Page 64 of Summer of Fire
Her eyes were like lasers drilling into him. ‘There are women all over England talking about their dalliances withyou. And there I was—a right mug—thinking you cared for me when we kissed like that.’
‘But I do care for you, Lizzie. Why would you think I don’t?’ He raised his hand and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. His touch skimmed the delicate skin on her neck, and she pulled away.
‘Well, you really have an odd way of showing it,’ she snapped, bouncing to her feet and striding back and forth in front of him.
He studied her for a moment. ‘Please sit back down and relax. I’m exhausted just looking at you.’
Lizzie sat down, as close to the edge of the bale as she could without falling off. He turned towards her, moving closer so his knees almost touched her legs. ‘We must work this out. You can’t go undercover in this state. This is exactly why I said we shouldn’t get involved. Because it always ends like this.’
‘Well, you’d know,’ she said, her tone cutting.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Like I said, you’re the one with the multiple dalliances. This is all new to me.’
‘For the love of God, woman. What bloody dalliances are you talking about?’ Now it was his turn to jump up and start pacing. He extracted a cigarette from his shirt pocket and stared at her, waiting for her to answer.
Now she was on the spot, she was nervous to begin. Admitting how much the idea of him being with other women hurt her was as good as telling him she loved him. And that was not a conversation she wished to have. He would think she was a stupid child to have fallen for him when he warned her they couldn’t be together.
‘Out with it. I’m waiting,’ he said.
‘Well,’ she spluttered, her chest so tight she could barely squeeze the words out. ‘There was an agent at the training.’
‘Go on,’ he prompted.
‘She asked me whether Raven brought me into SOE, and she said you took her on a romantic date.’
Jack sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.
‘It’s unlikely that a candidate in training would know my codename. But anyway, where was this supposed date?’
‘She said you took her to the Ritz,’ Lizzie said.
‘To the Ritz!’ Jack looked genuinely mystified.
If he was playing dumb, he was a master at it.
Be careful. He is a spy, Lizzie reminded herself.
‘And you believed her, of course,’ he said, his voice dangerously low.
‘Why wouldn’t I?’ Lizzie said.
‘How about because I’ve been here for the past weeks, blowing up enemy installations, for one thing?’
‘Obviously, I presumed she meant when you were still in London.’
Jack tapped one foot on the stone floor. ‘What was the name of the girl who said this? I’ll get to the bottom of it when I return home.’
‘Her name was Mary, but as we were all using cover names, that might mean nothing to you,’ Lizzie said, her head spinning.
She couldn’t quite believe she was telling him this, but despite her embarrassment, she was relieved to tell him the truth.
‘In this fantasy, where I’m a London lothario, would I not know her cover name if I recruited her?’
Lizzie hadn’t thought about that and felt a bit silly. She was cross with herself for allowing him to draw her into this discussion. In the short time she’d known him, she’d witnessed he had an art for turning the conversation the way he wanted it to go.
He released another sigh. ‘It’s not true, Lizzie.’
