One with You (Crossfire 5)

He nodded and shoved his hands in his pants pockets. “I’m taking your cue.”

I could tell from the set of his jaw that he was firm in his decision. “That’s awesome, Mark. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

We exited on the ground floor and made our way through the security turnstiles.

“Steven and I talked it out,” he went on, as we crossed the gold-veined marble of the Crossfire lobby. “Hiring you was a big step up for me. It was a sign that my career was moving in the right direction.”

“There’s no doubt about that.”

He smiled. “Losing you is another sign—it’s time to move on.”

Mark gestured me through the revolving door first. I felt the heat of the sun before I finished the rotation that ushered me outside. Fall weather couldn’t come quick enough. I was looking forward to the change of seasons. It felt appropriate for there to be some outward shift to match the one happening within me.

My gaze slid over Gideon’s sleek black limousine parked at the curb, and then I turned to face my boss when he joined me on the sidewalk. “Where are we headed?”

Mark gave me an amused glance before he began scouting for an available taxi amid the surging sea of cars. “It’s a surprise.”

I rubbed my hands together. “Yay.”

“Miss Tramell.”

I turned at the sound of my name and found Angus standing beside the limo. Dressed in his usual black suit and traditional chauffeur’s hat, he looked dapper and expensive yet blended in so easily that only a trained observer might suspect his MI6 background.

It always tripped me out to think about his history. It was so James Bond. I’m sure I romanticized it way too much, but I was comforted by the knowledge, too. Gideon was in the best of hands.

“Hey, you,” I greeted Angus, allowing affection to color my voice.

I couldn’t help but feel special gratitude for him. His past with Gideon spanned years and I would never know the whole of it, but I knew he’d been the one support in Gideon’s life after Hugh. And Angus had been the only person from our daily lives who’d witnessed our elopement. The look on his face when he talked to Gideon afterward … the tears that had shined in both of their eyes … There was an unbreakable bond there.

His pale blue eyes sparkled at me as he pulled open the limo door. “Where would you both like to go?”

Mark’s brows shot up. “This is what you left me for? Hell. I can’t compete.”

“You never had to.” I paused before I slid into the back and looked at Angus. “Mark doesn’t want me to know where we’re headed, so I’ll just climb in and try not to eavesdrop.”

Angus tapped the brim of his hat in acknowledgment.

A few minutes later we were on our way.

Mark sat on the bench seat opposite me, taking in the interior. “Whoa. I’ve rented limos before, but they never looked like this.”

“Gideon has great taste.” It didn’t matter what the style was—modern and contemporary like his office or classic and old world like his penthouse—my husband knew how to present his wealth with class.

Looking at me, Mark grinned. “You’re a lucky lady, my friend.”

“I am,” I agreed. “All of this”—I waved my hand—“is amazing, of course. But he’s the catch all by himself. He’s just genuinely a really great guy.”

“I know what it’s like to have one of those.”

“Yes. You sure do. How’s the wedding planning coming along?”

Mark groaned. “Steven’s killing me. Do I want blue or periwinkle? Roses or lilies? Satin or silk? Morning or evening? I tried to tell him that he can do what he wants, I just want him, but he chewed me out. Said I damned well better care because I didn’t have a chance of ever getting married again. All I can say is thank God for that.”

I laughed.

“How about you?” he asked.

“I’m starting to get into it. In this crazy world filled with billions of people, we managed to find each other. As Cary would say, we should celebrate that.”

We talked about first dances and seating arrangements as Angus maneuvered us through the traffic that seemed to always clog Midtown. Looking past Mark out the window, I watched a cab come to a stop at the light beside us. The passenger in the back pinched a phone between her shoulder and ear, lips moving a mile a minute and hands furiously flipping through a notebook. Behind her, on the corner, a hot dog cart vendor did brisk business with a waiting line of five people.

When we finally arrived and I stepped out onto the sidewalk I knew right where we were. “Hey!”

Tucked below street level, the Mexican restaurant was one we’d been to before. And it just so happened to employ a server I was very fond of.

Mark laughed. “You quit so suddenly Shawna didn’t have time to request the day off.”

“Aww, man.” My chest felt tight. It was starting to feel like an ending I wasn’t ready for.

“Come on.” He caught me by the elbow and directed me inside, where I quickly spotted the table that held a party of familiar faces and Mylar balloons that said GREAT JOB and BEST WISHES and CONGRATS.

“Wow.” My eyes burned with a sudden wash of tears.

Megumi and Will sat with Steven at a table set for six. Shawna stood behind her brother’s chair, their bright red hair impossible to miss.

“Eva!” they shouted in chorus, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

“Oh my God,” I breathed, my heart breaking more than a little. I was suddenly filled with sadness and doubt, faced with what I was giving up, even if only in one way. “You guys are so not getting rid of me!”

“Of course not.” Shawna came over and gave me a hug, her slim arms strong and fierce around me. “We’ve got a bachelorette blowout to plan!”

“Woot!” Megumi wrapped me in a hug the second Shawna stepped back.

“Maybe we could skip that tradition,” interjected a warm, deep voice behind me.

Turning in surprise, I faced Gideon. He stood beside Mark with a single, perfect red rose in hand.

Mark flashed a big smile. “He touched base earlier to see if we were doing anything and said he wanted to come.”

I smiled through my tears. I wasn’t losing my friends, and I was gaining so much more. Gideon was always there when I needed him, even before I realized he was the integral piece that was missing.

“I dare you to try their diablo salsa,” I challenged, holding my hand out for my rose.

His lips curved faintly with a subtle smile, the one that did me in every time—and every other woman in the room, too, I couldn’t help but notice. But the look in his eyes, the understanding and support for what I was feeling … That was all mine.

“It’s your party, angel mine.”

4

The two-story house that sprawled along the coastline glowed with golden warmth spilling from every window. Lights embedded in the curving driveway glittered like a bed of stars in the gloaming, while hydrangea bushes the size of small cars burst with petals around the edges of the wide lawn.

“Isn’t it pretty?” Eva asked, her back to me as she knelt on the black leather bench seat and stared out the window.

“Stunning,” I replied, although I was referring to her. She was vibrating with excitement and a childlike delight. I took that in, needing to understand it and the cause. Her happiness was vital to me. It was the wellspring of my own contentment, the weight that balanced my equilibrium and kept me steady.

She glanced over her shoulder at me as Angus slowed the limo to a halt by the front steps. “Are you checking out my butt?”

My gaze dropped to her ass, cupped so perfectly by the shorts she’d changed into after work. “Now that you mention it …”

She plopped down onto the seat with a huff of laughter. “There’s no help for you, you know that?”

“Yes, I knew there was no cure the first time you kissed me.”

“I’m pretty sure you kissed me.”

I held back a smile. “Is that the way it went?”

Her gaze narrowed. “You better be joking. That moment should be seared into your brain.”