Page 87 of Trapped With the Secret Agent

She shivered and nodded; her throat clogged with tears. “I missed you, too.”

He set his lips on hers, kissing her tenderly, coaxing her mouth to open, slipping his tongue slowly inside as if savoring her.

Georgia groaned, her tears marking salty paths down her cheeks.

Peter pulled away a fraction of an inch, wrapped one arm around her body, and pulled her close. “I’m not supposed to be here.”

Georgia jerked her head back. “You...you’re not?” Damn it, did she have to sound so hurt, so needy?

But he pulled her closer and stroked her cheek with his thumb, smiling. “Nope, I’m supposed to be filing reports on the arrest of two cabinet ministers in the Koutu government. It seems they’ve been financing a certain group of extremists.”

She sucked in a breath. “Oh my God.”

“The CIA wanted me to stay on the mainland, recover, then go back to Koutu.”

They wanted to send him back? After what he’d beenthrough?

“Assholes,” she muttered. “I hope you told them what they could do with that.”

He laughed, not loud or large, but real. “You made an impression on the CIA.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I had a few things to say to them.”

“Apositiveimpression.”

Ha. “If they try to offer me a job, I’ll stuff it up their—”

His grin got wider.

“—noses.”

He rubbed his against hers and whispered, “I turned down their offer of continued employment in the field. I had somewhere else I had to be. Our date.” The smile faded from his face. “Remember?”

Georgia struggled to keep herself from hunching over. He was here because he’d made a promise and wanted to keep his word.

“I remember,” she said softly, staring at his collarbone. “There are some things I want to say.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tattered piece of paper. It was covered in her handwriting in various colors of ink, with some lines crossed off and others circled.

He glanced at it and raised an eyebrow. “Did you drop it in the ocean?”

“No. I’ve been updating it periodically.” He didn’t need to know it had been in her pocket since she boarded the plane to Hawaii. Didn’t need to know she’d been adding and subtracting to the list her entire time here. Didn’t need to know it was sometimes the only thing that convinced her she hadn’t hallucinated the whole debacle.

She took in a breath and began with the most important item. “You lied to me.”

He stiffened but didn’t move away. “About...?”

“Working for the CIA. You didn’t tell me. You left it out when I was racking my brain trying to figure out how you knew what a Russian nuclear warhead looked like, how you knew how to move through the city like a ninja, and kill a man with your bare hands.”

She stopped to catch her breath and saw his face.

The air in her lungs turned heavy and immobile.

He looked like he was about to willingly walk in front of a firing squad. “I didn’t want to scare you any more than you already were. Once I got to know you well enough to see how strong you are.” He tapped his temple, then his heart with his free hand. “I couldn’t figure out a good way to explain it without fucking it up, and I really didn’t want to give you a reason to become afraid ofme.” His hand shook as he curled it around her neck and stroked her sensitive skin.

“For the record, I’m not afraid of you.” Her voice broke as she whispered, “Don’t lie to me again.”

“I won’t.” It was a vow. “I’m sorry.” He kissed her. “You’re tougher than a thousand terrorists put together.” He nuzzled her neck and whispered, “I know all my secrets are safe with you.”

“Ok.” She sniffed. “Item number two.”

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