“Nope, you decided to wait.” Stefanie lifted an eyebrow. “And apparently, you changed your mind. I may have been hoping that would be the case.”
He laughed and kissed her again. “Well, after the look you gave me, you can hardly blame me. We haven’t been together as long as Cam and Quinn, but it looks like I can read your mind just as well.”
Stefanie bit her lip and her brain decided it was time to contemplate literally everything. It was a wonder her mind didn’t make the same noise as her laptop when it overheated. “Oh no.” She closed her eyes. “Probably not the best time to ask, but are we…together?”
Joey ran a hand down her back. “I guess we didn’t talk about it. I made assumptions. I…I haven’t done this in a long time. I’m not good at this.”
Stefanie nuzzled Joey’s neck. “I beg to differ.” She looked into his eyes. “I don’t date a lot either. It’s just that the guys I’ve dated lately always say something like, ‘I’m not interested in labels.’”
Joey chuckled. “Sounds like they’re only interested in bullshitting you.”
“Ah, if only I’d cracked the code as quickly as you did.”
“Yeah, I guess I wasn’t ever a casual guy. Even…before I consider someone my girlfriend, I keep it exclusive. It doesn’t feel honest any other way.”
Stefanie sighed and pressed her forehead against his. “I like you. And I want you to be sure about the girlfriend offer. So, I’m going to stop things before they get out of hand, even though I’d really rather not.”
Joey blew out a breath and smoothed back her hair. “You’re right. I owe it to you to see this through, then start asking you to be my girl, not the other way around. I just keep forgetting.”
“Ugh, being responsible is the worst.” Stefanie sighed ruefully, a smile hiding behind her eyes.
Joey rose and offered his hand. “I know what you mean. But you need some sleep. If your customers drop off their box as planned, we both need to be rested. Something tells me we’ll be dealing with something that none of us have thought of.”
24
After a rather strange evening, it was even stranger to walk into work on Friday as if Stefanie hadn’t spent the previous evening collaborating with the CIA. And getting more involved with the CIA officer assigned to protect her. She smiled at that, even though she probably shouldn’t. While they both had to keep walking it back, she couldn’t quite regret whatever was happening between her and Joey.
Stefanie put her purse on her desk and walked straight to the lab. Their customers agreed to provide their equipment sometime in the late afternoon and only time would tell if they would actually do it. Later in the morning, Joey told her that Alexis nosed around the hotel but heard nothing. The trio was a well-traveled group of consultants. They were polished and careful not to talk about confidential matters in public areas. They had joked about not having to drop this one in the Arctic and that their colleagues would make fun of them for working in such a nice place as California. There were the typical surprised comments about how cold the Bay Area was. San Francisco businesses sold a surprising number of sweatshirts to unprepared tourists. But unfortunately, nothing about a rogue Russian politician or the American Navy. The package they were asking about at the front desk was scheduled to arrive in the afternoon, just before they’d promised it to the OEG. Which gave them almost no time to tamper with it.
Despite Joey’s platitudes that they might learn something, even if the three men weren’t doing Dmitri’s dirty work, Stefanie was already getting impatient to see results. Normally, her sense of urgency was a benefit in her line of work, but today it was a liability. Cam orchestrated a call from Nash’s brother as well as an unexpected leave for the weekend. He would be coming ashore Friday afternoon and staying all the way through Sunday. Nash ran his hand through his hair while they talked and even put his brother on mute to ask if it was okay if he wasn’t close by. Joey assured him he had everything under control. His brother, too, must have made a convincing case. Nash left reluctantly and only after he’d been reassured several times by both Joey and Stefanie that it was okay for him to leave.
It was nearly the end of the day when Tony arrived, hand-delivering a huge, still-sealed box to the front desk with the help of a dolly. Tony didn’t linger, merely exchanging a few polite words with Peggy before leaving. Thanks to some security cameras the CIA had planted, Joey just happened to be stopping by Peggy’s desk before Peggy had a chance to even call Stefanie or open the box. Nash had left for the weekend and Cole was nowhere to be found. The bug scanner in Joey’s pocket would let him know by the time he hauled the box to the back offices if it contained any listening devices. However, Stefanie’s scientific brain had no trouble coming up with a long list of dangerous things Joey’s scanner couldn’t detect.
Stefanie shut the door behind him and led him to the lab. They brought the box past their demo device and to the back of the lab, where Alexis and Waffle were waiting near an empty lab bench, thanks to a back door. Waffle sniffed the box and merely wagged his tail. Joey shook his head. “Bug scanner didn’t go off either. For
