Niamh woke me up around four in the morning. Once escaping Fox’s arms, I got ready for my run and set out, navigating the unfamiliar streets of DC. I had run about twenty miles when Niamh’s voice entered my head, “We’re being followed.”
I took in a breath, “Pineapple.”
“Pineapple,” Niamh replied as confirmation.
I stopped and turned, “Maverick Donahue.”
“Amaya Wardwell,” his voice sounded from behind a tree.
“Really Mav? You’re hiding behind a tree?”
He sauntered to where I was standing. “It took you long enough to figure out I was behind you. Seriously, I thought you were a world class killing machine. It shouldn’t have taken you so long.”
“Is that why you’re here? To see if I’m getting slow?”
He chuckled, “No. I just wanted to see you before your meeting at the DOD.”
“Why?” I asked with a furrowed brow.
“It’s about Josie.” He looked down at the ground, “Why won’t she just accept me and let us start our lives together?”
I sighed, “I don’t know. It could be her fear you might try to dictate her life, stop her work at Industries and move her away from her chosen family, or it could be she’s afraid that if she accepts you, you won’t accept her. It’s what almost happened with me and Fox. He couldn’t accept who I am, or at least it took him a long time to come to terms with it.” I looked around and let out another sigh, “I’ll talk to her, but I can’t make any promises. Until then just promise me you’ll be patient with her. She’s been through so much, but she is worth the wait I promise.”
“Of course I’ll wait for her. What else am I supposed to do? Mate with someone who isn’t my fated and feel a little hollow every time I wake up?” He shook his head and looked up at me, “Do you feel whole even though your mating is one sided?” I flinched subconsciously, “sorry. It’s not my place to ask something like that.”
I cleared my throat, “It’s fine. It was the way you phrased it because at its heart, it is a very one sided mating,” we started walking the same path I was running before I stopped, “In almost all ways, I feel whole because he’s with me, but if he wanted to walk away at any moment, the reality is, he could. That isn’t something I allow myself to think about because he has said he’s all in and the very idea of him leaving again is enough to kill me.”
I wiped a tear away that threatened to fall, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I will admit I’m afraid mine and Josie’s might be one sided,” he blew out a breath.
I grabbed his arm, stopping us, “I will talk to Josie. I told her how much help you were the last time I was in town and that she should give you a chance. She at the time agreed, but she might’ve been spooked by the distance. I’m guessing you guys haven’t spent a lot of time together?”
Mav shook his head, “Between my job and the distance, it’s been difficult.”
“Prove to her it’s something that is workable. And if,” I sighed and pressed my lips together, “If it would help and if Josie approves, I can hire you at Storm Industries. How are you at hacking?”
“I’m a fast learner,” he offered, causing me to chuckle softly. “I’ve hacked a little bit, but nothing like what you’re needing I’m sure.”
“It’ll actually be a little while before I need you on the level we need, and we have two other incredible hackers that can teach you. They taught me, and I wasn’t great with computers in the beginning. I might even let you in the field,” I said with a smirk.
“I need a lot of training there as well, so I don’t blame you.”
“You might be pretty useful here in the DC area as well. I don’t enjoy going to meetings all the time, but it’s a necessary evil. You know people here in the DC area though, you already have some contacts of your own, so you might be even more of an asset than I originally thought.” I said almost to myself, thinking through my proposal aloud, “I’ll talk to Jos and make sure she’s okay with it and let you know.”
“I really appreciate it, and if you do hire me you won’t be disappointed, I promise.”
I nodded my head sharply, “I know. I don’t go to such lengths for many people, but knowing you hold a fairly large key to my best friend’s happiness makes it an easy choice; plus I know from your record at the DOD you are a committed and hard worker.”
“Thank you, my queen,” he said, giving me a side hug, “Really. Thank you.”
“Any time Mav. I’ll talk to Josie today after the meeting, if I have time. I have lunch with the Vice Admiral today too, so if I’m not able to right away, know it’s the next thing on my list,” I blurted out with a small chuckle.
He chuckled, “I’ll see you later. Enjoy the rest of your run.”
I ran back to the hotel and found Fox sitting up in the bed on his phone. “I’ll let you know what day we can come down after I talk to her about her work schedule.” He listened for a moment before replying, “Yeah, yeah. Love you too,” he said before disconnecting.
“Who was that?”
“My dad. I was just talking to him about us going down to visit them.”
I smiled, “You remembered.”
He chuckled, “I told you I would.”
He got up from where he was sitting and pushed me gently against the door, kissing me slowly, “I’ll have to check in with Josie and see what’s going on at home and see if I have time off,” I said breaking the kiss, “But right now, I need to shower so I can head to Arlington.”
He sighed, “If you must.”
I smiled, “We’ll have plenty of time later, I promise.”
I showered quickly and dressed before heading for the door. “I love you. Good luck.”
“Thanks babe,” I kissed him quickly, “I love you too.”
My meeting went by quickly and I was able to secure a contract for several more years with the government. Fox was nowhere to be found when I made it back, so I got ready to go to Mark and Linda’s. I wasn’t ready long when Fox made it back to our room with a couple of grocery bags.
“Hey, love. How was your meeting?” He asked after kissing me quickly.
“It was good. I secured a contract for several years, and I was only asked about The Ghost for the first ten minutes of the meeting so that was nice.” He chuckled, “Where did you get off to?”
“Picked up a few things for lunch,” he handed me the bags to look through, “A bottle of scotch for, um, Mark and some chocolates for Linda. Do you think they’ll like them?”
I smiled gently at him, “They’ll love them. Mark is a big lover of scotch and you just happened to get his favorite; same with the chocolates for Linda.” I kissed him slowly. He pulled me closer, trying to deepen the kiss. “Oh no you don’t. We can’t be late.”
He stepped back with a sigh, “You’re right. Let’s go.”
“Let’s take a cab. I need to call Jos,” I said as we headed downstairs. I called Josie while Fox got us a cab.
Author: Kailan Counahan 