Page 17 of The Spy Who Ghosted Me

“No,” he adamantly responded. “It was the best two months of my life.”

“You can’t have it both ways. Either you are the world’s best faker or you’re lying when you say you aren’t good at relationships. Because those two months with you felt like the most real time of my life. I’ve never been with someone so attentive who just seemed to get me. Are you telling me it was all a lie and I’m a bigger idiot than I thought I was for caring about you?” My voice hitched. I didn’t think I’d ever been so vulnerable in my life, but the thought that I’d just imagined how special that time was crushed me.

Cash grabbed my hand, halting my furious pace, and pulled me right to him before his powerful hands framed my face, sending waves of heat over my cheeks. “Sabrina,” he said so intimately, I froze in place. “No matter what happens, don’t think for one second that what we shared was anything but real. Don’t question it. Ever.”

Holy, holy, holy wow! Like whoa. I hated to admit how sexy that was. He was so alluring, I was about to go Nana all over him. I was grateful when he dropped his hands and stepped back. If he hadn’t, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have grabbed his jacket and laid a kiss on him the size of the enormous wedding cake my sister wanted, which Mia and I would start making layers for tomorrow.

“Uh ...” I had no idea what to say. I wasn’t even sure I could speak. No man had ever made me feel enveloped in him—we are talking about an unworldly possession kind of feeling. Maybe he really was a ghost. If so, I had a feeling he would probably haunt me forever. The what-could-have-been was already eating at me.

“Tell me why you don’t like Soren.” Cash saved me from myself.

I paused my contemplation on how much I would hate myself if I kissed him and shook my head, trying to shake off the woozy feeling he’d left me with. My brain had too many things to process. Things like how he could just leave me when it was obvious that he felt as strongly as I had about our time together. I guess he really was a coward. It was too bad. And depressing. So freaking depressing. But I refused to let chemical cocktails rule me.

Still feeling buzzed, I moved one foot in front of the other. “Um ... maybe this sounds weird, but I get the feeling Soren’s hiding something, like someone else I know.” I couldn’t help but take the cheap shot. I couldn’t truly express how unhappy I was to be missing out on Cash, even though I knew I had to. Those were the rules. You don’t chase after ghosts.

Cash grumbled under his breath, not appreciating my slight, but also not denying he was hiding something.

“Anyway, something in his eyes tells me he’s not a good guy, and it’s not the colored contacts he’s wearing.”

“You noticed that?” Cash sounded impressed.

“Yes, and his Norwegian accent seems off, and the crinkles around his eyes don’t match his age. My aunt Vivian is right. He’s very plastic, but I think it’s more than his skin. He’s a fake. I feel it. Oh, and he also doesn’t want to be photographed. Which reminds me.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Say cheese.” The flash went off on my phone, capturing a surprised Cash. I giggled at his wide eyes in the photo and his exasperated expression. “We’ll see how long this lasts. I swear if this photo disappears, I’m getting one of those Geiger counter things and running it over your body.”

Cash’s brow quirked. “Is that so? That sounds like fun.”

Did it ever, but I kept that to myself. Instead, I rolled my eyes. “Don’t get excited—I’m going to let my nana do it.”

Cash chuckled. “I see now that you inherited being handsy from your nana.”

“Excuse me. You were the handsy one. Need I remind you that the first time I met you, you backed me up against a wall and thoroughly kissed me?” What I wouldn’t give for him to do that now. I meant to say I hated him. Absolutely hated him.

“Need I remind you that you kissed me back, and you ran your hands all up and down my chest?”

I blushed, thinking of how uninhibited I’d felt in that beautiful, almost-dreamlike moment. Best. Meet. Cute. Ever. “I don’t even know why we’re talking about this, because it’s all in the past and we won’t ever be kissing or touching again.” Yep, still depressed about it.

Cash shrugged. “You never know about these things.”

“Oh, I do. I really, really do,” I said, trying desperately to convince myself.

“If you say so.” He kicked a rock.

“I do,” I said halfheartedly. “Anyway, I just don’t want to see my baby sister get hurt, even if she is a little, or a lot, scary at the moment. But I can’t just come out and say something to her because she’ll think I’m jealous because she’s younger than I am and getting married first. She’ll say I’m just trying to ruin her big day.”

“Are you jealous?” Cash asked.

Ooh, that was a good question. Was I? “Maybe a little,” I admitted. “I don’t begrudge her getting married; I just thought I’d be married by now. I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” I said, flustered.

Cash flashed me a sincere smile. “I know why.”

“Why?” I asked against my better judgment.

“Because whether or not you want to admit it, there’s still something between us.”

Yeah, I was afraid that’s what it was. “I wouldn’t say that.” I refused to give him an inch. If I did, we’d be mixing some chemicals.

“Understood. So, what is your plan of attack?”

“Well, if you’re telling the truth, I’ll get a background check done.”

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