Page 33 of Marrying a Spy

Sophia studied him for a moment and then nodded. “Of course.” She walked over to Rebecca and gave her a hug. “Thanks for doing this last minute.”

Rebecca returned the hug. “I’d do anything for my all-time favorite people.” Then she leaned in and whispered something in Sophia’s ear.

Noah leaned closer, hoping to catch what she’d said, but she pulled away before he heard a word.

He met Rebecca’s gaze, and she shook her head. There was no way he was going to find out what she’d just said. He tried not to let it bother him, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted to know.

“We’ll see you two on the big day,” Rebecca said and then paused. “If you’re looking for something to do, tomorrow night is Bill Crest’s sixtieth at the Rusty Barrel. There will be food and drinks. Jazzy even let me move some tables to set up a dance floor.” She smiled. “It might help take some of the stress off you two. Let you just enjoy each other without all the weight of your history.”

Noah waited for Sophia to take the lead. She nodded and smiled back at him. “We’ll keep that in mind.”

Noah nodded. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

“All right you two. Drive safe.”

Noah reached out and pulled Rebecca into a hug. She’d been the only mom he’d known, and he wanted her to know that he was sorry. She patted his back and chuckled.

“Love you too, Noah.”

After he planted a kiss on her cheek, he pulled back. They said their goodbyes and Noah lead Sophia out of the bakery. Out of instinct, he walked to the passenger door and pulled it open for her. She hesitated and turned to meet his gaze.

Unsure of what he wanted to say, he just held out his hand to help her in. She studied him and then grasped hold of his hand. Warmth shot up his arm at her touch. It made his heart ache.

Once she slipped into the car, he shut the door and rounded the hood. It felt good to take a moment to gather his wits. He needed to be careful. Tread lightly.

She was the most important thing to him, and if he wasn’t sure that he was going to stick around, he needed to back away now. He knew that was the smart thing to do, the safe course of action.

If he allowed himself to go down the path that he so badly wanted to, to fall in love with Sophia, it might compromise his mission and, in turn, compromise her. With the way his heart was pounding, how the heck was he going to choose?

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