“We were all supposed to like, write letters to our girlfriends, you know, kind of breaking things off in case we didn’t make it out alive. We figured it’d make it easier for the ladies back home to move on if we went missing.” He let out a dry laugh. “I hadn’t told the guys I’d been Dear Johned, so I pretended to write one to Mindy. I wrote something to her. Sealed it. Addressed it.”
“What did you write?” She wondered if it was something cruel.Thanks a lot for dumping me while I was away. Gives me a lot to live for.
“Just a few short words, a motto we stuck to as a team.I’ll adapt and overcome,I told her.”
“And you did,” Amy said. “I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been.”
Jace gave her an understated I’m-over-it shrug. “So, we need to talk about the living situation.”
Amy’s body seemed to process what he’d said before the rest of her, heart sputtering like a choked engine while her mind worked to catch up. “Livingsituation?” she squeaked.
“Have you considered the option of me moving in there until you’re in the clear?”
She’d considered it all right. In fact, the fresh bedding for the spare bed was resting in her clothes dryer that very moment. But Amy couldn’t get over the way her mind twisted his reason for moving in. Which was to protect her, of course. But already her feelings for him were multiplying at an alarming rate, and she wasn’t sure if he felt the same.
Her face and palms filled with uncomfortable heat. It was becoming a pattern. That quick shift from tingly warm to don’t-touch hot as her mind moved from pleasant thoughts of having Jace nearby to the ugliness that lurked beneath the reason he was there. A truth she still couldn’t wrap her head around. Another concern had surfaced too.
“This is going to sound dumb…” Amy started.
Jace shot her a wry grin as he slid on a pair of sunglasses. “Thanks for the warning.”
The sight of his snarky smile should come with a warning of its own. “I’m not supposed to tell my family about this, right? I mean, not that I’d want to. Kassy couldn’t handle it, and my parents are, like I told you, on their dream adventure across America.”
“In a Winnebago,” Jace added. “Can’t forget the best part.”
She nodded, liking that he really had been listening when she told him about the trip earlier. “Yeah. They’ve been saving up for it for years, and I don’t want to ruin it.”
“It’s better if you don’t tell anyone,” he said firmly. “I should have mentioned that. It could jeopardize the entire mission.”
She’d figured as much. “Okay, but that takes away the only explanation I have for asking you to move in with me.”
They were parked in front of Maddie’s Subs now. Jace unbuckled his seatbelt and shut off the engine before turning to face Amy. He removed his sunglasses slowly, and scrutinized her with those gorgeous blue wonders. “Does it?” he asked, voice low and seductive.
Heat pooled into her cheeks anew.
“You can’t just tell them that you’re crazy about me?”
“They wouldn’t—” She stopped there as his eyes narrowed into daring slits. “I mean, it’s not like me to suddenly move in with somebody.”
Jace nodded. “You mentioned you’ll be seeing your sister a lot less now that she’s working in the shop, right?”
Amy nodded. “Right.”
“So don’t tell her I’m living with you. Just make sure she knows we’re dating. That way if she sees that I’m over there, she won’t think anything of it.”
Amy nodded, feeling better already. Thank heavens she didn’t have to tell Kassy about the threat over her head. If she did, Kassy would probably lecture Amy about how silly she was to believe that Jace actually liked her. She could hear her now:He’s getting paid to protect you, Amy, how can you be so naïve?
Jace tossed his glasses onto the dash and pushed open the door. Within seconds he was opening Amy’s door too. “My lady,” he said, holding a hand out for her.
Amy took it, savoring the thrill that shot through her at his touch, and squinted against the afternoon sun as they made their way into Maddie’s. Without Kassy there to convince her otherwise, Amy could buy into the dream. Believe that Jace really had feelings for her. And since it was one of the only things holding her together despite the danger she was in, Amy would choose to believe it.
At the deli’s entrance, a stack of wood-framed chalkboards rested in an oversized basket. Amy snatched two from the heap and handed one to Jace. Next she dug into the bowl of whittled chalk, scoring a purple piece for Jace and a green one for herself.
“Put a checkmark by the type of bread, meat, cheese, and toppings you want on your sub,” she instructed, pointing to the permanent print on the slat. “Oh, and leave the space for your name blank,” she said, an idea coming to mind.
“Blank?” He glanced up at her through his lashes, chalk poised and ready to write. “How come?”
“Because we’ll fill that line in for each other.” She quirked a brow.
