Obviously not convinced, Beth said, "When she came into the ops room a while ago, she had to wait for John. She chose to do her waiting by my desk, Ed." With a chuckle, he said, "Well gee, ma'am, that does sound pretty ominous. You were probably the only other woman in the room, Beth, and..." "She just sat there and stared at me," Beth interrupted, "Just sat there and stared at me for about five full seconds before she gave me one of those fakey smiles and said 'Good morning, Beth. Did you sleep well?'" Again shrugging, Cade said, "I didn't tell her a damned thing, Beth. I swear it." As she again studied his face for signs of perjury, Cade asked, "Um... and did you? Sleep well, I mean?" Beth's eyes narrowed to gunsight slits. She growlingly snapped, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I did." Grinning, Cade asked, "Was it because you were dead tired or because you had a great time?" As she opened her mouth to respond in what looked like a snappy manner, Cade raised a finger and prompted, "Honest answer only, please." Smoldering a bit, Beth sighed and answered in a rather grudging tone, "Yes. I had a good time, Ed. Is that what you want to hear?" "Of course that's what I want to hear. Don't you think I was busting my ass to please you last night? You sure seemed to think so at the time, ma'am, especially when I..." "Never mind when," snapped Beth. "Yes, dammit, I had a good time. A great time, in fact. Now, what about Mandi?" "What about her? She's got no right or reason to say anything about who I play with. Or who you play with. Are you sure you're not just having some morning-after regrets, Beth? Is that what this is all about? Or are you worried I'll brag around the office?" "No! I mean... No. No regrets. And you said you wouldn't say anything, right?" She stepped forward until she was almost nose-to-nose with Cade and repeated insistently, "Right?" Cade took Beth in his arms and said, "Beth, I promise. Not a word to anyone. And I haven't said anything to Mandi or anyone else," and then he kissed her. Beth stiffened for a moment, then gradually responded to his kiss. Cade used a finger to sweep a few wisps of her hair out of her face, then let the finger continue down behind her ear and along the line of her throat to her exposed shoulder. Leaning slightly, he kissed her shoulder and trailed his lips up Beth's throat to her jaw, then kissed his way back to her lips as he again held her close. When the kiss ended, he said softly, "You aren't on duty this morning. Let's go back to bed. Breakfast can wait. In fact, you can be my breakfast. Would you like that, ma'am?" Beth's lips were slightly swollen, her face and shoulders were turning pinkish, and her pulse was pounding slightly. She looked almost ready to say 'yes', but still a bit hesitant. "Beth," he said, "This job ends today. It could be a long time before we get a chance to play again.