Page 49 of The Angel and the Agent

She sat up on her knees, looking behind him.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Checking to see if your pants are actually on fire.”

“Amelia, come on.”

“You said you were going to tell me things,” she reminded him. She pinned him with a stare, and he actually squirmed.

“It goes against protocol. It goes against everything,” he said.

She continued to stare at him until he broke.

“He didn’t die,” he blurted. “Sam, the guy, he faked his death because he was in a terror cell. When he reappeared, they used Maggie to get to him. Things got dicey, we had to rescue her.”

“I remember that. Her cheek was bruised when I came to visit. She wouldn’t tell me why. Sam is really alive?”

He nodded. “I saw him myself.”

She blinked a couple more times and then burst into tears. “Oh, no,” he muttered, reaching for her and trying to soothe her, or at the very least trying to keep her quiet.

“You’re upsetting the monkeys,” he whispered, and that made her laugh enough to stop the tears.

“I’m sorry. It was such a hard time for our family, for Maggie, and it was all pretend. What she must have gone through, seeing him again.”

“It turned out all right. She has Ridge now.”

Amelia nodded, sniffling. “If she chose him over Sam, she must love him more than I even realized. I want a love like that.” She looked away, blushing. “I mean, you know, someday, with someone.”

“I do, too,” Ethan agreed. “Someday, with someone.”

Just not with me,Amelia thought. She sat back, putting distance between them.

“You’re doing the thing again, the pouty girl thing where you withdraw and ignore me,” he complained.

“No, I’m doing the human thing where I have an emotion and allow instead of suppress it,” she argued.

‘That’s still a girl thing.”

“Why are you not afraid of anything in the world except commitment?” she asked.

“Whoa, going straight for the kill shot there, aren’t you?” he said, shifting uncomfortably.

“You jump out of airplanes, you swim unbelievable lengths, you physically rescue people from danger, you shoot guns, youfight with your hands, you have no fear, but you won’t return a woman’s phone call. Why?”

“Because the other things are, at least somewhat, within my control. If I fail, I’m the only one who gets hurt. If I fail at a relationship, I’m failing someone else. I’m letting someone down.”

“That’s the whole point of love, to take a risk on someone else. Without the risk, there can be no reward,” she said.

“Get back to the game. Ask me something else.”

“I’m tired.” She pressed her thumb to her forehead. “You ask a question.”

“How many men have you said I love you to?” he asked.

“Now who’s going in for the kill shot?”

He nudged her. “Still waiting on an answer.”

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