Page 28 of The Angel and the Agent

“It doesn’t bother you to share food and drinks?” she asked.

“Should it? Do you have cooties?” he asked.

She nodded, and for some reason the moment turned tense and serious. Ethan’s eyes fell to her lips. He could rememberhow they felt on his down to the minutest detail, and he was shocked to realize she was the last person he’d kissed. How had he gone so long without a date? Amelia’s feel and smell and even her taste seemed permanently imprinted on him, but how could he expect anything else when he had basically been living a monastic existence?

“Ethan,” she whispered. With effort, he pulled his gaze from her lips back up to her eyes. “Tell me why you want to coach football.”

The question took a few seconds to register. He swallowed hard and tried to focus. “I didn’t have the best family life, growing up. Football was my salvation, my ticket out. When I was on the field, everything was okay. My coach became like a father to me. It was he who encouraged me to do well, on and off the field, he who made sure my grades were up to snuff, and he who encouraged me into the navy, even into the SEALs. I’d like to think I could one day have that sort of impact on someone.”

“I’m sure you will, at least on your own children,” she said.

“I’m not sure I ever want kids,” he said.

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because I didn’t have the best example. I don’t want to be a screwed up dad.”

“But you said you did have a good example in your coach. And I think to be a screwed up dad, you’d have to be a screwed up man to begin with. You’re not a screwup. You’re a noble man of good character,” she said.

“A noble man of good character,” he repeated. “I have never heard anyone talk that way in real life.” Despite the scoffing, he was pleased by her words. “Is Piedmont Bonvoy a noble man of good character?”

“Do you think I would date anyone who wasn’t?” she countered.

“I don’t think you should. Whether you would is another story. Sometimes women do unimaginable things. Sometimes they date total losers, men who take them for granted, who use and abuse them.”

“I know my worth, and I’m not willing to settle,” she assured him.

“I’m glad to hear that, Amelia, because if I thought he was mistreating you…” he trailed off, leaving the rest unspoken.

“What?” she prompted.

What would he do if he thought someone was hurting her? He searched his mental inventory as he stared at her and she watched him, awaiting an answer. “I’d probably kill him.”

She shuddered. “Don’t joke like that.”

“What makes you think I’m joking? There aren’t a lot of people I genuinely care about. For those I do, I’d go to any lengths to protect and keep them safe.”

“You worry me sometimes, Ethan Becket.”

“I worry myself sometimes, Amelia Melly. Were those real cops?”

“No. Larry’s my neighbor. The other guy was his friend from acting class. Blue doctored up the badges and warrant for me. He’s really good at forgery. It’s amazing how the people who work at my sister’s company have so many secret, interesting talents: hacking, forgery, speaking Arabic, training in hand-to-hand combat.”

“The corporate world is a jungle,” he said. He smiled, but it still looked a little sad.

She rested her hand on his wrist. “Hey, you are loved, you know that, right? You have a whole circle of people who care desperately about you.”

He eased his arm backwards, sliding her hand from his wrist to his fingers, lacing them together. “I’m not suicidal, ifthat’s what you’re thinking. Just lacking a bit of direction at the moment.”

“Sometimes vets have trouble readjusting to civilian life,” she said.

“I’m not exactly a civilian,” he said.

She quirked an eyebrow at him, and he realized he had just admitted the truth of his job to her, at least in part.

“I mean, working at an indexing firm is kind of like war, you know?” He squeezed her hand.

“I’m onto you,” she said.

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