River casually leans back in his chair with his chin in his hand. “That’s what I like to hear.”
My eyes glance over the wall of cameras. Eliciting mixed feelings within me, I search for the screens that display my townhouse and the bedroom I’m staying in, but I’m unable to find them. Did he remove them? Is this a small gesture from him to admit wrongdoing?
When I look over at him, I find him already watching me, and it puts a smile on my face. He returns his attention back to his meeting and they spend another few minutes discussing logistics and new proposals.
“And how is the request for the proposal for new FBI recording equipment doing?”
“The marketing team is building the proposal as we speak. It should be on my desk for approval by the end of the week,” the same man states.
“Wonderful. I trust everything will go smoothly, but can you send me a copy before you submit for final check?” Rivers asks. “Also, the TI smart glasses prototype as well.”
“As always with the RFP copy,” another person answers. “And the smart glasses will be sent to you this evening.”
“But we believe this RFP is a shoo-in. We’ve worked with this division of the FBI before, so I’m sure we’ll get picked up,” a feminine voice adds.
“All right, everyone. Unless there is anything else to check in with, I’ve already taken up an hour of your time. I’ll let you all get back to work,”River says, wrapping up the meeting. “Thank you for everything you do.”
A collective round of “goodbyes”can be heard before River ends the call and closes his laptop top.
“You’re up earlier than you typically are, Raven.”
“Once I woke up and noticed you weren’t there I couldn’t fall back asleep.”
River rounds his desk and struts over to the couch. He lowers and extends his arm for me to cuddle into it. “Sorry about that. I forgot I had a board meeting this morning. Most of the time they’re in person, but thankfully this one we decided to hold it virtually.”
I rest my head on his shoulder. “I heard you talking about the lip gloss Taser.”
He chuckles. “Yes, the same one I brought you. Do you still have it?”
“Of course.”
Suddenly, he straightens and turns his body to face me fully. “I want to take you somewhere today.”
I can’t help the smile that breaks, although I don’t know where he’s thinking of taking me. “Really? Where?”
He rubs a hand along my bare thigh, peeking out from the slit in the robe. “My COO’s daughter’s birthday party is this afternoon.”
“And you want me to go with you?”
“Yeah.” He smiles.
My heart flutters with excitement. The thought of being a typical couple with River for an afternoon is extremely tempting and sounds like an absolute dream, but Andrew is still out there and now we’re aware he knows who I am, it changes everything.
“What about Andrew?”
“You’re always safe with me.” River tucks a loose hair behind my ear.
“Yeah, I know.”
“So you’ll go with me?”
I hook an arm around his neck, bringing my forehead to his. “Of course, I’ll go with you.”
He presses a soft, lingering kiss on my skin. “Awesome.”
I pull away and hop off his lap. “Thank goodness I have a closet full of brand new clothes.”
He slaps my ass as I walk out, looking forward to an afternoon of pretending to be a typical couple.
