His choice of words struck her. Maybe Kane had been right all along and they should work with Gage. She couldn’t imagine Renny would say no. They would change thousands of lives that way—just look at what they’d accomplished with Gage in the few months since they’d combined their skills.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” she said. “Since we started working together, we cured a disease, rescued hundreds of abducted settlers, took down Marius, and toppled an intergalactic mafia.”
Kane chuckled. “Some of it in our sleep.”
“So you’ll consider it?” Gage asked, perking up and glancing all around. “Joining my team?”
“You know I’m in,” Doran said as Solara threaded her arm through his and nodded in agreement. “On one condition,” he added. “I won’t work with Mom. I don’t want anything to do with her.”
“Not a problem,” Gage told his brother. “She spends so much time lobbying for government contracts on Earth that she practically lives there.”
Cassia worked a grain of sand between her fingers and tried to think of a way to broach the topic of Shanna without sounding jealous. “Maybe Kane could travel with us instead of with the third-sector sales team.”
“Oh, with Shanna, you mean?” teased Kane right before he recycled her words about Jordan. “She’s not so bad.”
Cassia probed his upper arm. “Does it hurt here?”
“No. My laser wound’s on the other side. Why?”
She made a fist and slugged him hard.
“Yes!” Solara pumped her arms in the air. “Five minutes! I was right!”
Kane grumbled to himself, rubbing the spot. “I can’t believe I fell for that.”
“Me neither.” Cassia winked. “Want me to kiss it and make it better?”
A spark of mischief lit his gaze as he tapped his bottom lip. “This is where it hurts. Really bad. The pain is excruciating.”
Doran and Solara shared a groan and made for the exit while Gage followed behind, mumbling something about packing supplies.
“I thought they’d never leave,” Kane whispered. He cupped her face in one hand as his eyes turned soft. “I’m sorry you lost the election. Thank you for staying with me.”
Cassia wasn’t sorry. She’d meant what she’d said before—there was no place she’d rather be than inside this grubby tent with him. “Thank you for choosing me.”
“Of course. Was there any doubt?”
Yes, there had been, on the beach before she’d stunned him. The struggle between the drug and his heart had played out so clearly on his features that she’d feared she had lost him forever. But she didn’t want to think about that, so she kissed his forehead and held him close. “You know I love you, right?”
He murmured against her throat, “I love you, too, Cassy,” and his words lit her up inside because the only other time he’d spoken them was under the influence of an inhaler. And that didn’t count.
“Tell me again.”
He did, over and over and over, until the other patients began to stir and she pulled away, not out of embarrassment, but to protect the moment and keep it private.
“So what now?” she said, brushing a thumb over his cheek. She hadn’t thought to ask him whether he still wanted to work for Gage. Kane had spent most of his life following her from one crisis to the next, and she didn’t want that for him anymore.
They were partners now—all in.
He made a show of thinking it over, then suggested, “How about a shower?”
Laughing, she gazed at her best friend, the boy whose shine had warmed her heart for so many years that she’d briefly gone blind to it. Now her eyes were open, and she saw him clearer than ever.
“That sounds like a good place to start.”