He stroked the nape of her neck. “What you told me beforehand.”
She started. “How different was my initial intel from the final report?”
He paused. “Different enough that there would have been complications if that’s all I had to go on.”
Gina propped herself up to look at Lach. “I’d like to see it.”
“You don’t have a copy?”
“No.”
“Hmm. I’ll send you one.” He pulled her down again and kissed her hairline.
“I’ll need to make a list of every single person who saw my initial?—”
“Shhh.” He stroked her hair. “That’s a tomorrow problem.”
But a significant change to the report that could have injured Lach—or anyone else—was a huge problem. She needed to get to the bottom of it.
“Tomorrow,” he reiterated, feeling her body’s tenseness.
Gina realized she was using it as an excuse to rebuild her walls. She sighed and relaxed back into his body. “Tomorrow.”
Just as she was drifting off, Lachlan brushed her hair back from her cheek. “I’m sorry,” he said again.
“About what?” she whispered back.
“The way I left you that day. And for staying away ever since.”
“We had no choice,” she said as she lifted her head to look into his face.
“We always have a choice. I was a fool to think I could give you up.”
She laid her head back down and listened to his heartbeat.
“Then promise me we'll find a way to see each other again,” she whispered into Lachlan's chest.
He tightened his arms around her, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “I promise,” he murmured.
In the morning they made their plans and went their separate ways.
TWELVE
Gina, age 24
Amonth after their time in Cairo, Gina received a text. She was in D.C., just a week away from leaving the country. She smiled to herself as her heart sped up. They were really doing this.
The dim lights of the hotel bar cast a seductive glow on the patrons, too absorbed in their conversations and drinks to notice her. Gina leaned against the smooth, wooden bar, her eyes scanning the room from beneath a fringe of blond bangs. She hoped her disguise, complete with glasses and a subtle makeup job, would do its work in case she was spotted by a co-worker or one of the many people her father knew.
And then she felt eyes on her. She stiffened until a man stood right behind her.
“Can I buy you a drink?”
Lachlan's voice was low and smooth. A smirk danced on his lips when she turned to face him. He’d known it was her from the second he walked in and got the jump on her, dammit.
“Sure,” Gina replied, playing along, “but you should know, I'm waiting for someone.” The twinkle in her eyes betrayed her amusement.
“Are you?” His eyebrow quirked up. “What’s his name?”
