“I needed a change,” he admitted.
“Has it been for the better?”
He soaked in the sensation of her body against his.“Yeah.A lot better.”
The room fell quiet again.The morning sun was brightening the room, and flecks of dust glowed, suspended in midair.He watched them for a moment as they danced around with nowhere to land, nowhere to ground them.
“I did undercover work for a long time,” he said.“Deep cover.I was good at it, taking on roles and getting into places nobody else could.It was a rush.”
Her hand covered his, and she intertwined their fingers.“Until?”
“Until I got a bit too good.My brother, Mike, was the one who called me on it.I’d missed our mother’s birthday dinner, and he gave me an earful.We nearly had a knock-down, drag-out fight.”
“Why did you miss it?Were you busy working?”
“Nothing I couldn’t have gotten out of, but undercover work is intrusive.It splits your life right down the middle.You have to protect your personal life at all costs but open yourself enough that the wrong people believe you.It’s a really fine line, and I was beginning to cross it.”
Her grip on him tightened.“You weren’t starting to go bad.”
He pressed a kiss to her ear.“No, I had a firm grasp of what was right and wrong, but I’d become so focused on fighting the battle that I’d closed off my real life.I had barely any contact with my family.I hadn’t talked to friends in months.My sister didn’t recognize me the one time I dropped by her house.I’d lost weight and had gotten pretty grungy to fit my cover.”He let out a hard breath that stirred her hair.“Somewhere amongst all the lies, I lost myself.”
“But here?”
He nuzzled against her, loving the feel of her supple, warm body.“Here, I think I’m finding my way back.”
A sound left the back of her throat, and she rolled over to face him.Concern shone in her eyes.“I’m sorry.”
He cupped her face.Her expression was so guilty he couldn’t imagine what was going through her head.“Sorry about what?”
“I put you right back in that situation again.I made you lie.”
He gave her a wry look.“You mean pretending I was your boyfriend?”
This undercover role he’d been playing with her had been anything but typical.Undercover didn’t usually mean under the covers, but this had nothing to do with his job.Everything he’d done with her had been purely personal.
Make that extremely personal.
He slid one of his legs between hers.They’d made love several times over the course of the night, but he was ready for more.“It’s worked out pretty well, hasn’t it?”
A sexy blush came over her cheeks, but Zac frowned when she didn’t say anything.
He watched her carefully.Morning had arrived.The sun had risen over the hilltops and was glinting off the river.Downstairs, coffee cups clinked, and conversation murmured.“Are you going to tell them about us today?”
She traced the line of his collarbone.“I’m not sure what to say.”
What was there not to be sure about?They’d started out as a lark, but all that had changed, hadn’t it?There was no reason to continue with the pretense now.She had her family tree.He’d agreed to play the part of her boyfriend until they’d learned the truth.Now they had it.Why not be upfront about everything?
“What’s happening between us, Maxie?”he asked point-blank.Apparently, it was something he needed to know too.He knew how he felt, but she’d just admitted she’d been flying by the seat of her pants.“Are we getting caught up in our two-man show, or is this for real?”
She bit her lip.“I…Iwantit to be real.”
Zac’s heart sank.He pulled his arm away from her shoulders, and lines of stress reappeared on her forehead.
“But you don’t know for sure,” he said flatly.His heart hit bottom, and the impact hurt.She’d been giving off mixed signals, but he’d thought she’d been right there with him.“Well, last night was pretty damn clear for me.”
She looked at him like a doe in the headlights.But she still didn’t say anything.
“And I thought I was the actor.”He swung his feet over the side of the bed.When her fingertips brushed against his back, he moved.
