Page 105 of Tell Me Your Desires
“Will you two behave, please?” Anya smiled at Kate as she came around the side of the house. “Hey.”
“Anya.” Kate smiled as she turned her attention to Jaime. “Jaime, it’s good to see you up and about. Hey, Derek.”
“Mew.”
Jaime groaned inwardly. Why did Kate have to be nice? “Kate. What brings you back to Reno?”
There. Jaime had been nice, just as Anya had asked. A friendly tone and a mostly friendly face. She hoped, anyway. Jaime instinctively reached for Anya’s hand as she rested back against the cushions, but it wasn’t to remind Kate of what was happening here. Jaime didn’t need to do anything of the kind.
Kate raised the file she held in her hand. “I have a case I could use some help with.” She turned her attention to Anya. “I thought I could pick your brain.”
“The FBI hasbillionsof dollars of technology that can do things like extract DNA from a fingerprint off a shell casing, but you don’t have email or…I don’t know, Zoom?”
“Jaime.” Anya shot Jaime a warning glance, which was softened by a gentle pat on her thigh. “She’s not wrong, Kate. That tells me there’s more to this visit than a case.”
Kate sighed. “I’ve been tasked with persuading you to come back to work for the FBI.”
Jaime’s fingers froze on top of Derek’s head. Did she just hear that right? After the conversation Jaime and Anya had just had, was Kate about to swoop in and steal her away?
Anya stared up at Kate. “Excuse me?” She shook her head slowly as visions of the last time she was an agent ran through her mind. “If Jaime wasn’t stunned into silence, she’d probablyask why I’deverconsider coming back to an organization that threw me under the bus.”
Jaime pointed at Anya, nodding in agreement.
Anya smiled at Jaime, lifting her hand and kissing the back of it before holding it down. “And I’d say…you alreadyhavea profiler.”
“You’re right, we do,” Kate agreed. “One that could clearly benefit from your expertise. Which is why the Director wants you to teach. At Quantico.”
Fucking great!Jaime closed her eyes, almost certain that her future with Anya had just been obliterated.
The idea rolled around in Anya’s head. Could she see herself as a teacher? Did she have the patience? Her eyes tracked to Jaime. Her demeanor conveyed such a sense of defeat that it broke Anya’s heart.She thinks I’m going to leave her after everything we’ve just talked about.
“Tell the Director that I appreciate the offer, but I love and am committed to my life here in Reno. So, unless the teaching gig is remote, I’ll have to pass.”
Jaime shot up, immediately regretting the decision to move so fast. Fuck, that hurt. “W-what?”
“Could you give us a minute, Kate?” Anya gestured towards the house. “Feel free to make yourself a cup of that tea you love so much.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
“Kate?” Anya cleared her throat as Kate turned back. “Was the case real or just an excuse?”
“It’s real. A cold case that’s been nagging at me for a while. I saw what you did with this one and…” She shrugged and disappeared inside the house, with Derek plopping down off the bed and running after her.
“Traitor!” Jaime called out.
“Don’t feel too bad, you know that’s where the food is. He’s going in there to manipulate her into thinking he’s starving.” Anya gently took Jaime’s chin in her hand and turned her face towards her. “If we’re going to work, you’ll have to stop thinking the worst of me before I even get the chance to show you the best of me.”
A tear rolled down Jaime’s cheek. “I wasn’t thinking the worst of you, babe. I was thinking of what’s best for you.”
“And that would be you.” Anya’s voice was soft, but strong and sincere. “The FBI is my past.Youare my now and hopefully my tomorrow and beyond.”
“Hey, I’m yours until you kick me out of here. But I need you to be sure. Not about me, I think I’m pretty solid on that, but about the job. From what I’ve heard about Kate’s new profiler…” Jaime wrinkled her nose. “Itdoes seem like they could use a good teacher.”
Anya smiled. “I gave my conditions. If they really want me, they’ll meet my demands.”
“I sure as hell did.”
“Are youalwaysthinking about sex with me?” Anya teased, shaking her head.
