T
ravis jogged up the porch stairs, keeping on the balls of his feet and avoiding the squeaky board. Bliss wasn’t expecting him home until tomorrow morning. These moments, coming back to the little two-bedroom house they shared, were the best. Second only to the hours of lovemaking that followed. Things weren’t perfect, but they were making the best out of what they had. And it was a hell of a lot more than he’d ever expected.
He disabled the security through his phone app and let himself in the front door. For a second, he stood on the little rug and listened. Music played softly from the spare-room-turned-office, and over that he could hear her humming.
There wasn’t an aspect of his life Bliss hadn’t touched. From redecorating the boring house to his taste in food and music, she’d changed him. For the better. His life wasn’t just work anymore. And though the long hours, days, and sometimes weeks apart sucked, he always got to come home to this.
His home. With his wife.
Travis tiptoed down the short hall and peered into their office. Or more accurately, Bliss’ office. Yeah, he had a desk in the room, but she was the one who worked there five days a week.
She sat bent over his desk, her back to the door, pen in hand, signing—something.
He tapped on the door with his knuckle.
Surprising her only went so far.
There were still nightmares and panic attacks on occasion, but those were fewer and farther between.
Bliss whirled around, mouth open, eyes wide. Her hair was pulled back in a clip, and she wore one of his sweatshirts with leggings and bare feet.
“Travis!”
He grinned and crossed the room in two strides, picking her up for a thorough kiss.
Five days away, forgotten in an instant between her lips.
“What—? You weren’t supposed to be back until—”
“Tomorrow, I know. I decided to hop a commercial flight instead of waiting.” The cost of a one-way flight was nothing in comparison to twelve more hours together. Especially when he was facing a lengthy assignment down in the Keys.
Bliss grinned and he put her down. She kept her gaze on him and pushed the papers behind her.
“What are you up to?” He reached around her and plucked the top sheet off the stack.
“No, just—Travis!” She made a wild grab and only got his forearm.
He wrapped the arm around her and skimmed the letter.
To the governor of Oklahoma.
“What is this?” A chill swept over him.
Was Bliss unhappy? Had he upset her?
She sighed and snagged the letter from between his fingers.
“I didn’t want to show you. I didn’t want to get your hopes up,” she said.
“Why are you asking the governor for a pardon?”
She leaned against his desk and stared up at him.
“It’s the job, isn’t it? You still don’t like it.”
“Its—no. You like what you do. I just—you really want to be a PI.”
He didn’t bother to nod. They’d had this conversation. That career path was closed to him thanks to his felony record, as were so many other options in life.
“I talked to a lawyer. He thinks that there’s plenty of evidence and proof that your conviction could be pardoned. So yeah, I was going to send these today, see what might happen. I’ve got letters to both the governor of Oklahoma and the President. Worst case, they said no, you wouldn’t know, and we keep on making the best of what we have.” She reached for his hand, clasping it between hers. “I just want for you to be happy.”
“Are you happy?”
Above anything else that mattered was Bliss. No, he didn’t want to work for Aegis forever. He’d die doing this job if he stuck it out until he was too old to dodge bullets, and she didn’t deserve that. Truth be told, he’d never considered a way around his conviction. It hadn’t occurred to him, because good things never happened to him.
And then there was Bliss.
She was all the good he’d never had, rolled into one, sexy package.
“Are you mad at me?” She pulled his hand, urging him closer.
He let her pull him between her legs while he paused before answering, rolling her actions around in his head.
“No,” he replied. “Are you happy?”
“Yeah.” Her smile spread slowly across her face. “More now that you’re home.”
He blew out a breath and leaned down to kiss her. She tasted of oranges and tea, which meant they were probably out of food. Oh well, they could order pizza and spend more time in bed anyway.
“Note to self, next time I get a bright idea I don’t want my super sneaky husband to know about, do it right after he leaves. And before I forget, Emma sent over some wedding stuff. They picked a date.”
“Later.”
Travis picked Bliss up, and she wrapped herself around him. There was time to figure out the logistics of a couple trips back to Oklahoma. For now, he needed to show his wife just how good they had it.
Want to know what the rest of the Aegis Group is up to?
Sign up for the New Release Newsletter at
to get inside scoops, short stories about
your favorite characters and free books.