She laughed. The sound was a mix of surprise and pleasure. “I eat other people’s cooking once in a while, especially when it’s better than what I can cook myself.”
Considering the way she’d whipped up culinary art out of their meager supplies this morning, and then a mobile lunch for them later in the day, he was figuring there weren’t too many in Seattle who could do better than her. “Not sure if it’ll be better, but I have a nearby place in mind.”
She gave him a smile then, a real one, if small. “I look forward to it.”
He sincerely hoped he could take the shadows from her face. Soon.
*
“Mister Reyes?” Maylin hissed at Gabe as the elevator smoothly rose. “Welcome to you and your wife?”
Maybe she was still groggy from the red-eye flight and a morning driving around DC waiting in the car while Gabe made a few discreet stops, but this was one of those things he could’ve warned her about in advance. Luckily, the concierge thought she’d been surprised by the hotel they were checking into. As opposed to the sudden change in marital status.
Gabe shrugged. “I could have said we were newlyweds, but special occasions stand out too much.”
Maylin struggled to keep her voice somewhat close to calm. “You warned me we’d be arriving in DC under assumed identities. Okay. And you even coached me on my temporary name. I appreciate the instruction. You didn’t tell me we’d be sharing a name.”
“Does it bother you?” He wasn’t mocking her, but he didn’t seem overly concerned either. Mostly, he sounded infuriatingly neutral.
And yes, it did. But not for any logical reason she could think of, so why was she making a fuss about it again?
She’d think about it later.
“And what is a classic suite, anyway? It was nice of them to upgrade us for no charge, but what were our sleeping arrangements going to be in the first place?”
“When I looked into this hotel, the classic suites had a wall partition between the bed and the sitting area where there’s a pull-out sofa. I figured it’d give you a little privacy.” The corner of his mouth tipped up a tiny bit.
She drew in a breath and blew it out slow. Hard to make a thing of it when he was being so considerate.
His arm settled around her shoulders, a solid weight but not too heavy. She froze.
“Easy.” For his part, he didn’t even look down at her, his gaze on the display showing the increasing floor numbers as they rose. “Security camera in the upper corner over there. We’re your normal, cuddly couple.”
There was an edge to the word cuddly. Not the tough guy mocking tone, but more a bitter something. Like he had a bad taste in his mouth when he said it. She didn’t reply, but tucked herself snug against his side.
Leaning into him came naturally, and it was all a part of the pretense, wasn’t it? Absolutely reasonable, and comforting too. From the minute their plane had landed, she’d been a bundle of nerves as she followed him through the airport to the car rental, and even on the drive to the hotel. His solid strength calmed her, settled the jangling anxiety. She could do this.
“Yes, you can.” Gabe’s quiet comment surprised her and she jerked her head up to stare at him. He chuckled. “Is this where you ask if you used your ‘out loud’ voice?”
She blinked. “I’ve never thought to ask quite that way, but yeah, I guess I must’ve babbled.”
“Not really.” He gave her shoulders a squeeze. “It was just a few thoughts under your breath. You’re doing great.”
“Pfft. Sure. I’ve seen TV shows like this. I’m about to try for a graceful exit and trip over my own two feet.” But the idea of him catching her, maybe the two of them falling to the floor... Oy. She’d been watching too many dramas in the kitchen over food prep.
His chuckle was low, sending shivers down her spine. “One of those moments where your skirt flips up and we find out you’re wearing panties with cute bunnies printed across your bum?”
“M-maybe.” Spluttering only made him laugh harder. She pressed on. “You’ve watched anime, haven’t you?”
He dragged his fingers through his short-cropped hair. “Caught. Your scenario would’ve been a classic fan service moment.”
A pause, then he continued, “When you’re overseas you watch anything in your downtime to burn up the hurry up and wait. One of my squadron mates had a hard drive full of those cartoons.”
“Most of those are not kid’s cartoons.” She’d watched quite a bit through school. Still had a few favorites tucked away on her computer.
“Which is why I opted for watching them over a bunch of ponies running around learning about lessons on friendship.”
“Ah.” She nodded. “Well, if we find ourselves in a wait situation, I have other guilty pleasures for us to check out.”
His entire body stilled at her side.
Tā mā de. “I... I meant stuff to watch.”