Page 22 of Falling For His Badass

I spin around and trot back to the hotel. My phone dings with a text message. Lizzy has sent a screen full of kiss icons.

I rush up to my room, change clothes, and throw my gear into my rucksack. Then I rush back out and climb into my corvette. I know Lizzy will take the interstate back to John’s so I will have to beat her there by taking the scenic route. It’s shorter, and I know on Sunday morning, traffic is nonexistent, plus the red lights will be blinking. My GPS calculates I’ll beat her there by 7 minutes.

As soon as I’m outside the city limits, I call Jeff. When he answers I tell him the news, “I’m in.”

“That’s fucking fantastic news!” He says. “How soon can you start?”

“I’m on 30 days leave right now. I’m going to call my commander as soon as we hang up and start the paperwork. I should be out before my leave is over.”

“Man, timing is everything. I’m going to need your expertise immediately.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Grab a flight down to Alabama. I need you to work up a profile for me.”

“That’s what I do.” I grin, “And I’m damn good at it too.”

“I’m counting on that.” He tells me. “When you arrive, call me, but I want you to begin immediately interviewing Aurelius Moore’s inner circle. I don’t have all the facts just yet, but it looks bad.”

I disconnect the call, then dial my commander. He doesn’t answer, so I leave him a message.

While the countryside flies by, I think about being a profiler, and what differences I will discover between the behaviors of enemy combatants and civilian bad guys. I am really good at what I do, and I’m excited to prove it to Jeff.

I check the time. I’m two minutes ahead of the original estimated time of arrival.

I can’t wait to see Lizzy’s face when I tell her my real name. I teased her by making it sound like it was because of my top-secret military clearance, but I couldn’t confess the truth this weekend. Jeff was right. Timing is everything.

My mind scans the weekend with Lizzy and my smile plasters itself on my face. The entire weekend played out better than I could have planned. If she hadn’t tried to turn me away, it would have been hard to accomplish so much in so little time. But her insecurities played into my hands. She is everything I’ve been looking for. The perfect woman for me.

I dial her number.

She answers. “Hey you!”

“Hey babe, I forgot to tell you to text me when you arrive. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

“Okay. Perfect.” She says, and the word stabs my heart.

“Lizard, is there anything else you want to know about me, other than my real name, that you didn’t get to ask?”

“Hmm. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

I laugh. “I have an older brother, and he’s as big a pain in my ass now as he was growing up.”

She laughs. “I don’t have any siblings, so I can’t relate. However, I claim my best friend Tara as my sister from another mister.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting her.” I tell her. Then I say, “Lizard, I have a question for you.”

“What?” She asks.

“Why did you try to turn me away?”

“At the room?”

“Yes.”

“Honestly, because you’re such a badass, you push my panic button.”

“Panic button?” I chuckle. “Man, did I miss the mark. I was trying to push your perfect button.”

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