Savi’s mouth parted to a wide O, which she covered with her hand as she laughed. “Oh, no, I married a horrific liar!”

“Well, you have to admit, they are a bit conservative. And I am white.”

She ran her hand through his short ginger hair. “White and red. Proper Scottish. I could get snow-blind staring at your skin.”

“Hey, you said my freckles are cute.”

“Freckles are cute on a ten-year-old, Cal; when you’re thirty-one they’re just funny.”

“Oh, thanks.” Callum kissed her. Best way to shut that conversation down. “Anyway,” he said, shrugging, “it’s not family we really have to worry about.”

“Ah, our bloody Connexion Corp lords and masters. I hate them!”

“Company policy. Human Resources gets right tight-assed about personal relationships. They’re paranoid about sexual harassment lawsuits.”

“I never had to harass you for sex.”

“True.”

“Actually,” she said, “it’s not HR that’s the problem.”

“What?”

“Anyone employed by the security division has to have their friends vetted.”

“Vetted? You mean, they get to say who you can date? That’s outrageous! They can’t do that.”

She grimaced. “Ah. You see, in fact, there’s this clause in my contract about who I can associate with outside work. It’s very clear.”

“Wait…you didn’t sign it, did you?”

“It’s the security division, Cal; it’s the way it is. If you work in security you have to know who you’re seeing. Exactly who. If another company is trying to launch an infiltration mission, we can’t afford to be vulnerable.”

“Bloody hell, that’s depressing.”

“I know. But realistic. The world is a bad place filled with bad people.”

“Okay, so…what was my report like?”

“Ah.” She flinched. “I haven’t actually told them.”

“This doesn’t sound good.”

“I…It’s…Cal, that day when we met, it was so much fun, remember? I thought it was…you know.”

“What?”

She sucked her lower lip in faux remorse. “I thought you were just going to be a one-night stand.”

“Shit!” He slumped back and stared up at the ceiling, feeling quite petulant. “It wasn’t actually one night,” he said, acting the martyr.

“Oh, the male ego! Yes, all right: a one-weekend stand. And when it turned out you wanted more than that, I was so happy. But, the point is, I didn’t report it at first because I thought I wouldn’t see you again, and you were Connexion, too. So it wasn’t a huge security risk, and a girl doesn’t want a big file of these things following her around. We still get judged, you know. It’s unfair. Men don’t.”

“I get it,” he said.

“So then, when we started seeing each other properly, I was in an awkward position.”

“Is this going to cost you your job?” he asked, suddenly anxious.