Page 79 of S.O.S. Perk

Sloane paused, and he let her regroup. Something was on her mind.

“Knowing that you’d have time off, I asked the director if I could be absent frommyoffice as well. He agreed, as long as I continue my research on the case, remotely.”

“He did?” Perk sat up in bed, blood suddenly pumping through various parts of his body that had been at rest. “You will?”

Sloane laughed, clearly picking up on his excitement. “Yup. I thought maybe…given a bit of time together, we might discover exactly what’s going on between us. I think we deserve that.”

Perk scoffed to himself. He already knewexactlyhow he felt.

He was in love with Sloane. Head-over-heels in love. Nothing she could do or say at this point would sway him from those feelings. But with nearly two weeks at his disposal, he’d be damned eager to convince her she felt the same.

“Did you have something in mind for us?” he asked, trying to slow his racing heart. If she didn’t have plans, he’d make something up on the fly.

“Well, a few years back I did some winter camping as a team-building exercise with my fellow agents. In yurts. There’s this great place in Maine where you can rent them, you know.”

Perk actually laughed. “I wonder if we’re thinking of the same spot?” He named a town just twenty minutes north of where his family lived.

“That’s it,” Sloane confirmed happily. “You’ve been there?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s actually pretty close to where I grew up. Me and my brothers have spent a few summer days fishing nearby.”

There was silence for a moment.

“Sloane?” he asked.

“Umm, would you rather we find a different place?”

She was probably remembering what he’d said about how he and his family interacted in less than a healthy way.

“Nope.” Perk made up his mind on the spot. This was perfect. He’d wanted to introduce Sloane to his family. He just hadn’t known it would be this soon. “We’ll take a few days for ourselves, then I’ll interface with them and see what they’ve got going on for Christmas. They usually want me to come home, but last year I was on a job and I couldn’t make it. That means my mother has been at me for the past few weeks to give her an answer for this year, which up until a few days ago I wasn’t sure about. But now…”

Sloane, when she came back to him, sounded a little shocked. “You want me not only to meet your family, but spend…Christmas with them?”

“Uh, yeah?” He wouldn’t push, but it seemed like a pretty good idea to him. Still, knowing Sloane’s family history, Christmas probably didn’t have warm and fuzzy connotations for her. He’d tread lightly. “But only if you want to. I can make my excuses and we can hide out for the entire two weeks if you’d rather.”

That actually didn’t sound like a bad idea. He and Sloane. Alone in a yurt. A roaring fire. Piles of blankets on a king-sized bed…

Maybe visiting familyshouldbe postponed.

“You know what? We’ll do it.” Sloane surprised him, getting some steel in her voice. “You mentioned how they still see you as a floundering kid?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Then I’m just the person to set them straight. By the time I get through with them,” she warned, and he could almost see her rubbing her hands together in glee, “they’ll have no doubt that you’re a man.”

Perk laugh-groaned. “What are you planning, Sloane?”

“Nothing you need to worry about,” she returned smugly. “Now let me get off the phone and make some yurt reservations.”

“Time frame?” he asked, feeling a little hesitant now. Perk had never been one to rock the boat with his family; letting them have their say over what they thought he should be doing with his life. Normally he bided his time being around them until he could escape to Boston; go back to ignoring their unwavering expectations. Now, however…

“If there’s any availability, we could aim for heading up Saturday,” she suggested.

“Sounds like a plan,” he managed.

This would either go very well or very poorly. But if Sloane was up for the challenge, so was he.

“Great,” she answered. “Now let me get off the phone and see if there’s a yurt with our name on it.”

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