Page 115 of Accidental Theirs

A sob catches in his chest, and he buries his face in my neck.

Shocked at his vulnerability, I rub small circles on his back, murmuring comforts as he cries.

Slowly, he pulls away, wiping at his face.

I climb off him, wanting to give him some space, but he puts a hand on my thigh as if he doesn’t want to lose the connection.

“You really loved someone. I think that’s beautiful, even if it ended.”

Sebastian clears his throat, his cheeks reddening. “Sorry about all that.”

“Don’t you dare apologize. I can’t imagine losing someone like that.”

“I hope you never have to.” He groans, lying down flat on the bed and glaring up at the ceiling. “You can go now and leave me to die.”

I laugh out loud and wiggle under the covers next to him. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily, old man.”

He winces, but he’s grinning as he puts his arms around me.

Sebastian falls asleep before I do, and I can’t help lying there awake in his arms for the longest time.

Poor Sebastian, losing his wife like that.

The way he opened up, though... it’s making me see him in a new light. Maybe hewouldbe a good father.

Maybe... maybe we’d be good together.

Chapter Twenty-Five

DAMIEN

I look downat the log of everyone going in and out of the downstairs records hall, and one number keeps coming up—7608. It’s more than three times a week, sometimes every night, and I can’t think of anyone who would need access to that area that often.

It has to be the leak.

I can’t ask HR who this belongs to because I don’t want to risk asking the wrong person.

Olivia sits across from me in a chair, her legs crossed. She’s wearing a pantsuit instead of a short skirt, thank God. I don’t need any distractions trying to find this leak.

“Did you find something?” There’s excitement in her voice, and I wonder if maybe she’s enjoying us role-playing as Mulder and Scully a bit too much.

“Maybe.” I don’t want to get her hopes up. “There’s a code showing up three to five times a week.”

“For therecordshall? That doesn’t make any sense.” She frowns.

“Exactly. But there are no names attached to the code numbers here, so we’ll have to catch them.”

“A stakeout,” she breathes, standing up with a grin, and I groan under my breath.

“We’re not detectives, Olivia. It’s not a stakeout.”

“Itisa stakeout, just like in the movies!” She claps her hands and bounces around in a circle and you’d think I’d be turned off, find it childish, but it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

Who am I to rain on her parade?

“All right, it’s a stakeout.”

“We’ll have to get greasy food, that’s a staple.”