Chapter 202: Caught Making Out

Ten minutes later, I pushed open the diner door and stepped back out into the chilly sea fog. Across the street, the truck was waiting, its low exhaust humming softly in the quiet dark.

​I opened the passenger door and climbed in. Reid instantly turned to face me, his grey eyes searching my face for any sign of distress.

​"How did it go?" Reid asked, his voice low and tight with anticipation.

​I pulled the encrypted flash drive from my pocket, holding it up in the faint glow of the dashboard lights before looking over at him.

​"She found the records," I rasped softly, a quiet, dangerous confidence returning to my voice. "The cover story is real, Reid. It’s bulletproof."

​Reid stared at the drive, a long, heavy wave of relief visibly washing over his broad shoulders. He reached out, his large hand cupping the back of my neck and pulling me forward until our foreheads pressed together in the quiet cabin of the truck.

​"I told you, Cap," Reid whispered, his thumb lightly stroking my skin as his warm pine scent filled the air. "It’s all going to be fine."

"Yeah," ​I closed my eyes, leaning into his strength, letting the warm, familiar pine scent wash over me.

The hum of the engine beneath us buzzed softly in the dark cabin, but as the quiet stretched between us, the relief suddenly felt a little too thick, a little too heavy.

I opened my eyes, looking at Reid in the dim dashboard light. He was staring at me with that same intense, fierce devotion—his thumb tracing slow, grounding circles against the back of my neck.

Before I could say anything, Reid slid his hand into my hair, cupping the base of my skull, and pulled me in.

His lips met mine in a kiss that was nowhere near hesitant. It started deep and heavy, a sudden release of all the suffocating pressure we’d been carrying around for days.

I let out a soft breath against his mouth, my hands instantly coming up to grip the front of his jacket, pulling him closer across the center console.

Reid growled softly in his throat, shifting his weight. His broad frame crowded over me, his heat pressing in until the tight space of the truck cabin felt entirely too small.

The air inside turned hot and thick, his pine scent spiking sharp and sweet as my orchids also flared, my fingers tangled desperately into his hair.

I pulled him down harder, my body completely ignoring the dull ache in my core, craving the overwhelming, solid weight of him. His other hand slid under my jacket, his broad palm pressing hot against the small of my back, lifting me slightly into the kiss as his mouth demanded more—

BANG. BANG. BANG.

A violent knock nearly shattered the glass right beside my head.

We both violently flinched. Reid snapped back so fast his head nearly hit the roof of the truck, his grey eyes blown wide as he instinctively threw a broad arm across my chest to shield me.

My heart slammed into my ribs like a freight train, my breath catching in my throat as I whipped around toward the driver’s side window.

Marina was standing in the sea fog outside, her leather jacket zipped up to her chin, glaring through the glass with a look of absolute, unadulterated annoyance.

Reid exhaled a jagged, embarrassed breath, rubbing a hand over his face before rolling down the window an inch. "Marina—"

"You left this," Marina cut in coldly, reaching through the opening and unceremoniously slapping a foil-wrapped Tupperware container directly onto Reid’s broad chest.

I blinked, staring at the container. "What is that?"

"Brownies. Jennifer made them for you," Marina said, her voice dripping with dry exhaustion as she looked past Reid to lock eyes with me. "She spent two hours making sure they were low-sugar so they wouldn’t mess with your athlete diet, and you almost drove off without them."

"Oh," I rasped, my face burning as I tried to pull my jacket back into place and adjust my collar. "Thanks."

Marina shifted her sharp gaze back onto Reid. She leaned down slightly, her dark eyes narrowing into a lethal glare that could have bored a hole right through his skull.

"And for God’s sake, McCoy," she snapped, her voice dropping into a sharp, protective hiss. "If you two are going to make out in a dark alleyway like teenagers, at least pick a location that isn’t surrounded by three of my surveillance cameras and half the dockside cartel. I don’t need my brother getting photographed on a black-market feed before his next game."

Reid’s ears flushed a dark, furious red, his jaw tightening as he cleared his throat. "Duly noted."

"Good. Go home, eat your brownies, and go to sleep," Marina ordered, tapping her knuckles twice against the truck door before turning on her heel and disappearing back into the fog.

The silence that settled over the car was absolute.

I looked down at the Tupperware sitting in Reid’s lap, then over at Reid’s bright red ears and stunned expression.

A sudden, breathless laugh cracked out of my chest, and I couldn’t stop it—I buried my face in my hands, my shoulders shaking as the sheer absurdity of the moment washed away every last drop of tension.

Reid stared down at the foil-wrapped container in his lap for a long, mortified beat before letting out a heavy, dragging breath through his nose.

"Your sister is terrifying," Reid grunted, though the faint twitch at the corner of his mouth betrayed him as he tossed the Tupperware onto the back seat.

"She’s an elder sister who runs gray-market networks, Reid," I chuckled, wiping a lingering tear from the corner of my eye as my breathing finally leveled out. "You’re lucky she just gave you brownies and a warning instead of a bullet."

Reid started the engine, shifting the truck into drive and pulling out of the shadowed alleyway. "Next time, lets not make out in her territory."

"Agreed," I murmured, leaning my head back against the leather headrest as the foggy docklands faded into the rearview mirror.

The drive back was quiet, but the heavy, suffocating weight that had been hanging over us all week was finally gone. When we got back to the apartment, Reid made sure I ate two of Jennifer’s low-sugar brownies before forcing me straight into bed. He climbed in beside me, pulling the heavy comforter up to our shoulders and wrapping his broad arm around my waist, his palm resting warm and steady flat against my stomach.

Thankfully, sleep came fast and effortless.