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Shut it, she muttered back, trying to bring herself to a state of calm. She wasn’t going to make a good impression on Robb if she turned into a stumbling, bumbling fool.
Straightening her shoulders, she steeled herself and prepared to step into the unknown.
Chapter 5
Tahnee stared at the apartment door, wondering what lay on the other side.
The door seemed nondescript enough, until Robb flipped open a hidden panel next to it and entered a code, before pressing his thumb down upon the screen until the reader confirmed its print.
“Fancy,” Tahnee said as they stepped through the door. “The keypad, I mean, not the apartment. The apartment’s a bit shit.”
“I suppose I can’t really argue with that,” Robb muttered, closing the door behind him and double checking the lock.
It was a bit shit… but Tahnee had to admit that it seemed functional enough, in a spartan kind of way.
Kind of like if we’d ever decided to just chuck it all in and spend our days as a settled-down, middle-of-the-road kind of couple…
… And Tahnee suddenly found she couldn’t decide if that sounded like a dream or like her worst nightmare.
Okay. First things first. And the first thing should be to get myself cleaned up.
Sticking her head into the bathroom, she called back over her shoulder, “You know what? I’m going to have a quick shower. You’ll rustle us up some grub, yeah?”
Not bothering to wait for his reply, she pulled some toiletries and slightly scratchy towels out of the cupboard and turned on the shower, before getting undressed and allowing herself to step into the water’s warm embrace.
“Wow, they’re really pulling out all the stops,” she murmured facetiously, as she lathered up the bar of Imperial Leather. She hadn’t seen one of those since she was a kid, back when they’d somehow seemed like the height of luxury.
Still, I shouldn’t be complaining. This is a damn sight better than the alternative.
She scrubbed herself clean and gave her hair a quick wash, allowing herself the time to get her head together. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she was nervous. It had been easy enough, amongst all the running for their lives, to forget that she was back in the presence of her mate, whom she had unceremoniously left on a pleasure yacht over twenty-five years ago. But now, with the two of them stuck in this dingy apartment, the enormity of it all was starting to sink in.
She let herself indulge in the building sensation of excitement for a minute or two, before, forcing herself into a moment of decisiveness, she turned off the taps and dried herself off.
Luckily there were a range of spare clothes in a cupboard just outside the bathroom, and she pulled herself out some pajamas.
Probably should’ve thought about that before I hopped in the shower, she thought. Although I guess walking out there stark naked would’ve left him in no doubt about my intentions.
Wrapping up her hair in a towel, she wandered the five steps to the tiny kitchen.
“What did you end up ordering?” she called out as she rounded the corner.
“Ordering?”
Robb’s voice came back oddly muffled.
Entering the kitchen, Tahnee was treated to the sight of Robb bending over as he searched through the bottom shelf of the pantry, his sensibly tailored pants perfectly outlining what was obviously a very nice butt.
That butt could’ve been mine for the past twenty-five years, she thought, biting her lip. God, I’m a fucking idiot.
At last, we’re in agreement on something, the brolga muttered. It was in a particularly snippy mood tonight, even by its standards. Tahnee couldn’t say she entirely blamed it, given that it currently couldn’t shift, but she was sure that the Agency would have some kind of antidote. She wasn’t going to worry about it too much.
For the moment, anyway.
Sadly, Robb straightened up, and Tahnee felt a twinge of sadness at the change in scenery… but then she noticed what he was holding.
“UHT milk?!” she squawked, horror sending her voice into an unpleasantly shrill range. She hated UHT milk.
Only now did she register the mess on the kitchen bench: a vast array of preserved foods, each more unappealing than the last.
