“Right?”Stella agreed, eyes sparkling, while Eric made a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat.“After that, the produce guy wandered off, realizing he’d been hopelessly outclassed.And this big lug—” she playfully smacked Eric’s shoulder “—tried to nod his head at me and excuse himself like he hadn’t just done one of the most romance-novel-hero things ever.But of course, I wasn’t having it.I invited him to the coffee shop next-door for a drink on me as a thank you.We ended up sitting there and talking for two hours.Then he came over the next day to hang my new curtain rods and help me paint my bathroom.By the time my bathroom was the prettiest shade of sage green you’ve ever seen, I knew I was going to marry this man.”
Hadley sighed.“That’s beautiful.And what about you, Eric?Did you know right away that Stella wasThe One?”
Eric relaxed right before their eyes as he looked down into his wife’s smiling face.“I knew before she said a single word to me,” he answered quietly.
Tears sprang to Hadley’s eyes.Damn it, there was nothing like a good love story to ruin a girl’s mascara.She glanced over at Cole, expecting him to be watching Eric with the same narrow-eyed, suspicious glare he’d worn all night.So, imagine her surprise when she found his gaze fixed onherinstead.And the heat and intensity in that gaze…
Phew.Was it hot in here?It felt hot in here.
But as was customary for her luck, the moment didn’t last long.When Stella turned the conversation back her way and she was forced to recount the fake story of how she’d met “Clark,” Cole’s eyes iced over and he shifted back into secret agent mode.
She took a moment to feel sorry for herself about the loss of hot, passionate Cole in that moment.And another moment to feel jealous about how quickly Stella and Eric had known they were meant for each other.Meanwhile, all she had was a one-night-stand agreement that had ruined her for all other men.
TENLEY: Jackpot!Hidden room in basement.
REN: Be careful.Look for trip wires and traps.
TENLEY: What kind of amateur do you take me for?
REN: Just.Be.Careful.
TENLEY: *dancing dots*
Hadley held her breath as she waited for Tenley’s reply and Cole deftly picked up where she’d left off in their cover story.The more she sat here staring at Stella’s glowing face and Eric’s smitten smile, thelessshe hoped Tenley would find anything.
Please just be a bomb shelter or hidden wine cellar or something.Anything other than a room full of evidence that’ll make Franklin dance a jig of glee.
TENLEY: I got it.Lockbox full of fake passports.Address book written in code.Files full of what looks like Russian intelligence.Sending pics now.
Well, shit.
Being a super spy sucked ass.
Chapter28
Despite being a complete and utter pain in the ass, Tenley was great at her job.
She’d managed not to trip any of the home’s obvious alarms, or any of Eric’s hidden ones, all while getting several listening devices placed strategically throughout the home.She also got photographic evidence of everything in the hidden basement room and managed to put it all back exactly where it had been.
Meanwhile, Ren had coded a program to monitor the data from the devices and pull out any snippets that included a huge list of spy trigger words.If Eric and Stella said anything suspicious from here on out, Cole and Hadley would be notified.They could take all their information to Franklin whenever they wanted.
All in all, the mission was going swimmingly so far.
But…
Something wasn’t right.
Cole could feel it.Something that Stella said had made him uneasy and he couldn’t quite put a finger on it.There was some puzzle piece he hadn’t placed yet.
So, he stayed silent and pondered it while Hadley washed their dinner dishes and he dried them.The mindless task should’ve helped him figure everything out.It didn’t.
Mostly because Hadley’s shoulder kept bumping against him while she worked, driving him to distraction.Which was just sad.One graze of her skin and whiff of her perfume and he was suddenly a brainless twat.
“Can we talk about something serious?”she asked.
His blood ran cold and all thoughts of Stella, Eric, and the mission evaporated.This was it.Hadley was going to tell him she thought their night together had been a horrible mistake.And she was right.She deserved better.He knew that.
It was still going to fuckingsuckto hear it, though.Especially after the apparently swoon-worthy tale of how Eric and Stella met and fell in love at first sight.
