White-Hot Hack (Kate and Ian #2)(17)
He put his arm around her and pulled her close. She laid her head on his shoulder and neither of them spoke for a while. He’d asked Kate not to seek out any employment opportunities, especially those designed specifically to help others. If the person who’d doxed him ever found out where they’d gone, it would not be inconceivable that the first place they’d look for her would be the local food pantries or comparable nonprofits. He liked having Kate nearby. He liked hearing her puttering in the kitchen or looking out the window and seeing her splashing in the pool when he was working. He liked taking breaks in the middle of the day to spend time with her.
“You heard what Phillip said. Women make really good social engineers. At least give me a chance.”
There was no way he was going to tell her no, and they both knew it. He’d put her through the worst kind of anguish when he’d faked his death, and then he’d brought her here, to the rolling hills of Virginia, and stuck her in the kitchen. With a woman who craved excitement, it hadn’t been his best move.
“There’s a lot I’d need to teach you first.”
She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him, her expression hopeful. “I’m a fast learner.”
“And I have a few conditions,” he said. “One, I’d rather you didn’t say anything to your family about this, at least not for a while. I hate asking you to keep something from them because I know how close you are, but I’m even more uncomfortable thinking about how they might react to this news, which puts me in a difficult position.”
“Considering the fact that my dad is still… coming to terms with our relationship, I don’t disagree.”
“Two. I insist on paying you the way I would any employee. You’ll be well compensated, and I want you to do whatever you want with the money.”
“I will gladly accept it.”
Her response surprised him; he’d been prepared for her to push back. “Three. I’d like you to keep making those paninis because they’re good and I really like them.”
She bit back a smile. “I would be happy to make you a sandwich anytime you want one.”
“One last thing. You cannot ever drive that fast again.”
“What? No!” She sounded like he’d taken away her favorite toy. “That car handles like a dream. Frankly, I never expected to love it so much, but I do.”
“I’m glad you love the car, but the speeding is nonnegotiable. You mean the world to me, and I can’t have you risking your safety like that. There are other ways to get an adrenaline fix, and if you want to start social engineering, you have to agree to slow down.”
“All right. I will agree to all those conditions, but I’d like to add one of my own. I want you to rejoin the task force.”
He had not seen that coming. “Kate—”
“It’s me, Ian. I’d like to think that I know you about as well as anyone does, hopefully more. Are you really going to look me in the eye and tell me you’re not dying to go back?”
“It doesn’t matter how I feel. I told you I wouldn’t do it.”
“Of course it matters. I understood why you gave up the task force. I thought it was what I wanted too. But you’re not satisfied either.”
“I’m not unsatisfied.”
She leveled a gaze at him, the kind of look that said please do not try to bullshit your wife.
“I don’t love the thought of you working undercover. But you’ve got the same look in your eyes I probably do. You left the task force, but only to put me at ease and prove I meant more to you. I know how much you love it, and I never asked you to give it up.”
He decided he might as well come clean. “I miss it, more than I ever thought I would. I can’t stand being left out. I hate that Charlie’s working so closely with Phillip. I keep thinking of all the things they must be working on, and I wish I was working on them too.”
“Do you know what else I think? I think the reason you didn’t get in touch with Charlie to let him know we’d moved here is because you didn’t want to hear anything about the task force if you couldn’t be a part of it.”
“Can’t get anything by you, can I?”
“I certainly hope not.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“I’m sure. That doesn’t mean I won’t worry, but I love you and that means accepting the things that drive you, even if they scare me. Love requires compromise. Maybe—in our case—it also requires bravery.”
“I think you’re right about that, sweetness.” No one had ever understood what made him tick like she did, and marrying her had truly been the smartest thing he’d ever done.
“So I guess things are about to change.”
“Maybe just a little. You already know what it’s like to be with someone who works on an undercover task force. As for social engineering, I’ll mostly be teaching you how to convince people to give you what you want. Something tells me that’ll be very easy for you.”
She gave him an innocent look, as if she had no idea what he could possibly mean by that, and he wanted to kiss it right off her face.
“There is one thing we might have to change though.” He grabbed a lock of her hair and slid it through his fingers, imagining what she’d look like and wondering if she’d agree.