Her hand fell as she stared at the it. “May I see the ring?”
I took it off and handed it to her. Tiffany was searching for something and when she found it, she shook her head. “I feel like a doodoo butt.”
She frowned and as uneasy as this was, I couldn’t help but smile at her adorableness.
“Morgana insisted you use her engagement ring but after we were married she took it back for fear that Henrik would be mad. But I promised to buy you that candy pop ring in the morning. Obviously, that didn’t happen.”
We sat in silence for a minute before Tiffany picked up the divorce papers. She reached over to a side table and pulled out a small drawer, lifting a pen.
“Where do I sign?” she asked.
That was it. All the chaos and uncertainty of the past few weeks gone after a few strokes from a pen. I hesitated for a moment. Something in me wanted to shake my head. To take the pen away from her and stay married. Just for a little longer. To be normal for a few minutes more.
I quickly pushed that insane part of me away and pointed to the bottom of three different pages she had to sign.
“And initial here,” I said.
She did.
Sighing, I took the papers and forced a smile. We got up and she walked me to the door.
“Well, Tiffany, it was nice being married to you these past many weeks even if you didn’t know about it.” I chuckled.
She laughed as she leaned against the open door. “Yeah, I guess.”
I turned to leave but only made it two steps before she stopped me.
“How did my clothes in the hotel room end up in such odd places?”
Shit. I had to tell her.
I refused to turn and look at her as I spoke, “You took off each piece and hid them around the room. You said that if I found them you would give me a treat.”
“Where were you when this happened?” she asked, her voice soft but I heard her clearly.
“I was watching you.”
NINE
Tiffany
“Of course, cake,” Aria said as if it was the most obvious answer. She spread her arms back on the bench, shaking out her platinum blond hair to enjoy the breeze.
It had been almost a week since Jagger dropped the bomb of us being married and the almost equally embarrassing bomb, of me stripping for him.
I had refused to step outside my apartment since then until David begged to go to the skate park. I said I would go with him if he promised not to actually use his skateboard inside the park.
Henrik thought it would be a wonderful gift to give my boy—who was still working on building his strength—a gift of a skateboard.
I almost punched Henrik. But I said David could practice standing, gaining his balance, and in time, learn to do a trick. That it might help him build his core and leg muscles.
“I asked if Morgana could marry anyone else, who would it be?” Grace said as she pushed her short black hair behind her ear.
I invited the ladies to join me. Only Aria and our latest recruit to the group, Grace Jensen, could come. She was the receptionist at Mimir and apparently, Henrik was scared of her. She had a crush on him and he didn’t know how to deal with it.
Aria and her boyfriend, Alex, had run into her in Vegas back in June. There was some problem with all of them trying to get home, so they decided to drive cross-country together. That’s when they grew close to Grace.
We all sat on a bench in the park and I watched my son move toward the skate park. The heat of the last few days had gone away, leaving a beautiful, warm, summer day.
“And she answered the question. Ask her yourself if you don’t believe me.” Aria waved her hand at Grace.
I giggled at Morgana’s deep love of cake.
“Has she decided on what cake she wants for the wedding?” I asked.
“Yes, but she wants it to be a surprise,” Aria said but shook her head. “As her maid of honor, I feel I need to know these things. Especially, considering the location of the wedding and reception.”
“Edgar is in charge of the flowers,” Grace said holding her hand over her eyes to shield the sun.
“Why would Edgar be in charge of the flowers? Isn’t he the best man?” I asked.
Aria nodded. “Yes, but he told Henrik he knows of a great florist.”
“Okay,” I said but didn’t ask any more questions because I got the feeling someone was watching me.
“That guy is staring at you, Tiffany,” Aria said and I turned to look in the direction of where her head was turned.
I gasped as I realized she was right. A guy in dark gray running shorts that hit mid-thigh and a form fitting bright blue T-shirt leaned against a tree near the bike trail watching me.
“That man is cut.” Aria continued her impressed assessment of his body.
He pushed off the tree and began to jog in our direction. All of us quickly whipped our heads around, taking our eyes off the approaching man.
“Looks like Tiffany might have a hot date tonight,” Aria singsonged.
“I don’t think he’s about to ask me out. Besides, who goes up to a stranger in a park to ask them out on a date?” I said rolling my eyes.
“That’s how I got my date,” Grace said.
“What? You never told me you had a date.” Aria leaned forward, placing her hand on Grace’s shoulder.
“Last week I decided to go for a walk after work. I eventually found a bench that looked out over the lake. Some guy came up and sat. We got to talking and he asked for my number. We’re going out on Friday.”
“All right, Grace! You just might have a date for the wedding.” Aria lifted her hand for a high-five and Grace, with blushing cheeks, slapped it.
“Hello, ladies,” a familiar deep voice said.
I lifted my hand to block the sun and realized the runner with the cut body was Jagger. His legs and arms glistened with sweat but that only seemed to enhance the curves of his muscles. Placing his arms behind his back, he waited as my eyes lingered on the blue fabric that appeared to have melted onto his chest.
“Jagger. I didn’t realize you lived in Chicago,” Aria said.
That caught me off guard and I turned to Aria. “You know Jagger?”
“Yes, we met him on our way back to Chicago,” Aria said and then abruptly began to cough.
Grace patted her on her back, but Aria couldn’t stop.
“I think I need to go back home,” Aria rasped and pulled Grace with her.
They waved and I watched them, noticing Aria’s coughing stopped once they reached the sidewalk.
“That was weird,” I said.
“What do you expect from an artist.” Jagger made himself comfortable next to me.
“I guess,” I said still unsure as to what just happened.
“Nice day.” Jagger turned to face the skate park, waving at David.
My boy was standing on his skateboard just outside the gate that separated the skaters from the observers. A few boys were talking to him.
“I’m glad he’s making friends,” I said putting my thoughts to words.
“You sound like he’s five,” Jagger said.
“What?”
He sighed and turned his body so his arm was propped on the back of the bench causing me to stare at the muscles in his upper arm. Normally, I wasn’t into that sort of thing—men with lots of muscles like athletes or models, but I swear it seemed like Jagger was flaunting them at me. Wearing T-shirts that hug his chest or shorts that bared his legs.
Looking around I noticed all of the men, and women for that matter, were wearing similar items but on Jagger they appeared provocative. He might as well have had a giant neon sign pointing to his body that said, “This man has a body made for licking.”
And that’s another thing. When did I get into licking? The mother in me knew that licking anything, even bodies, could lead to illness. But the woman in me that had Jagger in her line of vision seemed to think licking might be fun.
&n
bsp; “Doesn’t David have friends?” he asked.
“Of course, but only one. There was a boy, Matt, but he moved away last year. There’s another boy that’s in our building, Walker, who comes over to play video games every so often, even before David had the operation.”
I turned to find David standing and playing with his board with one foot, talking to some kids. “David had a special communication device and we adapted the game controller so he could invite people over to play with him. He’s liked to play games with Walker, but I think Walker only liked David for the games he had and nothing else. At least, that’s what I heard him tell Henrik a few weeks ago.”
It wasn’t easy for a boy that had difficulty communicating, even with a speaking device, to make friends with kids.
“I feel sorry for that kid.”
I narrowed my eyes at Jagger. “Don’t feel sorry for David. He’s done more in his twelve years on this planet than most people do their entire life.”
“I didn’t mean David . . . I meant Walker.”
“Oh.” I shrugged. “I just think their personalities didn’t match up.”
At least, that’s what I told myself even when I noticed Walker would always make excuses when David invited him to his birthday party. Every year.
We sat quietly, enjoying the weather and watching my son laugh with his new friends. Unwittingly, my throat tightened and a few unsolicited tears fell from my eyes.
“Darn,” I whispered and turned my head, brushing the tears away with my fingers.
“Allergies?” Jagger asked before handing over a tissue that I hoped came from his pocket.
I wanted to let it all out. To sob and scream and jump for joy. But this wasn’t the time or the place. Not in front of my son and his new friends. Not in front of the handsome man that worked hard to defend this country.
Only alone, in my room, with a pillow to help me relieve my years of stress, of fears, of hope.
“Something like that.” I pretended to laugh as I pushed the corners of my lips up into what I hoped to be a believable smile taking the tissue.
I glanced over at Jagger and noticed he was watching me. His brow creased in uncertainty. Finally, he turned to look out over the park and watched the people go by.
“They don’t know and that’s too bad.” Jagger sighed waving his hand at all the people around us. “They walk around the world, ignorant to what is real. Their eyes never seeing the invisible beauty. Searching for answers that are there. Always there, if only they stopped running to find them. Because sometimes it’s too late when we see . . . and that’s the biggest heartbreak.”
His hand moved over mine and Jagger turned his head, his green eyes full of something I worried was being reflected back at him. “It’s okay, Tiffany, because I know. You and me, we know.”
I couldn’t stop them. The tears. They came and when I tried to speak, only rough breaths escaped. He pulled me close and let my eyes dampen his shirt. It felt good and I didn’t care. He was a man and I needed that right now. It had been too long.
His arms were firm, giving me the comfort and support I craved. Jagger never said a word because he didn’t need to. He knew it was his touch I required the most.
We would have stayed like that for a while if loud voices from the skate park hadn’t made me look up. I saw David on the ground and a group of boys around him yelling. Before it registered what was happening, Jagger had hopped up and was running over to the boys.
“I need everyone to get back,” Jagger demanded, his tone loud and authoritative.
The boys listened and a few ran away. One of the boys, a kid with black hair, was helping David up.
“What happened?” I crouched down and assessed his face, his arms, his legs.
He didn’t appear to be hurt but that didn’t mean he wasn’t.
“I fell,” David said. He folded his arms and refused to look at me.
The kid with raven hair tapped me on my arm. “The boys who ran off tried to steal his skateboard. We were talking, me and David, and they came over wanting his skateboard. They pulled it out from under him, that’s how he fell over.”
“Thank you for telling me. What’s your name?” I asked.
“Diego.”
Jagger moved beside me as I stood.
“Hey, Diego. Would you like to learn how to be a ninja?” Jagger asked.
The boy’s dark eyes rounded as his mouth fell open. There were a few gasps and “no way’s” from the boys around us.
“It’s just, I’ve been teaching David here, how to be a ninja.” Jagger turned to David, and with a serious tone he said, “You didn’t use any of the moves on those boys, did you? Because those moves are deadly and not to be used on anyone.”
My son shook his head as he stared up at Jagger.
The agent nodded, scratching his chin with his fingers. “Good. You still need some practice. Why don’t you give Diego your info and we can all set up a time to discuss more ninja training?”
“Yeah,” both boys said at once.
“Is that all right with you?” Jagger turned to me, doubt lining his features.
I gazed at my son’s face. So much hope in his while mine filled with worry.
“Yes, it’s all right with me,” I said as the boys cheered.
TEN
Jagger
“It’s ninja time!” Tenn crouched down and sliced the air with his hands.
Grabbing my partner’s arm, I yanked him back up. People eyed Tenn in suspicion as they curved around us on the sidewalk.
“Come on, I don’t want to be late,” I said studying their faces out of habit, but mostly due to embarrassment.
“Can I come and help?”
It had been a few days since I volunteered my services to David as a ninja instructor. I felt good when I left the park that day. Helping some kids be able to defend themselves gave me that high that’s been absent these past months.
Instead of hurting the bad guys, I was helping the good ones. It was different but something about it made my heart full.
Then I walked into the office the next day and gazed into Katlin’s cold eyes. She was relieved I obtained the signature for the divorce, but warned me to stay away from anyone related to Emma Hawthorne’s case.
I confided in Tenn. He promised to keep my secret but suggested I not tell anyone else.
“No, I don’t want to get you involved. It’s one thing to put my job on the line but I don’t want to risk yours too.”
He nodded but as we walked toward Tiffany’s building, I realized my partner was unusually quiet.
“What is it?”
Tenn shrugged. “I don’t know why you’re doing this—risking the case like this. You know if this gets out and Emma Hawthorne or her lawyer find out, it doesn’t look good for us.”
My throat tightened. “Yeah, I know. Just this one time and I’ll explain I can’t do it anymore. One time shouldn’t be a problem. I mean, I already fucked up marrying the woman. At least Katlin can work her magic to make sure that doesn’t get out.”
“I guess.” Tenn paused and looked at me. “What happened to you, Jag? You’ve been different lately.”
Shoving my hands into the front pockets of my jeans, I turned my head toward the street. “Don’t you ever want to be like them?” I removed a hand and waved it toward the people around us.
“What? Naïve? Boring? No, thank you.” Tenn laughed.
“Sure, they’re innocent of the evil people that we fight so hard to protect them from, but if I’m going to be honest, I’m jealous of them. I want to be blissfully unaware sometimes. Hang out with my friends and go to a bar on a Friday night. Maybe date a woman without having to search her background and the backgrounds of her friends and family.”
“What happened to Cate?”
“She’s dating some guy. He has a regular job downtown doing finance or something. When I saw her last that’s what she told me. No more hookups for me.”
His hand came to
rest on my shoulder with a hard smack. “Sorry, man. She was hot. I’m sure you’ll find another fuck. Someone with a clean record that only wants sex.”
Maybe I want more than a fuck.
“Perhaps you’re right. Looks like I’m here. Thanks for walking with me. And good luck on your lunch date. Hope you get lucky,” I said just outside Tiffany’s building.
“Hopefully she lets me into her inner circle.” Tenn winked before he continued on his way.
I used to be like that. Find some woman, have a casual fling, and not feel like I was the loneliest man in the world.
Tenn usually bragged about the women he was about to hook up with, but he didn’t tell me anything about this one. Maybe he wanted more than sex, too.
Pushing the buzzer to Tiffany’s apartment, I forced myself to get out of this funk I was in. Making the country safe, that was more important than some woman to come home to at night.
“Yes?” Tiffany’s garbled voice came through the speaker.
“It’s Jagger.”
The door buzzed and I pushed through. I took the elevator to the eighth floor, moving thirty feet down the hall and came to stop in front of door 803. I knocked.
The door opened as the smell of garlic and spices wafted past me. Tiffany stood there with her thick hair cascading around her face and over her shoulders. Her smile inviting and curved with a pale red.
“Great. You’re here. David’s been talking all day about the lessons. Come in.”
She moved to the side as I stepped past her. Her frilly, heart-dotted apron wrapped over her green blouse and jeans had my eyes momentarily fixed on two hearts in particular. I swallowed as I pried my eyes away from her chest.
“Do you like garlic?” Tiffany asked as she brushed past me and into the kitchen.
“Of course. But why would—”
“Good.” She cut me off as she moved gracefully around the kitchen. “I’m making a lemon garlic pasta and salad for dinner. And I use garlic in my salad dressing.”
The Spy Ring (Cake Love Book 4) Page 6