CHAPTER 20
Once Nick left to brief Rothgar on the details of the safe-house bombing, it didn’t take long for Jane to fall asleep on his bed. Sleeping in Nick’s various beds was apparently her thing. When she opened her eyes, Nick was staring at her from a chair on the other side of the room. She sat straight up. “Mr. Dawes.”
“Considering we just survived a mail bomb together, I think you can start calling me ‘Nick.’”
Jane quickly ran through the events of the day in her mind. I have been calling you that. And I probably shouldn’t. I shouldn’t be calling you “Nick” and I shouldn’t be sticking my tongue down your throat.
He smiled. “Well, it’s an open offer.” He moved over to his desk and fiddled with a pen. “So, I cleared it with Rothgar that you can stay here for a while if you don’t feel safe at my place.”
“I’m not staying here,” Jane said. “Why would I feel unsafe at your place?”
That made him frown. “You’re a very difficult employee. If this were my office on Wall Street, I’d probably have fired you days ago.”
Jane didn’t answer. She did, however, hike an eyebrow.
“Actually, probably not,” he conceded. “You’re very organized. Trustworthy. Unflappable. It’s just the insubordination I have trouble with.”
“The insubordination. You mean, like, the fact that I have a brain, and I’m not afraid to use it.”
Nick just kept smiling at her, and it was like he finally had to look down to clear his thoughts or something. “I just want you to consider this option. It’s one hundred percent safe inside these walls. You weren’t supposed to be affected by this mess of mine. I apologize for the inconvenience.”
Jane raised the other eyebrow. “Inconvenience. Well, if it’s just an inconvenience, I’m definitely not staying in your frat house for no good reason. The bomb went to the post office box with your name on it. Not to your home address and not with my name on it. It has nothing to do with me.”
“This is true, but I find it slightly incredible that you can parse the details like that and be so calm.”
“I know, right? So, well, there we are. In fact, I’ve really got to be going. I told Nana I’d help her out, and I’m way late now. If I don’t get there soon, she’s going to try and do it herself, and that’s just not a good idea.”
“No, no, of course not,” Nick said. He seemed like he had more to say, but Jane just kept going.
“Then, after I put up Nana’s shower curtain,” she went on, “I’m going back to your extremely comfortable apartment and ordering a lobster roll, so I can hold up my end of the bargain and keep your fish alive and then get paid. Which reminds me. Did I thank you for stealing back my money? If not, thanks. Really. That’s very cool.
“Also,” Jane continued, “since I think we’ve established that I really don’t have an issue with the fact that you’re part of a mercenary team—although I do have an issue with the fact that someone’s trying to kill you, but we’ll address that in a minute—I think you should consider hiring me full-time after this all blows over and you’re safe. Rothgar has Missy, and I think you should hire me.”
Nick was staring at her again. In the good way. The way where he was sort of incredulous but also turned on. At least that’s how Jane read it, now that she knew him better.
“Jane,” Nick said softly. “This is not a game. I might die. And I put you in danger today.”
“I know this isn’t a game, Nick. And that’s why I’m going to help make sure that you don’t die.”
“You draw flourishes for a living.” He wasn’t trying to be insulting, just blunt.
“In my spare time,” Jane said, not breaking eye contact. “You push papers in an office building.”
The tip of Nick’s tongue touched the top of his lip as his eyes searched hers. “In my spare time,” he murmured.
“Good with transitions, unfazed by change, good with difficult men,” Jane said.
“Jesus,” he whispered. “You’re fucking game.”
Jane grinned. “You’re going to let me play.”
He shook his head and looked away. “Maybe. We’ll see. I mean, I don’t even know in what context you’d be participating. And if the answer is yes, it’s only because I think you’re already playing. And can we not call it ‘playing’? Helping. You’re helping.” His gaze came back to her. “I wish I hadn’t hired you.”
“That’s not a ringing endorsement,” Jane said. “Anyway, I’ve got to get going. Nana’s probably worried.”
“I’ll give you a lift.”
“It’s not necessary,” Jane said.
“You nearly got blown up bringing me the mail,” Nick said.
Jane shrugged. “Only because I brought the bomb with me.”
“How are you making that sound so normal?” Nick asked, laughing.
Jane cocked her head. “What on earth did I ever say to make you think I was normal? Are you giving me a ride, or what?”
The sound of Nick’s laughter ringing through the halls of the Armory made more than one of his teammates sit up and smile.