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This could have gone down so much differently …
He shook off the ugly thoughts. Any mission could turn into a disaster. It’s how things went in his world. But when you cared about someone. Really cared …
He didn’t know how Bridger and Tai did it. How they stifled the overwhelming worry.
Something to chew on. Another day.
Avery wriggled out of his hold smiled up at him, her eyes soft and tender.
He wiped a chunk of mud off her cheek. “I think I need a vacation.”
“Me, too,” Avery agreed, her lips curving into a playful grin.
Mason raised an eyebrow, his mind flashing back to their first meeting, when she’d told him that she hated vacations, that she’d never really gone on one.
“Seriously?” he asked, his voice filled with mock surprise.
Avery shrugged, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Never had a reason before.”
The ground shifted under his feet, his heart swelling with a fierce, protective love that he’d never felt before. Whatever this woman wanted, whatever she needed, he’d be there to fulfill it. Forever.
Now, if he could only find a way to convince Avery that they had a future ahead of them …
50
The next morningdawned bright and sunny, the kind of jewel-bright autumn day Seattleites treasured. Avery stood in Bridger’s kitchen, her fingers absently shredding a bagel as she watched the team file in, one by one. The sun was barely up, but she’d been awake for hours, her mind churning with thoughts of Mason and the future that she knew could never be.
She told herself it was just the excess adrenaline, the lingering effects of the previous day’s chaos and danger. But deep down, she knew the truth. She dreaded the moment when Mason would walk out of her life, taking with him all the fantasies she’d been spinning in her head.
Because that’s all they were. Fantasies. She wasn’t built for relationships, and from what she could tell, neither was he.
The team looked refreshed, well-rested after a night’s sleep. All except for Mason, who looked like he’d been wrestling with a tractor. His longish, gold-streaked hair was rumpled, and there were dark circles under his eyes.
Avery felt a pang of sympathy, but she pushed it down, focusing instead on the events of the previous day. They’d been at the crime scene for hours, well into the evening, as local law enforcement called in the Bureau.
Javier had been caught speeding away from the scene. He wasn’t even cuffed before he admitted everything, how Ryan had been his mentor for years. “The Ghost,” Javier called him.
A fitting nickname for sure.
Avery had been prepared to be fired on the spot, had even welcomed it in a way. But to her surprise, the district supervisor had commended her for her tenacity, praising her for decimating a counterfeit drug ring, unmasking a rogue agent, and tying him to a string of murders.
“I can’t believe Goshiro was able to maintain his ties to his old gang for all these years.” Supervisor Kantor shook her head. “That’s gonna be one big, black eye for the Bureau.” She winced like she had a terrible case of heartburn.
“After your vacation time is over, I want to see you in my office,” Kantor had told her. “We have a lot to discuss about your future in the Bureau. All of it good.”
But now, as Avery watched Mason avoid her gaze, she felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach.
She turned her attention to Paul, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet, his face alight with excitement.
“I decided I’m gonna go back to school, finish my business degree,” he announced, his voice ringing with pride. “Can’t run my own shop without it.”
Mason’s face softened, his eyes shining with pride as he clapped his brother on the shoulder. “Outstanding.”
Paul blinked, his lips parted as if surprised at Mason’s wholehearted approval.
“Copy that,” Tai added.
Graham grunted. “Smart move, kid.”