Page 48 of Trapped With the Secret Agent

Wait a second, he was acting like he’d done something illegal. they hadn’t done anything wrong. Had they? “Was it a pity kiss? Did you do it so I wouldn’t make any noise?”

“No.” The word burst out of him.

“Then why?”

“Why?” he repeated, as if the reason was self-evident.

“Yeah, why?”

Hethunkedhis head against the dirt wall. “There’s a fucking list.”

She crossed her arms over her chest.This ought to be good. “Let’s hear it.”

“You want to hear it?” he asked, his voice a monotone.

“Theentirelist.”

He swore, then said flatly, “One, we’re hiding in a dark, dirty hole in the ground.”

He pulled away from the wall and met her gaze. “Two, we were a couple of feet away from being discovered hiding in a dark, dirty hole in the ground.”

He leaned forward. “Three, every law-enforcement officer in the country is looking for us and they probably expect us to be hiding in a dark, dirty hole in the ground.”

His gaze blazed with a combination of anger, anxiety, and something she couldn’t identify. “Four, I just killed a man in front of you.”

He swallowed hard. “Five, those fucking animals put their hands on you and scared the living shit out of you.”

He retreated but didn’t look away. “All of which makes me an unmitigated ass for kissing you.”

She leaned toward him and let a little of the anger she’d been keeping under lock and key out into her voice. “Let’s review it from my perspective, shall we? You kept me alive. You got me out of there. You found us a hiding spot.” She angled her head. “As for the kiss, did I say stop or push you away? Nope.”

“My mind wasn’t on our surroundings or the scavengers,” he growled. “I completely lost my focus and that might have gotten us killed.”

“You’re allowed to be a human being, you know. You’re allowed to want something, to need a connection to another person.” She swept her hand out. “In a situation like this, that might even be called a healthy reaction, don’t you think?”

“I let my guard down when I couldn’t afford to.”

“Why, because you’re the big strong man?”

He shook his head. “That is a trick question.”

She glared at him. “Are you always this pig-headed?”

“Pretty much.” He crossed his arms over his chest and watched her from beneath his eyebrows.

Great, he’d found his stubborn place. Time to change tactics.

“Ok, fine, you want to hear you’re right? You’re right. Kissing in our current situation probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do.” She paused to let that sink in.

“I’m hearing abut,” he said after a few seconds.

“But,” she said, stressing the word. “I needed that human connection. I needed a...hug, a...kiss.” She was proud of the fact that her tone was so even. Just a normal, everyday request one hears in a dirty dugout while hiding from terrorists.

He slowly put his hands in the air.

She frowned. “Is this some kind of surrender?” When he didn’t answer, she asked sarcastically, “Do I look armed and dangerous to you?”

“Yes, damn it, you do.” He lifted his hands a little higher.

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