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“It’s not that we’re different It’s hoe’re different” Derek exhaled heavily “Sloane, I want you to be everything you want to be, everything I know you can be I want you to go back to Quantico and kick ass I want you to rejoin the Bureau and be the special agent you’ve been deprived of being for so long I want you to leave your mark on the world”
“I never doubted that” Sloane was studying Derek’s expression, trying to read his thoughts “Is it my ambition? The pressures of the job? Are you worried that we’ll lose sight of each other once I’ under the same Bureau constraints as you do? Because I’ my ass off”
“That’s not it—although both of us being workaholics makes it twice as hard to prioritize our relationship But that’s life Neither of us does anything halfway We’ll find a way tothe Bureau, if I have to be honest, I hope you’ll go back to white-collar crime Given what a stubborn, fearless ball-breaker you are, I’ll have less to lose sleep over if you’re out of Violent Criether Our objectivity is coet in the way We’d clash at every turn Frankly, I’d either kill you or myself”
Sloane gave a soft laugh “That won’t be a problem The FBI wouldn’t put us on the same squad Hopefully in the sah e collided in Crisis Negotiations where I was the lead negotiator and had to deal with you on SWAT Our styles are different Our wills are both like steel Top that off with our emotional involvement, and, yeah, we’d kill each other if ere on the sa separately So what’s the problem?”
“Our long-ter up I can’t live like that anye Life is too short Guarantees are nonexistent We have to treasure e have, and fight for e could have”
“I agree” Sloane now understood Derek’s reaction to what had happened to her and Jeff thisHe’d been rattled by the fact that she’d coain It had happened to her far too often these past few years, starting with her near-death experience with the bank robber who’d carved up her hand All these incidents had iile aspects of their relationship, had brought on this philosophical frame of mind
“I kno precious life is—and how precious we are,” she assured hioals or your needs” She reached out, caressed his arrown and whose perspectives have changed Mine have, too I’m sorry if I scared you today I’ll do my best to minimize those situations”
“How do you feel about kids?” Derek blurted out
That one caught Sloane totally off guard She startled, her hand jerking off Derek’s arm “Excuse me?”
“Children Babies How do you feel about having them?”
“Wow” She breathed “Talk about co out of left field”
“Does that ht about it and decided motherhood isn’t for you?”
“Derek, we just ether”
“I didn’t ask for a recap I asked if you wanted kids”
Sloane was still reeling “Okay, yes, I want kids—soot a lot to accomplish before then” She searched Derek’s face, totally bewildered by this radical leap into the future “Where is this co from?”