“You’ll email me those photos as soon as you get inside, Lux?” Conor reminded me, his eyes once again serious.
I nodded, pushing the button to call the elevator. “I have to get back before Bash wakes up and flips out because I’m not there.”
“Tell him I said hi,” Fae said, winking at me. “And plan on drinks with Simon tomorrow night. He’ll want the low-down — and so do I.”
I waved before boarding the elevator and heading back upstairs to the man waiting in bed for me. I was nearly giddy at the thought, my huge grin unstoppable as it spread across my cheeks. Just as the elevator reached the top floor, I felt an insistent vibration coming fromthe pocket of Sebastian’s sweatpants — my cellphone. I fished it out as I walked down the hall to Bash’s front door, glancing at the screen just as I came to a stop outside the entrance to his loft. I sighed and slid my finger across the screen to answer the call.
“Hi.”
“Where the hell are you?” His voice was ragged with worry. “I woke up and you were gone.”
“Breathe, Bash.”
“Don’t tell me to breathe. We finally work things out and you fucking vanish in the middle of the night.” I heard his harsh intake of air as he tried to regain calm. “I thought we were past this, Lux.”
“We are!” I protested.
“Then why did I just wake up in my bed alone?”
“I had to meet someone!”
Silence blasted over the line. “What possible reason could you have for meeting anyone at four in the morning?”
“You don’t exactly say ‘no’ to the FBI, Bash.” I rolled my eyes and tried the doorknob — it was locked.
“You’re with the FBI? Why?”
“It’s a long story. Remember Fae’sguy?” I reached up and knocked lightly on the door.
“Yeah.”
“Turns out his name is Agent Conor Gallagher — he’s with the New York field office. Organized Crime.”
“He wants to know what we found atLabyrinth,” he deduced.
“I have to send him the pictures.” I reached up and knocked harder on his front door. “Are you going to answer your door, or not?”
“What?”
“I’m literally standing at your front door freezing my ass off in this damn, uninsulated hallway, waiting for you to open up. I’ve been knocking forthree minutes.”
I heard the sound of his footsteps echoing through both the door and the receiver at my ear. He pulled open the door and stared down at me, surprise etched on his features and not a stitch of clothing covering his chiseled, naked body. I whispered into the phone, a huge smile stretching across my face.
“Took you long enough.”
“Sorry, I was a little distracted between waking up to find my girlfriend missing from my bed in the middle of the damn night and hearing about her clandestine meetings with federal agents.” He grinned down at me so warmly, I decided to ignore his casual use of the g-word, for the moment.
“You about done with your super-spy antics for the night?” he asked.
“Just about,” I said, hanging up my phone.
“Good.” He placed his phone on the small table by the entryway, removed mine from my hand, and tossed it alongside his. Before I could retreat, he bent forward, propped his shoulder against my stomach, and threw me over his back in a fireman’s carry.
“Bash!” I squealed. “What are you doing?”
He kicked the door closed with one bare foot and carried me across the loft to the bed. As we went, he pulled the over-large sweatpants from my legs and tossed them to the floor. I squeaked in protest when I felt cool air against my suddenly exposed backside.
“Bash! Put me down!”