Page 26 of The Longest Wait

“Why would you keep that a secret?”

She bit her lip. “Because while it mostly happens at soccer,I also tend to do it when Lucy is going gaga over Jack. Or whenTess gets on her kick of happily ever after. Or when you guys talkabout soccer—”

“I get it. Not only are you such a nerd, but your listening skillsneed improvement.”

“Yeah, well, you’re a cry baby.”

“Tell me something else.”

Sofia finished her wine and took a sip of his beer. “Giraffes aremy favorite animals. Your turn.”

“I’m not a fan of breakfast food.”

She wiggled her finger at him. “I already knew that. Wheneverwe go to brunch, you always order a sandwich.”

He took his beer back from her. “Fine. I have scars on my ribsand stomach from when I was on assignment last year.”

Sofia eyed him with curiosity, probably wondering what happened, but she didn’t ask.

This didn’t deter him. His eyes were again gleaming, but thistime with mischief. “Want to see them?”

She took his beer from him again and finished it. “Your placeor mine?”

They put on their coats and Alex grabbed his phone to orderan Uber. “Mine. Uber will be here in two minutes.”

“Perfect. I’m horrible with putting laundry away. It often sitsin the dryer until I absolutely need something in there.”

“Me too,” Alex said when they got into the car for the shortride back to his place. “Sometimes I go commando because I’mtoo lazy to put my clothes away.”

“Me too,” Sofia said with a laugh.

The car pulled in front of his apartment. They got out andwalked together to his first-floor apartment. “I wish I had timefor a pet. I travel too much for a dog, but I always wanted one.”

They were inside his place, and as soon as he shut the door andturned the lights on, Alex tugged his shirt over his head. Part ofhim wished it was so he could whisk away her clothes too. Instead,it was to shed a light on the assignment that changed the route ofhis career. It was like ripping a Band-Aid off. He hoped to hell shedidn’t pity him.

Sofia came to his side and touched the scars ever so lightlywith her soft hands. When she looked at him, there was no worry.Instead, there was admiration in her eyes.

“Do you want to tell me what happened? If you don’t”—shebit her lip—“I promise I won’t harass you about it.”

“This is another secret, okay?”

She nodded.

“Assignment gone wrong. I was attacked and left on the sideof the dirt road for dead. A friend from our crew was kidnappedand held hostage for five days. When I finally received help, I wasout of it. We both survived, but Malcolm quit immediately. Saidhe had too much to live for. I’m on, what work likes to call, easierassignments.” He gave her an abbreviated version of what happened to him. It was easier than having to go through all of thehorrid detail. The detail he wished he didn’t experience.

“You don’t want easy. You never have.”

“I don’t know what I want.” Which was true.

Sofia grabbed her shirt and yanked it off, so they were bothstanding without tops on. “I love the excitement before I get ona roller coaster.”

Okay, there was one thing he knew, without any doubt, thathe wanted Sofia. He had no idea how he got her back to his apartment, with her pulling her clothes off, but he felt lucky as hell.Plus, she wasn’t pushing about what happened to him a year ago.

It felt like the best gift he ever received.

He kicked off his shoes, doing his best to not stare at herperfect breasts stuffed in her red bra. “I know seven languages,but somehow I always forget how to ask where the bathroom is.”

She snorted and then followed his lead and discarded hershoes. “My biggest achievement in middle school was being ableto solve a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute.”