Page 56 of S.O.S. Mizzay

“I love you,” she said, looking directly into Cobble’s beautiful brown eyes.

The man of her soul smiled beatifically and gathered her close for a heart-stopping kiss before pulling back to smooth an errant hair behind one of her ears. “I love you, too, Andy,” he declared reverently. Then he reverted to cheeky.

“Best kiss, ever,” he stated enthusiastically, as was his standard.

Andy, thinking she might bawl, kissed Cobble back quickly, rolled over, leaped out of bed, and grabbed her clothes off the floor.

“Just, uh, give me a minute in the bathroom, and I’ll join you in the kitchen.” She dabbed at her eyes, hoping he didn’t notice.

Cobble looked at her with uncanny understanding.

“Take all the time you want.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

It was almost jaw-dropping, witnessing Andy in professional mode.

Cobble had seen her don her “in charge” hat a number of times since he’d first met her, butthiswas all that on steroids, and he was enjoying the hell out of it. There was just something about Andy’s confident manner that turned him on.

“There,” she said with satisfaction in her voice. “Step one is taken care of.”

She put her burner phone down on the island where their now empty plates sat. “I sent encrypted notifications to Cavateral, Baskins, and Smalley, telling them I want to set up a private meeting at the SOS offices, ASAP. I also let your cousin know that you’ll be coming out of hiding. Now it’s time to call my boss, Del, read him in on a number of things we’ve discussed, and get his take on the situation as a whole before Smalley gets back to me with a pissed off attitude and a big ‘hell, no’.”

Cobble chuckled.Yup.He, too, was certain his cousin’s reaction would be off the rails. The man was a force to be reckoned with under normal circumstances, but where Cobble was concerned…? He was so vested, he’d even gone so far as to give up a lot of possible meet-ups over the past ten years to keep Cobble safe.

What Chuck didn’t know this time, however, was that Cobble wasn’t going to give in. And when pressed,hisstubbornness equaled Chuck’s. The last time Chuck had thrown a fit—when Cobble and Andy had made him aware they’d entered into a relationship—Cobble had to use aggressive language to shut him down. That had been fun.Not.

Indeed, when they’d moved Cobble from Andy’s family compound, they’d finally told Chuck they’d been an item for a bunch of months, and Chuck had predictably gone ballistic, saying nothing spelled failure in an op more than two of the principals getting involved. He’d demanded they end things, threatening to have Andy taken off his case.

Cobble had laid it on the line, complete with more swear words than he’d probably used in a year. And that was saying a lot since he normally worked construction and language was never censored. But Chuck had had a hard time listening, even with all the uncustomary profanity, and Cobble finally had to pull out all the stops. He’d vowed that if he couldn’t have Andy, he was coming out of hiding immediately.

Chuck had clearly heard the truth in Cobble’s assertion, and had very reluctantly backed off.

Cobble almost laughed, recalling the sulk that had resulted; but the cold shoulder had eventually thawed. Chuck had been calmer when, after months, no additional breaches of Cobble’s subsequent living arrangements had been made, but he still grumbled about it every time they talked.

Cobble expected nothing less.

Damn.The next conversation Cobble had with his cousin was going to be over-the-top contentious.

He could only imagine the shit that Andy would get when she was face to face with the man again, but that also made him want to laugh. His spitfire of a woman could handle herself, and Cobble’s money would be on Andy making mincemeat out of anything Chuck handed out.

While Cobble had been caught up in his own head, he was vaguely aware that Andy had picked up her burner phone again and hit a number. She nudged him, bringing him back to present, then put the call on speaker, propping her device up against the empty lo mein container while it rang.

“SOS,” answered a male voice. “How may I help you?”

“Mistah Perkins,” Andy grinned. “How nice to hear yah voice.”

“Mizzay? Please tell me you’re back in town. I freaking hate being on phone duty.”

Cobble grinned, amused over the funky moniker he’d known her team at SOS had given her. He’d never be able to think of her as Mizzay, but it fit, in a cute kind of way.

“I hate to disappoint you, doll,” Andy replied, “but youze guys are all stuck playing receptionist for an indeterminate period of time.”

The man she’d called Mr. Perkins, groaned. “Damn. I was afraid you might say that. Especially after the boss told us what you’ve been up tofor the last fourteen years,” he emphasized, clearly pouting over the things she hadn’t previously revealed to him and the team.

Andy laughed, unphased. “What? I’m not supposed to have a life outside of SOS? Youze guys didn’t think I’ve been sittin’ on my hands knittin’ sweaters at home after I left the office every day, didja?”

“Now that you say it,” he snorted, “no. I’m not surprised you’re up to your eyeballs in three letter offices. Knowing you, you’re probably the freaking president of every one of those agencies, or maybe just the actual POTUS.”

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