Page 133 of No Going Back

Mira followed Kelly out of the kitchen holding a tray of seasoned steak.

“God, these guys sure know how to eat well. Don’t you get fed up with having the barbecues here all the time?”

Kelly glanced over her shoulder smiling. “No. They’re family. And before I moved in with Dex, they were always coming here, dropping by whenever they felt like it. Dex offered to put a stop to it, but I said no. The fact that they want to come here, means a lot. Plus, they always do the cooking and clean up, so it’s a win win for me.”

“Even Tyler? He just drops by, whenever?” Mira placed the tray of meat on the table and the two women faced each other.

“Yeah, even Tyler. Although, I get the feeling we won’t see him as much now.” Kelly grinned. “But you know you’re always welcome here, too. With or without Tyler.”

“Thanks. I’m thinking we need to start having a few girls’ nights out. You, me, Sophie, Diane.”

“Hell yeah, I’m up for that. Haven’t seen Diane in a while, we should definitely arrange something.”

Mira smiled; Dex was walking toward them. She looked around for Tyler but didn’t see him. Dex put his arms around Kelly from behind.

“Hey, gorgeous.”

“Hey, you.”

“Hi, Mira, Tyler’s just chatting with Sam out front. He said to go join them.”

“Really? OK.” She grabbed two beers before walking around to the front porch where she found them sitting on the step chatting.

“Thought you might be thirsty.”

“You thought right,” Sam said. “How are you feeling Mira? We haven't had a chance to chat much lately.”

“Really good. A little twinge here and there, but considering what happened, I think I’m pretty lucky. Well, we were both lucky.” She sat on the step just below Tyler and leaned against his bent legs.

“Yes, we were. I realized I’ve been a little focused on this one here.” He nudged Tyler. “But if you need anything, just ask. We’re all here.”

“I appreciate that, Sam, but I think I’m OK. If that changes, I’ll let you know.” She’d been seeing Claire. But being able to talk to Tyler... That helped more than anything.

“Good. So I’m going to say something to both of you once and once only. I said the same thing to Dex and Kelly.”

Oh, shit. This was about them being together. Mira swallowed self-consciously. This was embarrassing.

“Don’t look so worried, Mira. You know I don’t have any issue with you being together. No different to the other two. However, I’m saying to you what I said to them. It’s not a problem until it becomes one. Professional and personal need to be separate, and you’re both smart enough to understand that. But there may be a time when a call needs to be made that makes the line between professional and personal blurred. I hope it never happens, but if it does, you need to step out and let someone else make the decision. Whether that’s me, Dex, Kelly, Liam, or anyone else on either team. I will never be pissed if you hand over a decision, but I will be pissed if you make the wrong one based only on personal feelings. Are we clear?”

“Clear,” Tyler said immediately.

“Yeah, Sam. We get it. We would never put the teams at risk.”

Sam stood up. “Then that’s my lecture over. I need a burger, you coming?”

“Be right there.” Tyler made no attempt to move.

Sam raised his bottle in a salute before leaving them alone on the front steps.

Mira looked at Tyler to see he was grinning. “What’s so funny? He was being serious.”

“Oh, I know he was. But I bet he never thought he was going to have to give those kind of lectures when he took this job.”

Mira giggled. “I guess not.”

Tyler leaned down and kissed her mouth gently. She placed a hand on the back of his neck, kissing him back. Her body immediately responded. God, it was like flicking a switch. Instantly turned on. When the kiss deepened, she scrambled onto his lap, straddling him. Tyler chuckled.

“Calm down, sweetheart. We’re out in public here with two teams thirty feet away.”

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