Page 48 of Stars and Scars

Grayson laughs, some of the tension flowing out of him. He always maintains a kernel of it, though, even at times like this.

“I’m all too human, Charlotte. I make…mistakes.”

His voice grows tight, silver eyes strained as he gazes into the distance.

His sister. He must be talking about her. Grayson hasn’t even told me her name yet.

“Anyway,” he says, tone clearly indicating that he’s done talking about it for now. “I guess I've been on a few nail biter missions before.”

“So you disguised yourself as one of the terrorists?”

He nods. “Yeah. It wasn’t hard, because of the decentralized nature of the cell. No one knew each other on sight, only by first names. Made it easy to fool them.”

“Is that the only time you’ve ever been in disguise?”

Grayson shakes his head.

“No. I’ve had to put on a disguise a few other times.”

I arch my brows and lean a little closer to him.

“What was your most difficult disguise?”

“Hmm.”

A slight grin stretches across his handsome face.

“All I can say about that is, it’s really hard to run in a nun’s habit.”

Laughter erupts out of me, shaking my body until my sides ache. I let go of the tension I’d built up during the car chase. If only the other type of tension could be gone so easily.

“That’s too rich. You know you’re going to have to explain that one, right?”

He grins, and clears his throat.

“A nun’s habit is bulk enough that it’s easy to conceal weapons or contraband underneath. Plus, nobody wants to mess with a nun.”

“I’m just sitting here picturing you undercover in a convent.”

He laughs, a full-throated sound.

“Hardly. Religious organizations tend to have lax security, but everyone is known to someone. It’s mostly for fooling the lay people. Plus, it’s easy to explain why you have a nun’s habit in your luggage at the airport.”

I give him a double take.

“How in the Hell is that possible? Wouldn’t it make you stand out more?”

“Not when you give the security guy poking through your shit a shy smile and a shrug, and hint at having some serious kinks…”

I join him in laughter.

“Oh my god.”

“Yeah, they can’t close up my suitcase fast enough once I let that little gem fly.”

Our laughter subsides. I want to know more, to hear more, about Grayson.

“So, what does your family think about you being in the spy game for so long?”

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