“Are you telling me you’renotalways thinking about sex with me?” Jaime narrowed her eyes, laughing when Anya bit her bottom lip and looked away. “Ha! I knew it!”
“Mmhmm. I’m going to go rescue Kate from Derek and take a look at that case she brought. Do you need anything from the kitchen?”
“Um, maybe a snack and juice if it’s not too much?”
Anya leaned in and kissed Jaime. “On it. I’ll send Derek back out to keep you company.”
“Hey, big boy.”Jaime scratched the top of Derek’s head, smiling at the loud purr he gave her in return. “I think your mom reallyisserious about me. What do you think?”
“Meow.”
“Yeah. Which means it’s time for me to move on from the past, just like she did.” Derek turned twice in her lap, then flopped down and rolled over, exposing his belly.Another sign of trust, Jaime thought with a proud smile. “I think I know exactly how to do that, too.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. She was sitting here, having a conversation with a cat. “Is this what your mom does? Just sits here and talks to you like you understand everything she’s saying?”
“Meow.”
“Well, itdoeshelp that you answer.” Jaime laughed. “You know, when she first told me about you, I thought you were some dude. I mean, youarea dude, but you’re better than any dude I’ve ever known. Don’t tell Max I said that, yeah?”
“Mew. Meow.”
Jaime took Derek’s response as a promise that her secret was safe with him. Of course, there would be payment involved in the form of treats, but Jaime would gladly pay that to keep the peace with Max. “You haveno ideahow happy I am that you turned out to be a cat and not some boyfriend or husband.”
“Mew. Meow.”
“Ugh. I know! I can’t picture it either.” Anya and a dude…no, it didn’t fit. “Now, I have this thing coming up. Max and I are getting a couple of silly medals for solving this case.” She bent down to whisper in Derek’s ear. “They’re giving your mom one too, but I don’t think they’ve told her yet.” Jaime cleared herthroat. “So, do you think she would say yes if I asked her to go with me?”
“Why don’t you ask her and see?”
“Jesus, fuck!” Jaime almost threw Derek from her lap, her heart pounding furiously. “You scared the shit out of me!”
“Sorry.”
“That was a private conversation, by the way.” Jaime splayed a hand across her chest. “Shit, babe. You really did terrify me.”
Anya shook with laughter and quickly set down the juice and apples with peanut butter on the small table next to Jaime. “For a detective, you’re very jumpy?”
“Don’t change the subject. You were spying, and youknewyou were going to scare me.” Jaime felt a bit foolish getting caught talking to Derek, though she didn’t know why. Obviously, Anya did the same regularly.
“I wasn’t spying. This is a public space, and I brought you a snack and juice as you asked.”
Jaime peered around Anya and spied the apples with peanut butter.Yummy.“Thanks, babe.” She tugged Anya down for a quick kiss. “Where’s the SAC?”
“You’re welcome,” Anya said, rolling her eyes at Jaime’s nickname for Kate. It was evident that Anya needed to give Jaime a little more time to feel her feelings about Kate before she could move on. “Kate left. There was another reason she made the trek across the country.”
“Oh? It wasn’t just to try and entice you back to Quantico?”
“Nope.” Anya sat next to Jaime and scratched Derek under the chin. “My sweet boy.” She looked up at Jaime. “One of the bodies that was found using Teddy’s videos has been identified. It turns out, she’s a resident of Reno. Kate is here to inform her family.”
“Damn. I was selfishly hoping none of them would be from here. And now I feel like an ass for being…well, a bit of an ass to her.”
“Believe it or not, she understands.”
Jaime sighed. “I don’t know why I’m so grumpy around her.”
“Yes, you do. She betrayed me, and she used to see me naked.” Anya bit her lip as Jaime groaned and threw her arm over her eyes.
“Yeah, I didn’t need to hear that!”
“I’m just saying, those things are hard for a new lover to overlook. But, hey,” she cupped Jaime’s cheek and leaned in for a soft kiss. “You’re theonlyone who gets to see me naked now. And the past is just that. I’ve spent way too much time hiding because of it. I’m ready to step out of the past and live in the now with you. If we keep focusing on what came before, we’ll miss everything waiting for us in the future.”
