Page 28 of Instinct & New Identity

He walked over to me so that he was just on the side of the kitchen island, only two feet away from me, coffee in hand, and replied with a bigger grin, “Yourwhole face lights up when you laugh.Ilike it.”

Was it getting hot in here?Itfelt warmer.Hewas so close, and his eyes were right on me in such an intense way.Iswear he looked like he was about to kiss me, but then he just smirked and walked back over to the sink to set down his coffee cup.

“Hey, the tattoo worked.Nobullet holes,” he said, spinning around for me to do a full body scan of his non-bullet-ridden body.

“I’m pretty sure your bullet-proof vest did more than my cat picture,”Istated, whichIthought should be obvious to him.

“Semantics.”Hebrushed it off. “Imay not have bullet holes, butIdid have a few close calls, andI’mpretty sure this cat gave me some of its nine lives.”

That comment made my stomach drop.Iknew it wasn’t all sunshine and roses overseas, but knowing that he came that close to death made my heart pinch.

He straightened. “Alright, do you feel sufficiently caffeinated to head over to the office, or do you need a few more cups?”

He was teasing me, andIcould tell he sensed my thoughts turning dark, so he was clearly trying to lighten the mood.

“Much better, thank you,”Itold him.

“Good.Weleave in twenty,” he announced as he left the kitchen.

Then it hit me.Onlytwenty minutes?Ineeded to hurry.

Twenty minutes later,Iwas showered and ready to go.Weleft his apartment and walked down the street to the office.Headingto her training shift at the pub,Valwalked with us, though she had to print something off first, so she was coming to the office to use the printer since we hadn’t set ours up yet at the apartment.

Shortly after,Iwas all set up in the office behindRuthie, andValleft to go to the pub.Forthe first time in a while,Ifelt a renewed sense of energy and happiness settle over me, andIrealized this move was a good thing for both of us.

Vince stopped by to check in but left me to work for the most part, as he was busy getting caught up after having been gone for more than a week trying to find me.

People were in and out of the front reception throughout the morning, andIgot to meet two of the other guys who worked there—DaneEndersonandAxelSkarsgård.Ruthieordered us lunch then got me my own badge to access the stairs and elevator ifIneeded it.Everyonewas super nice so far, and it made working in this building very easy.IknewIwould need to find a place to live soon, butVincesaid there was no rush, andIfound myself wanting to take advantage of his hospitality a little longer.

Ellie stopped by too on her way to get her hair done across the street, which reminded meIshould probably get my hair cut soon since my split ends were taking on a life of their own.

“Do you like that place?”Iasked her. “BecauseIdesperately need my hair done too.”

“This will be my first time there, soI’lllet you know,”Ellieresponded cheerfully.

“If not,Igo to a place over onPeachtreeAvenuethat’s nice,”Ruthiesaid, and it occurred to me thatI’dseen that street name.

“Oh, that’s the street on the other side ofVince’splace, yes?”Ivaguely remembered.

“No,”Ruthielaughed. “That’sPeachtreeStreet,” she said, emphasizing the last part of the name.

“Oh.”Ichuckled back. “AtleastIwas close.”

“Yes, well, you’re going to be close a lot.Becausethis city is obsessed with naming their streets after peach trees,”Elliesaid, giggling.

“It’s true,”Ruthieconfirmed. “There’saPeachtreeeverything.There’sPeachtreeAve,Street,Road,Boulevard, not to mentionOldPeachtreeandWestPeachtreeandPeachtreeCreek.Oh, and then there are two suburbs with the name too,PeachtreeCityandPeachtreeCorners.”

My head was spinning from all this.

“Just remember, everywhere you need to go is on a road namedPeachtree, just a different one,”Elliesaid, smiling at me.

“That’s not confusing at all,”Ijoked, butIalso felt slightly terrified of having to find anything while driving in this city.

I spent the next several hours catching up on some client websites, and also browsedRangerShieldSecurity’swebsite to see whatIcould do to help.Vinceand his colleagues had already done so much forValand me,Iwanted to be able to return the favor.ItoldRuthieabout some of my ideas and she loved them.

At the end of the day,Valcame back from her training shift super excited to work again tomorrow, andIwas happy for her.Iwas also really proud of myself for not once askingRuthieto pull up the pub cameras to check on her.

Vince came by shortly after, and we all headed back to his place.Vinceasked about our day, andValwas a chattyCathy, talking the whole way about how much she loved working at the pub and how awesomeTammy, the bartender, was.Ithad been so long sinceIhad seen her this excited and it made me feel even better about taking the chance and moving here.

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