Page 98 of Out of the Shadows

Bean shot off an email to cyber about the update she’d written for their background-check program and shifted in her chair. “Gavin, I’m working,” she complained, pushing him away.

Okay, fine. He was peppering kisses along her neck and her complaint was half-hearted at best, but still. It had been a week since the Whitcomb incident, and she’d been splitting her time between the office and home. Her injuries had been relatively minor—bumps, bruises, and a couple of sore ribs—but the less she moved, the better.

“You’re always working,” he grumbled. “I think you need to take a break.”

“Like you don’t work just as much as I do.” Her muttered words turned into a sigh as his tongue did something amazing to the sensitive skin behind her ear. She tilted her head to the side to give him better access and dug her fingers into his hair. “Yeah, but?—”

“No buts,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Take a break with me.”

“Jesus Christ, horndog,” Xander groaned from behindthem. “Can’t you leave the woman alone for five damn minutes?”

Gavin straightened, spinning around with his hands on his hips. “Why the hell are you in this house, Xan?”

Rising, Bean laughed and patted Gavin’s stomach. “I told you that I’m working.” He glared at her, and she laughed harder.

“Sorry, dude,” Xander said. “I have a meeting with your lovely lady, so you’re getting kicked out.”

She shrugged and flashed Gavin her most innocent smile. “It’s true, boss. I’m going to have to kick you out.”

He gave her a thoughtful look. “What’s your meeting about?”

She didn’t bother holding back an eye roll. “It’s aboutyourrequest to look into possible applicants for a new security team.”

He held her gaze for a moment, nodded, and then turned to Xander. “I’ll give you a hundred bucks to reschedule to tomorrow.”

Xander threw his head back and laughed. He stepped toward them with his hand out, fingers wiggling. “Deal.”

Her jaw dropped as Gavin fished out his wallet and slapped a crisp hundred into Xander’s open palm.

“You crazy kids stay out of trouble.” Xander patted Gavin on the shoulder and headed to the front door. “See ya tomorrow, B.”

When the door shut behind him, she turned to Gavin with her arms crossed over her chest. “That was kind of rude, don’t you think?” But it was also kind of funny, though she wouldn’t admit that out loud.

Gavin shrugged. “He’ll get over it. Besides, I wanted to talk with you.”

She scoffed. “Pretty sure your lips on my neck had nothing to do with talking.”

He arched an eyebrow at her, a look of mock indignation on his face. “You’re not the only one capable of multitasking, you know.”

She couldn’t have stopped the grin on her face if she tried, because damn, he was cute.

“Remember how we talked about that forever thing?” he asked.

“Yes, but we agreed that whole shadow thing was a no-go. I mean, I love you, but the hovering is a bit much.” The grin she sent him had him chuckling. However, she wasn’t kidding. The hovering was alot.

“Well, what do you say we move all this”—he motioned to her workstation—“to my place?”

Her heart tripped. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I’d like you to move in with me.” She opened her mouth to speak, but he talked over her. “And the only reason I’m suggesting my place is simply because it’s bigger. I’d be more than happy to move in here, but we’d probably have to build on. Or we could build a new place. I mean?—”

She pressed her finger to his lips. God, this man was too cute. The nervous-talking thing was something that absolutely slayed her.

“However, there’s one thing that’s not making the trip over,” he mumbled against her finger.

She narrowed her eyes.

“This.” He tugged on her sweatshirt. “You’re beautiful and stunning, but this is gross.”

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