Page 45 of Off Limits Daddy

“God, is it New Year’s already?” she said as she looked at her phone.

Was it? Calculating from Christmas, I realized she was right. Today was the last day of the year. Normally, I dressed to the nines and went out, but this year, I had Aiden, so I’d have to come up with something fun for us to do. Perhaps the Internet would have an idea for activities that could have Aiden and me leaving the old and starting the new together.

“Do you have plans?” I asked as I put a coffee pod in the machine and hit the brew button. I was worthless without my coffee in the morning. Luckily, it took only one cup and I was awake and ready to take on the day.

“No.” She sipped her coffee and continued to scroll on her phone.

“If you do… you know, to see your friends?—”

“No.” Her voice was more clipped, telling me she didn’t want me to say more.

I frowned as I picked up my cup from the coffee maker. “You know what they say, all work and no play…”

She arched a brow. “Do you find me dull, Duncan?”

“Not at all.” Jesus, were we going to spiral down into annoyed tension again? “Just trying to be friendly.”

She looked down at her phone. “Sorry.”

What was her deal? Did she have friends? I remembered that she showed up at Brett’s cabin looking for me on Christmas. I’d gotten the message that she worked more than she played, but now I was realizing that I didn’t think she ever played. Even going to the gym, I’m sure, was a part of work to stay fit for the job. No wonder sex with her was so intense. It was the only time she let go.

“Aiden and I will be here. I might organize a little celebration for us. If you’re off, maybe you can join us.”

She smiled, but it looked forced. “Thank you.” She rose from her chair. “I have a meeting with the Organized Crime agents. Maybe we’ll find out who is swimming with the fishes.”

I lifted my cup in salute to her. “Aiden’s fearless warrior.”

This time, her lips twitched upward in a way that told me she liked that. My cool ice queen liked to be thought of as strong. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with that information, but I locked it away just in case.

13

Veronica

Idrove to work that morning chastising myself for once again being snarky to Duncan. I'd made a comment last night about my bringing out the worst in him, and clearly, he brought out the worst in me. Why was that? The guy was kind and thoughtful and funny, and when he was a jerk, he always apologized. I don't know that I'd ever apologized for being a bitch to him. Maybe it was his gentleness, his sweetness that brought out the snark in me. I wasn't used to that sort of authentic kindness in my life. Or maybe I was exactly as I'd accused him of being, overly sensitive. I somehow twisted the things he said to me to mean something unkind when they were actually genuine.

When he asked about New Year's Eve, I was taken by surprise. I hadn't been to a New Year's Eve party since I was in college except for the one time I went to one undercover. He suggested that I might want to go out and be with my friends, but I didn't have any friends. There were people in my life I was friendly with, but I wasn't one of those women who had a gaggleof girlfriends that she went out with on Friday nights to drink margaritas.

When he suggested I could spend New Year's with him and Aiden, my initial reaction was to respond with snark because I thought he was pitying me for not having a life outside of work. But he didn’t know I didn't have friends. He was just trying to be nice. He was just being Duncan.

I walked into the FBI building, a feeling of calm settling over me. I was unsettled and out of sorts with Duncan, but here, I was at home. Here, I knew what I was doing. And here, everyone around me didn't expect anything more than for me to do my job.

I dropped my purse and coat off at my desk and then headed directly toward the area of the office where all the Organized Crime agents worked together.

"Hey there, Veronica."

I nodded my hello to Agent Pinsky, the head of the team. "Did you get my email?"

“I did. I've asked Watson and Gibson to meet with you and me. I don’t know what they have, but they’ll be interested in what you have. I told them to meet us in the conference room."

I followed Agent Pinsky to the conference room. Watson and Gibson were already there, laughing about something.

"Has the kid told you anything yet?" Gibson asked as I sat down at the table.

"Nothing definitive."

"Maybe we should send one of the agents who is a mother."

My hackles rose. “What is that supposed to mean?"

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