And she was pregnant with Gavin’s child.
She’d complete the work, of that she had no doubt. But there was no way she’d complete it without everyone knowing she was pregnant.
Which meant Gavin would know.
Hadn’t she wanted that?
She’d gone to their bar several times in hopes of seeing him so she could tell him the news. So she could...
Could what?
Apologize for running out? Apologize for getting scared because she didn’t do relationships and she wasn’t cut out for the emotional commitment required to be with another person? Even as she’d thought, more than a few times, that emotional commitment might be worth the risk with Gavin.
“The purpose of this task force is to ensure cooperation and collaboration.” The moderator’s voice cut back into her thoughts, and Sera knew she needed to focus.
She could obsess over next steps later. Right now she had to pay attention and find a way forward.
“We’re fortunate in a city this size that there’s a strong base of support across federal, state and local agencies, but it needs to be stronger. Tighter. It’s the only way we’ll maximize our strengths. One and one will make three.”
Sera nearly choked on the small sip of herbal tea she’d taken as the moderator’s words hung over the room. Unbidden, her gaze drifted to Gavin. He’d taken a seat at the opposite end of the room, but since he was on the other side of the table, she could still see him easily enough.
His dark gaze seemed to see through her, and she had the most absurd impulse to laugh.
Because one and one had made three.
The moderator pointed toward a screen at the front of the room and a slideshow presentation she’d used to frame the launch meeting. As the woman flipped to a new slide, Sera directed her attention back to her words.
The first week of the task force would focus on getting to know one another and creating an action plan. Every team would build out ideas on how to address crime, expand a plan for social services and address the legal ins and outs of their ideas. One team would be fully local, one fully federal and then two would be a mix, having one federal team member and one local member. It was, their moderator explained, a chance to collectively review how collaborations could grow and how they would look different with varied perspectives.
Sera had already begun to envision the work she could do if she was paired with Sam. They knew each other and had worked well together all the way through law school, and she had every confidence their collaboration would be strong. She was doing this work so she could improve her relationships with federal jurisdictions in the region. Wasn’t that the whole point?
“Serafina Forte, DA’s office. Gavin Hayes, NYPD Harbor. You’re a team.”
Of course we are.
The urge to drop her head to the table was strong, but she kept her gaze straight ahead and didn’t dare glance Gavin’s way again. Just like she wouldn’t lift a fist to the sky and rant and rail that this was all some cosmic mistake.
She did offer a small smile and nod for the moderator in a show of gratitude for the assignment.
Nothing in her life had been normal or usual for three months now. Why should that change?
She jotted down the conference room where she and Gavin would be paired for the day to begin work on their project before gathering her things from where she’d stowed them beneath the table.
But as she glanced down and saw the thick rain boots still wrapped around her calves and her slacks, Sera was sorely tempted to lift that fist.
Could she look any worse?
Since the room was already in motion, there was no time to slip them off and change into the heels buried at the bottom of her bag, so she picked up her things and proceeded toward the door.
Gavin waited for her just outside, and she lifted a hand in a small waving motion. “Let’s go, local team.”
“Sure.”
Ooooh-kay.
What was that joke Sam had made about the bell for round one?
She followed Gavin down the hall and toward an elevator. Several other task force members were with them and their nervous small talk to the others ensured she could avoid talking to Gavin for a few more minutes.
Until they were the only ones left, heading toward the top floor of the precinct.
“Serafina, is it?”
“Sera. I mean, I go by Sera.” Damn it, she would not stammer before this man. “Serafina is my given name, but I go by Sera.” When he only nodded, she pressed for a bit more from him. “And you’re on Harbor patrol? Diving?”
The elevator stopped, the doors swishing open on a quiet floor. “That’s what I do.”
“But you’re a cop?”
“Yep.”
He was already heading down the hall, and she clomped behind him in the damn boots, each step a sort of squeaky thwap on the ground.
Irritation spiked at the quick dismissal and the feeling of following him. They hadn’t followed each other three months ago. Instead, there’d been a sort of entwining. An equal footing that had engaged them both and pulled them forward with an elemental tug she’d never felt before.
But this?
He had a cold, almost military demeanor. His back was so straight and his gaze deliberately held straight ahead.
