Page 52 of S.O.S. Mizzay

“Come here,” Cobble told her, holding his arms open wide.

She didn’t hesitate, but got up to plaster herself against him, burying her nose against his chest.

“This is for the best, Andy, and you know it,” he soothed, running his hands up and down her spine. “Neither one of us could continue to live like this much longer. With the years ticking by, we’d miss out on so much.”

Should he go for it? Why not?

“Kids,” he managed.

“You… You want kids?” Andy blinked up at him. “You’ve never said. You know I have Rory…” The girl had become her legal ward after her SOS team had thwarted a terrorists’ kidnapping, and a scheme to use her as a human bomb.

“Whom I have yet to meet,” Cobble chuckled. “But wouldn’t your niece like to have a few little cousins to spoil?”

“Uh, duh. She’d be over the moon,” Andy agreed with a small snicker before growing serious again. “And I… I’ve thought about it,” she admitted. “A little boy who looks just like you would be…pretty sweet.” She sighed.

Or a tiny dark-haired girl with a sharp wit and an even sharper tongue,Cobble mused.

“Okay then,” he managed without choking on the tears that might or might not be lodged in his throat. “How, uh, hungry are you?” Cobble asked, his voice sounding deep, even to his own ears.

“Huh?” Andy looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “Weren’t we just talking about kids?” she asked, her lips twitching in amusement.

“We were,” he confirmed. “But… Yeah. It tracks. How hungry are you?”

“Because…?” she posed.

“Because if you’re agreeable, we can put the Chinese in the fridge while we practice making babies.”

“Ah. I see where your mind went,” Andy chortled.

She reached a hand toward her plate, snagged a wonton, and popped it into her mouth.

“There,” she said, chewing quickly. “That ought to hold me.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

It got better and better every time. Not just sex, but everything, including being snuggled up close to Cobble like she was, with nothing pressing to attend to.

Was that because they’d never spent more than a week at a time together since he’d gone into hiding? Or was it that their trysts were always clandestine, furtive, and therefore more exciting because they were almost…forbidden?

Andy didn’t think either of those things were true, but it looked like she’d soon be finding out. Cobble had proposed a way forward that had him finally being free. And that would mean they could get on with…whatever this was.IfCobble came out of it with his life.

His scheme definitely had merit, but she was still worried. How could she not be? In her experience, more than half of all stings she’d been part of went sideways in one way or another. But in those specific instances, any unintended consequences had just been a hazard of the job.

This was different. This was Cobble.

Andy’s only comforts were that her man was smart,andhe’d have a kick-ass team behind him that she totally trusted.

She went over the list of those operatives in her head, the first being DAAG Cavateral at the DOJ, who’d proven himself over and over. Then there were Baskins, Smalley, Tertia and a younger member—Agent Sloane Vessers—at the FBI who were one-hundred percent on the up-and-up, and lastly there was the entire SOS crew with whom she’d trust her life.

Andy exhaled gustily, rolled over and looked at Cobble, peaceful on his back beside her, his lids closed. In the fourteen years she’d known him, and in the over five years since they’dbecome lovers, he’d only grown more dear to her. He was a marvelous human being. Caring, compassionate, and so…conformable. Yes. The man had proven he could adapt to anything. She’d watched him change and fit in at each new place he’d lived. She’d marveled at how he’d taken every new situation in stride while at the same time learning and furthering all kinds of skills. He’d also made new friends so easily.

Then there was her family. They adored him, and they weren’t always easy to impress. Andy knew her parents hoped she and Cobble would end up together, and even though she’d done a good job keeping their love-making as low-key as possible, her mom and dad weren’t stupid. They knew there was something special between their daughter and their “boarder”.

Andy continued to be amazed that Cobble had stayed true to her; picking her to love.

Ooops.

Love?Uh, nope.

---