Page 21

“I’m treating it like it could be more. It might end up being a quick fling, but I like him. I mean, Will, not Lord Byron. Also, I already know Davy, since he and Matty are friends.”

“You’re seeing him again tonight?”

I stared at them, wondering how they knew, and Nathan said, “His security team has to plan for his outings. Will’s usually good about giving them a heads-up and rarely asks to go on spontaneous trips.”

“Do you know where he’s taking me?”

“Governor’s Mansion.”

“But you can’t…” I stopped talking. They only serve dinner for guests of the B&B, but I was guessing Will could get reservations regardless. “Okay. Thanks.”

Nathan grinned. “I’m happy for you, and I hope it works out, but we need to have some communication before big events. If Mac, Ranger, or Panda sees a potential problem, they’ll talk to you about it. You open to that?”

I nodded. “Absolutely. I know I’m ultimately responsible for myself, but it’s a bit of a relief knowing they’ll keep an eye out as well.”

“You’re a valued employee,” Aaron said. “You’ve easily fit into all the teams you’ve worked with, enough that so many of them request you, we frequently have to disappoint them because you can’t be two places at once.”

“Tonight,” Nathan said, “you can verify to Will and Davy that you work for us in reality, but for security reasons, on paper you work for another lab. Let’s not give further details just yet. We’ll talk in three to six months, and if things are still working out, you can tell us what you’d like to share, and we’ll discuss what you can tell them of those things.”

“The process to get clearance is complicated,” Aaron said. “So don’t make promises about when you’ll be able to tell them.”

I nodded. “Thanks, guys. You’re being more than fair, and I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you before going public with him. At the time, I was mostly just thinking that I’m not in the habit of hiding who I am, I mean, minus the whole bear thing, because I have to hide that.”

“Understandable,” Nathan said. “Glad we’re on the same page.”

They left, and I texted Matty.Just some stuff about dating a celebrity and how it might impact my job. Nothing big, and everything’s okay.

Good. Daddy says there’s another note for the control room about a Drake person picking you up?

Will and Davy are coming to pick me up for our date, and I guess his security will be driving us.

And that made me realize I needed a conversation with Will before I figured out what to wear, so I texted him,Just had a visit from my bosses. I need to check in with you on something. Probably needs a phone call.

My phone rang a few seconds later, and I explained the problem.

“Ah. Davy and I will be in disguise tonight, so I guess it’ll work for you to not be in all the glamour you’ll wear with LB, but hopefully more than your work clothes.”

It took me a moment to realizeLBwas Lord Byron. “Yeah. That works. Thanks.”

“Not a problem. I’m looking forward to our date. No need to bring a toothbrush — I keep extra — but you might want a change of clothes for tomorrow, and hopefully a few more days. Bring a bathing suit, too. Maybe we’ll swim.” Before I could comment, he changed the subject. “Do you have a preference on an honorific? Davy would like permission to address you as such from the start.”

“I’m not interested in explaining why over the phone, butSirworks for me.”

“Perfect. I’ll let him know, and I look forward to hearing your reasoning.”

I heard something outside, and headed towards my door to open it. Dozer was standing fifteen yards from the door, and I told Will. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours. I’m looking forward to spending time with you and Davy together.”

We disconnected, and Dozer said, “I stepped away from the door so I could hear you talking without hearing what you were saying. I was going to wait to knock once you were off the phone. Razor wanted someone to put eyeballs on you, to assure him you’re okay.”

I managed to keep from rolling my eyes, but barely. I appreciate how protective the MC can be, but sometimes it’s a bit much. “I’m good. When I went public with Will, I didn’t consider how it might affect my ability to do my job, which means I have to fly under the radar and not be noticed while I’m collecting forensics. There’s a fix, thankfully, but they needed to talk to me about it sooner rather than later.”

“Mostly, Razor just wanted to make sure you weren’t in tears while pretending to be okay so Matty isn’t upset while he’s supposed to be off having fun.”

I sighed. “I mean, it’s a valid concern, but I’m good.” He’s a wolf, which means he could scent whether I was lying or telling the truth. “Tell Daisy I said hi. I didn’t get to talk to her at the afterparty. Did she have fun?”

He smiled. “She did. Possibly as much fun as you, and I believe that’s saying something.” He tilted his head enough I could see the wolf inside the man. “I trust you around her now. I’ve watched you push the bear down plenty of times, and seeing how well you handled the crowds getting backstage… I mean, it’s good Dawg got you a little breathing room, but you were fully in control.”

My home is in the biker’s neighborhood, and before I’d been able to come back, the bikers with human ol’ladies had been clear that I wasn’t to be around their women without at least one brother present. I didn’t blame them — an out-of-control grizzly can do a lot of damage in not a whole lot of time. I’d passed the new Senatus’s brutal testing, but they needed to see my control for themselves. I’d been allowed to ride in the van with the ol’ladies, but Angelica and Harmony had been seated between me and the humans.