t have a career or a clue as to how to lead the rest of her life.

“He’ll have footage and reports. Photos of a plane and, I’m afraid, your body. Well, one he produces.”

“But not a real person.” She sure hoped that was true.

“That’s up to him.” Gabe shrugged. “Either way, it will look legitimate to most people and provide cover.”

“This is to throw the CIA off?” Because she couldn’t imagine that. A good forensics team would see through the ruse, and it would take weeks of pla

“They’ll figure out it’s fake. The point is to show them you have every intention of disappearing. Of not being Natalie, one of their star agents, anymore. Apparently Bast has been doing a lot of yelling. This venture will support his claims about you.”

It was the right answer, but it chilled her insides. The idea of pretending to plunge to her death and doing it so she could walk away into . . . what? That’s where she kept getting tripped up. All of this, the hiding, the bodyguard, the players, the negotiation, all of it led to a place where she could have a new life.

The amount of work that went into the setup and execution awed and humbled her. She couldn’t even figure out a way to express her gratitude now that she’d stopped feeling so sorry for herself for being thrust into this situation. But what now? No one seemed to be able to answer that question. Not even her.

Gabe rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “What are you thinking about?”

“The future.” Which wasn’t a lie, except for the fact that she didn’t really have one.

He gave her forearms a squeeze before dropping his hands to his sides. “Let’s concentrate on today.”

An idea popped into her head. A view of the bigger picture and the consequences he kept ignoring. “Some of the people who hired Rick are going to be ticked off that you’re doing this.”

“I’ve decided that crowd is never happy. They don’t want you at your desk. Don’t want you away from it. Want you dead then alive. No, dead.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s exhausting.”

She couldn’t miss the humor in his voice, and it helped. He wasn’t making fun of her, but he tried to take some of the pressure off the situation. That she understood. The faking of her death she liked a little less. She’d lost her family long ago and didn’t collect friends, but there were other people invested in her life, including the people who insisted she be protected right now like Bast and Elijah and a few others.

“Is this like witness protection and—”

“Anyone you want to know you’re alive, will.” He cupped her cheek in his palm in a gesture so reassuring she almost sighed. “This setup is purely for cover for those in your old office most prone to panic.”

She snorted. Couldn’t help it. “So, most of them.”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you.” The words came out softer than she intended but the feeling behind them was heartfelt.

After she’d nearly driven him mad with her stubbor

Before he could say anything to ruin the moment, she rushed to set some emotional ground rules. “And don’t say you’re only here because you’re being paid. I mean, I know that’s true and all.”

“Natalie.”

He stared at her until the heat bore into her and she looked up. “Yes?”

“I am here because I want to be here. You are going to my house in Virginia because I want you there.”

The words washed over her. She turned each one over and around, looking for a hidden meaning, and didn’t find one. He wanted to be with her. Her, little Natalie from the trailer park. Little Natalie who killed her father and couldn’t save her mother.

Emotion clogged her throat. She knew she should say something profound but nothing came to her. Her mind got stuck on the beautiful comments he made. The ones she’d hug close in the future when and if her new life fell apart.

She settled for expedient. “Then let’s go crash a plane.”

He held up a finger. “Fake crash.”

“Yeah, let’s definitely do it that way.” She glanced around the tiny bedroom and looked into the family room beyond. “I’m going to miss this place.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

The words finally came to her. Stuttering and a little disjointed, but the idea behind them stuck with her. “Actually yes, since I’m taking the one thing I would miss along with me.”

He nodded. “The shampoo?”

“You.”

•   •   •

Andy didn’t even look up from the file in front of him when Rick walked into his office. He’d insisted on being buzzed in five minutes ago. Andy seriously considered pretending not to be in.

This is why he preferred being in the field. No one just stopped by out there. No one a

Andy kept flipping pages even though he had read through this operation report several times already. “You’re starting to be here a lot.”

Without any introduction or hello Rick dropped into the open chair across from Andy. “My guy was right. They’re together.”