His eyes went gooey at that, making my belly do the same. “I think I can manage that.”
With that, we both hopped up, getting back into our clothes, mine feeling oddly scratchy, maybe because my skin was more sensitive, begging for more contact.
I moved back out into the reception area, powering down my computer, realizing this was the first time since, well, ever, that I was leaving with work on my desk that still needed to be done, with a mini kitchen that still needed to be stocked.
And, quite honestly, I couldn’t have cared less.
Because I was going home with Kai.
I grabbed a note Quin had left me for supplies he needed picked up on my way into work the next day, opening my wallet to tuck it in.
And another note caught my attention.
Kai’s note.
The one with his alarm code on it.
The code that sounded so familiar, but I hadn’t been able to remember why before.
It wasn’t a code.
It was a date.
Exactly thirty-six months and twenty-one days ago.
And I finally knew what that date was…
–
Flashback – 36 months and 21 days before –
He hadn’t known why Quin had called him in. His office wasn’t even fully finished yet, even if business was up and running. He’d been a bit of a late addition, had been hard to track down as he bounced around Europe, staying in hostels with people on pilgrimages to find themselves.
But he must have needed him if he was having him come in.
So he reached for the handle of the door, pulling it open, walking into the reception area – all dark and streamlined everything. Quin had never seemed to shake that military minimalistic thing. He liked things neat and predictable.
Kai wasn’t sure how they were going to get along. No one would ever really accuse him of being something such as neat. He worked better with messes around, seemed to think more clearly when he was rummaging around for a missing file. It was when his best ideas came to him.
But Quin wanted him, so he must have been ready to put up with that. Kai figured he would be fine with it so long as his mess stayed within the confines of his office.
He would make sure it did.
He knew better than to mess up an offer like this, to let down a man like Quin.
Because Quinton Baird was, well, a particular kind of person – severe, very rational, and he expected perfection.
It said something that he wanted him on his team.
The lineup was impressive.
Smith, Finn, Lincoln, and Ranger had all served around the same time, had brushed shoulders, knew each other by skills and reputation.
Miller hadn’t served, but had been in the hard life for a lot longer than any of the rest of the team, had needed to claw her way out of her past, fingernails bloodied and body bruised. It should have made her bitter and mean, but while she was sometimes a bit aloof and blunt, she was relatively stable, funny, easy going.
He had a feeling they would get along well given some time.
So the fact that Quin wanted him to join his team of all of them, it was an honor, a privilege. One that came with a great health plan and a 401k. Which he really didn’t need thanks to the almost laughably large salary he was promised.
After bouncing around for so long, never making any really tight connections with anyone, he thought it would be good to put down some roots, to create some lasting friendships, to do what he did – not just because he was good at it – but because it secured him a safe future.
He was getting a little old for hostels.
Or at least that was how it felt when he was surrounded by kids taking gap years from college to go find themselves.
Besides, he would be around people who were in the lifestyle, who wouldn’t look at him weird when he told them that he, essentially, was a sweet-talking adrenaline junkie for a living.
That wouldn’t be weird to this team of cleaners and middle men and negotiators and babysitters and generals and fixers and ghosts.
The office was silent save for the blowing of the air and the quiet tones of voices toward the end of the hall.
He would know Quin’s voice anywhere.
It sounded like the other voice was a woman.
Not sure if he was supposed to join or not, he hung back at the reception desk, hauling himself up on it, waiting.
The door to Quin’s office opened, bringing the voices out in the main space.
Definitely Quin.
And definitely a woman.
As if to further prove that point, he could hear the steady click of heels on the hard floor as they approached.
The smile he had been ready to give them froze and fell from his face as they emerged from the hall, moved into his line of sight.