Loyalties Lie [s. r.]

.09

Once back at the hotel, there was an awkward exchange about sleeping arrangements. Steve kept trying to insist on Camryn sleeping in the bed alone, and she argued that they would be fine as long as they stayed on their own sides of the bed.

Naturally, the two woke up wrapped around each other the next morning. It led to an awkward few hours as the embarrassment wore off, and the two threw themselves into working on the mission.

"That's not going to work." Camryn mumbled softly after Steve suggested putting guards at every window.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked with a frustrated sigh. She was smart, and she knew what she was doing, but if you asked Steve, she was just being a smartass.

"Think about it. There are thirty-three windows on the ground floor alone. We have a maximum of fifty agents. Thirty-three windows, plus the four on the lower level, and six on the second level and you are left with only six agents." She replied. "That's not enough."

Steve sighed, rubbing his face. "So we have fifty-two agents, including you and I. We'll be patrolling the perimeter."

"So maybe there is one agent for every two windows. Which leaves twenty-eight agents because there is an uneven number of windows." She explained. "So you have two posted at the main entrance. Two at the kitchen entrance. And the rest patrolling the halls and the event room."

Steve marked on the blueprints Camryn's suggestions and nodded. "It seems like a good plan. I don't see any holes in security."

"Good. Then let's get these to Shield so they can distribute the plan to the agents. They need to know it like the back of their hand." She agreed.

The two of them had forgotten all about the exchange from the morning once they had gotten into their mission mode. There were six hours until their mission officially started, and the two knew they needed a break. So the awkward silence resumed, and Steve couldn't shake the way his heart skipped a beat when he looked at Camryn.

He had woken up first, and while he knew he should have moved away, he found himself just watching her, tucking her hair behind her ear. There was just something about her, something he noticed made his heart rate increase. She was beautiful, that was for sure. And seeing her sleeping beside him just made him happy.

He wished he could stay there forever.

When Camryn's eyes began to open, Steve knew he had no way to explain what he was doing. So instead, he panicked and pretended to be asleep.

But now he couldn't stop thinking about it. He felt the need to apologize.

"Camryn... about this morning..." he said, gnawing on his lower lip.

She glanced up. "We don't have to talk about it. Nothing happened. We were asleep and we ended up cuddling. End of story."

"No... actually it isn't. This morning, when I woke up. I was awake longer than you were." He admitted softly. "I know I should have moved away, but I just couldn't. I don't know why."

"You... You were watching me sleep?" She asked softly, keeping her eyes off him as she felt her cheeks heat up. "Why?"

"I–I don't know. I just couldn't look away. I'm sorry, doll. Please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you, okay? But we need to focus on the mission." She replied, trying to shift the focus. The idea of his attention being solely on her made her hands shake slightly, and her heart race.

"Yeah, the mission." He nodded.

He couldn't focus on her. She had become a never ending thought in his mind and it was distracting. He couldn't risk that on the mission. Being distracted could land with one of them hurt.