Page 54 of Saving You

Roe coughed to cover his laugh and ducked behind his laptop screen when Gray glared his way. Sam had a Glock dismantled in front of her and was cleaning it with the precision of an artist. It was some real Zen shit she had going on. Kane was looking at me with the same confused face as Gray. Baz was quiet, face blank and not looking at all interested in why I was refusing the assignment. He was spending all his energy ignoring Jesse who was taking notes with a pink pencil that had a fuzzy cat on top and pretending not to notice Baz not noticing her. It was a typical staff meeting.

“You say that like I can pull cases out of my ass. If you haven’t noticed, Little Falls isn’t exactly a hot bed of activity for a security company. Although, Ms. Anna did mention to Lily that she thinks someone is stealing her cheese of the month box off her front porch. Is that the kind of exciting case you’re looking for?”

I grimaced, Ms. Anna was a well-known fan of conspiracy theories, thanks to her addiction to mystery novels andAncient Alienson the History channel. She probably already had a list of suspects a mile long that didn’t actually exist.

“I can talk to her,” Roe offered. “I’m taking her class on advanced crochet techniques.”

All of us with the exception of Sam turned his way. “What? It’s great stress relief and does wonders for dexterity.” He wiggled his fingers in a suggestive motion and Sam elbowed him in the ribs without looking up.

Gray released a heavy sigh, “Gage, you know I’m more than happy to give you flexibility on your assignments, as I would for any member on this team, but I’d like the same level of respect from you. Maybe you can start by telling me why you’re refusing out of town placements.”

I uncrossed my arms and rested them on the table, then I crossed them again. Gray and Kane had never treated any of us as if we were beneath them. They made sure to ask our opinions on every aspect of the business even though they were the ones who’d created it. They’d earned my respect and loyalty a thousand times over, the least I could do is be straight with them.

“Mia and Miles are moving in this weekend.”

All noises ceased and then the room exploded. Gray and Kane offered their congratulations followed by some very unwelcome parenting advice about sleep schedules and nipple sizes—something I was pretty sure didn’t apply to me. Sam had stolen Roe’s computer and her head was bent next to Jesse’s as they spoke rapidly about food and decorations for a housewarming party. Both of them ignored me when I tried to intervene and insist that there’d be no party.

By the end of the meeting, I’d decided that I needed to quit my job and go into hiding with Mia and Miles so that none of them could find us. Baz was the only one not on my shit list as he only offered a quiet congratulations and head nod that had now earned him the top spot of my favorite person in the office. Everyone else had lost their damn minds.

When I was recounting the entire scene to Mia later that night, she told me how lucky I was that I had a group of people who cared about me that deeply. Long after she’d fallen asleep, I’d held her close and thought about her words. As usual, Mia was right.

* * *

“It’s so beautiful!I can’t believe you made this!” Mia held up the red and black blanket. She kept rubbing the soft fabric against her cheek and I was resisting the urge to rip it out of her hands and throw it on the ground.

Roe had waltzed in with a giant bag and headed straight for Mia, ignoring me completely. If I didn’t know how deep Roe’s obsession with Sam went, then I’d probably wrap it around his neck and strangle him with it.

“I’ve been working on it for a while now. Red for you, black for him, it’s the perfect combination.” He held his hands in the air and laced his fingers together in a way that had him looking like a tatted-up couples’ counselor. I swear if he started using words like synergy or physicality, I was going to lose it.

“All right, Martha Stewart, let’s put some of these muscles to use,” Sam steered him toward the truck while he thanked her for the compliment.

It was Friday and Gray had declared the office closed in honor of Mia and Miles moving in with me. They’d all shown up to my house as the ass crack of dawn, loud as hell and awaiting instructions. Winnie and Lily had brought coffee from the diner and donuts from the bakery. The house was full of people for the first time since I’d bought it.

When we’d opened the door to see the chaos, Mia had burst into tears, mumbling about how wonderful everyone was. Then I’d threatened them all with death for making my woman cry. Shortly after, Lily took Daisy and Miles to school and the rest of us had driven to Mia’s duplex. It hadn’t taken long to pack up her old place. Most of the furniture was getting donated, anything else we boxed up and drove over to the house to sort through later.

There’d been more tears throughout the day, and even though she’d insisted that they were happy tears, I’d glared at anyone in the room just in case. Kane had joked about her being pregnant and after I punched him in the stomach, I realized that the idea didn’t bother me. Mia full and round with our baby in her belly would be a dream come true.

After packing the last box in the back of my truck, I walked back inside and found her standing next to the big window in the living room and looking out on the small front yard. The exact way she did every night I stood guard over her. I pressed close behind her, circling my arms around her waist and resting my chin on her shoulder. How many times had I longed to be right where I was at this moment, on the other side of the glass with Mia in my arms?

“It’s hard to believe that I’m never going to look out this window and see my stalker again,” she teased with a light pinch to my forearm.

“Don’t worry, angel. Just because you’re moving in doesn’t mean that I’m going to stop stalking you. How do you think Gemma would feel about me installing a few cameras around the shop? Something small like ten or fifteen should be good.”

She laughed, turning in my arms and pulling me down for a kiss. She clearly thought I was joking, which was okay. Gemma probably already had cameras in place anyway, it’d be easier to backdoor into those than install new ones.

She swiped her hands over her cheeks to brush away the remaining tears and took one last look around the empty living room. “I’m ready.”

“You sure? We can stay a little longer if you want to.”

She slid her hand into mine and gave me a dazzling smile. “I’m sure. I don’t want to live in the past. Not when my future is this beautiful.”

41

MIA

“No, that’s table eight, sweetie. Table twelve is over there.” Liz pointed across the room, annoyance clear in her voice as she rubbed circles on her temple with her other hand.

“Ohhhh, right.” Jason winked at us before taking the tray of beers to table ten.

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