Page 78 of Reclaimed (Hostage Rescue Team)

She leaned in for another kiss. “Good. Means I got you trained early on.”

He pinched her butt lightly. “I just let you think that.”

Snickering, she snuggled down until her cheek lay against his chest, stroked his ribs. “I love you so much,” she murmured. “Thank you for not giving up on me, and for fighting for us.”

He squeezed her tight, whispered against her hair. “I’d never give up on you. Not if I thought there was even the slightest chance you still loved me.”

She shook her head, adamant. “I never stopped loving you. Not even once.” She was quiet a moment, collecting her thoughts, then leaned back to look up at him. She wanted—needed—to let go of the past and move forward. “Can we just start over again? As of right here and now?”

Adam’s eyes darkened and rolled her beneath him once more. “Doll, we can do anything if we do it together,” he murmured, and sealed that promise with a hungry kiss.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Twelve weeks later

“Don’t be nervous. They’re all great, seriously. You’re gonna love them.”

Sitting in the passenger seat, Summer flashed a smile at Taya and smoothed the folds of her dress down. “It just feels weird, showing up at a baby shower when I don’t even know any of them.”

But she’d meant it when she’d told Taya she planned to make an effort to get to know the team’s significant others. This was her chance to start building a relationship with the other women. Something that was long past overdue.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason she was feeling anxious about coming to the shower. Not that she was going to tell Taya the rest.

Taya waved her concern away with one hand and slowed at the stop sign at the next corner. “Don’t be silly, you’re one of us. After twenty minutes you won’t be nervous anymore. And the guys will be over for the barbecue in a couple hours anyhow, so you’ll have Adam there soon.”

“You’re right.”

“Of course I am,” Taya said with a grin. She pulled up in front of a high-end condo building and parked along the curb. Summer grabbed the flowers and the presents while Taya took a tray of cupcakes from the trunk.

“So, it sounds like a pretty big deal that Bauer and Zoe are having a girl,” she said on the way up in the elevator.

Taya let out a short laugh. “Oh yeah. It’s awesome, big, gruff guy like him being a daddy to a little girl.”

Yeah, that did sound pretty awesome. But from the little she knew of Bauer, she’d bet he would turn into a pile of mush the second that baby was born. Summer predicted that baby would have him firmly wrapped around her little finger within a matter of days after she was born.

She stood back a few steps as Taya rang the doorbell. Muted feminine voices came from inside the condo and a few seconds later the door opened, giving Summer her first sight of Zoe. She caught a glimpse of long, dark hair with a section of shocking pink in the front.

The mother-to-be’s face lit up when she saw Taya standing there. “Hey!” she squealed, reaching out to drag Taya into a hug.

“I love the new hair color,” Taya told her.

“Thanks. I thought I should match the baby girl theme Celida’s got going on in here.”

Those vivid gold eyes, made even more intense by the heavy black eyeliner and shadow, moved to Summer. Zoe gave her a friendly smile that showed off her perfect white teeth, a little diamond stud twinkling at the side of her nose. “And you must be Summer.”

“Yes, hi,” she began, and stepped forward to offer her hand.

Zoe looked at it in disbelief, then up at her. With a scoffing noise she reached out to grab Summer by the shoulders and pull her in for a hug.

Summer hid her surprise and put one hand on Zoe’s back, trying not to put pressure on the sizeable baby bump pressing against her stomach.

“Taya and I are the huggers in this group,” Zoe informed her. “You’ll get used to us.”

Summer smiled, completely disarmed and relieved by the warm welcome. Both Adam and Taya had told her not to worry about meeting the other wives/girlfriends and now Summer understood why.

Zoe released her and eased back, but kept hold of Summer’s shoulders, smiling at her. “It’s so good to finally meet you. And I love the outfit. You look like springtime itself.”

“Thanks.” She’d worn one of her favorite 50s-style dresses that she’d rarely gotten to wear the past couple of years. The strapless dress was made of pale yellow chiffon with pink roses on it. It had a pink satin sash around the waist, the skirt flaring out and ending at her knees. April in Virginia was still on the cool side so she’d worn her favorite bubblegum-pink cardigan with three-quarter length sleeves over top.

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