by Jana DeLeon
“I guess I can do that.”
“Good. Now, that being said, this is not an open invitation for you to poke around in police business. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite. I want you to tell me your suspicions so that I can take care of things myself.”
“Okay. Okay. I get your point.”
He shook his head. “I don’t doubt that you get my point. I doubt the strength of your resolve to stay out of my work.”
He rose from the table and stretched his arms over his head. “I’m beat. I’m going to get out of here and head home for a shower and hopefully, a full night of sleep. It will be the first I’ve had in a while.”
I stood up and followed him to the front door. “Thanks for covering for me. Again. And for saving my life. Again. And for not arresting me.”
“Again.” He smiled.
I stood at the front door, staring at him, and suddenly, a single piece of the puzzle that was my life fell into place, just like Ida Belle said it would.
“When this is over,” I said, “I’m not returning to the CIA.”
His eyes widened. “You’re sure?”
I nodded. Even though I’d made the decision only seconds ago, I’d never been more certain of anything. “If I go back to the CIA, I have to give up everything I’ve gained since I came here. I don’t want to let my friends go, and that’s exactly what would happen if I went back to DC.”
“What are you going to do instead?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I have plenty of money. Both my parents had insurance policies in my name and they had accumulated a decent amount of money before they died. Except for guns and electronics, I don’t spend much, so I can afford to take some time and figure it out.”
“Does that mean you’re thinking about staying in Sinful?”
I shrugged. “The only thing I know for certain is that I can’t go back to who I was before. Too much has changed. The rest is a blank page.”
“You’ll fill it in,” he said.
Before I could respond, he put his arms around me and pulled my body against his, then he lowered his lips to mine and gave me a gentle kiss.
“Something to think about,” he said when he released me. “While you’re filling in those blank pages.”
“You know that I’ll never really be a librarian, right?”
He nodded. “I’ve been weighing the possibility of losing you now against the possibility of losing you later. If I lost you to your job, it would kill me, but the truth is, it’s already killing me to lose you now. Sometimes playing it safe can be just as bad as taking risks. I don’t want to live with regrets.”
“I don’t either.”
“Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life, Fortune Redding.”
I smiled. “It looks like it’s going to be a good one.”
More adventures with Fortune and the girls coming late 2016.
For information on new releases and to be entered to win a $100 egift card given away once monthly, please sign up for my newsletter.