Unable to stop himself, Nick leaned forward and sucked it off. He took advantage of the opportunity to sneak in another kiss.
She laughed against his mouth. “If you don’t cut that out, we’ll never actually eat these. I need to decide what to make at the shop tomorrow.”
Nick sighed theatrically. “All you care about is work.”
“Well, a taste test with you certainly makes everything sweeter.” She kissed him again and then fed him another bite, finishing the last of it herself. “This one’s pretty good,” she decided, “but I’m afraid it might be too much chocolate.”
She launched into a discussion about the pros and cons of different types of cake and frosting in between feeding him. The second cupcake was also very good, and he was unable to choose a favorite. Deciding to go with the vanilla one at her shop this week, Carlie went back to animatedly discussing them.
Despite his thorough education so far today, Nick still had little interest in the cupcake business. However, it was impossible not to become excited about her plans. Her enthusiasm was contagious.
When her torrent of words finally ran out, Nick finished the last of his coffee before taking her hand in his. He stared deep in her eyes, losing his heart to her even more. Though he didn’t want to bring her happy mood down, one question kept running through his mind.
“Carlie, what if you have to leave Sayle because of your enemies?”
Her hand contracted against his. “I’m going to do my best to stay here. I’m so tired of running.” She shrugged. “Besides, I finally found someone I’d like to spend time with for a while.”
“Just a while?”
She shrugged. “We haven’t talked about you much. I didn’t want to make any assumptions. You’re living in a hotel, so I’m guessing you didn’t plan to stay here long. What happens once your restaurant is going strong and you move on to the next opportunity?”
He had no answer for that. How could he tell her that if she wanted to be with him, their problems were much larger than startup restaurants? The leaders of their country could very well be against them finding happiness together.
Picking his words carefully, Nick tried to be as honest as he could. “If I found my soul mate, I’d give up everything to be with her.”
Though he’d hoped to see her smile again, Carlie eyebrows furrowed and she pressed her lips together, chewing on the bottom one for a few moments. “You can’t be certain about finding your soul mate, no matter how strong the connection. I won’t give up my dreams again. I don’t expect you to give up yours either.”
Not the response he hoped to hear. Convincing Carlie to leave the country with him looked like a bleak prospect.
I need to quit over thinking everything. Enjoy the time I have right now with her. Maybe Paul will come through and everything will work out fine.
Yeah, right.
He wished he still believed in fairytales.
Chapter Eighteen
Carlie smiled as she set her newest batch of gourmet cupcakes in front of Henry and Edith the following Friday afternoon. “Sorry again for being closed earlier in the week,” she told them. “Hopefully these are worth the wait.”
“Were you in a car accident, dear?” Edith asked, though across the table Henry glared at his wife, likely anxious to dig into his dessert. “Your face is bruised pretty badly.”
Grimacing, Carlie shrugged. “Yeah. I was pretty beat up.” The beating up part was entirely true. If people wanted to assume the beating came from a car accident, she’d let them. “I’m feeling much better now, though, so don’t worry. Enjoy your food.”
She walked to the next table, smiling, refilling drinks, making sure everyone had what they needed. No one else commented on her bruises, and Carlie thought she had done a passable job covering them with makeup, just the way Shelley instructed.
Truthfully, she felt one hundred percent back in good health, but Nick hadn’t wanted to return to the karate dojo yet. Not that it mattered. All Carlie needed was training so she could defend herself, and Nick drilled her every night, teaching her new techniques and helping her perfect them.
And after training... Heat rose in Carlie’s cheeks, and she glanced across the room. Nick sat at the booth in the corner, watching her. He winked when their eyes met. All the customers were satisfied and Shelley occupied a table of men, as usual, so Carlie made her way over to Nick.
“What brings you around here, handsome?” she asked, inhaling deeply in an effort to inflate her chest to full capacity. “Looking for something tasty?”
“Mmmm hmmmm.” He licked his lips. “I found what I was looking for, too.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.” Carlie winked, wishing they were alone so she could kiss him. Her confidence had risen so much since meeting Nick. She never used to flirt and was never forward in stating what she wanted. However, everything felt natural with him. The past week was one of the happiest she’d had since being a child and spending time with her parents.
It was nice to experience joy again. She tried not to worry about whether her enemies would take it all away. Nick kept hinting he’d be willing to run with her, if it came down to that. While she didn’t want him to give up his dreams for her, it was reassuring to know he wanted to be with her. Optimism was such an exhilarating emotion after spending so many years in fear.
Nick finally stopped undressing her with his eyes and glanced around the shop. “Is Muhammad coming in today to get your leftovers?”
“Yep. He should be here any time. Friday nights are one of the busier times at Compassion For All, and I have quite a bit of food for him today.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Did you purposefully make extra?”
Carlie widened her eyes. She wanted to lie and say she hadn’t, but figured Nick would see right through that. “How is it that you already know me so well?”
Nick reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her closer to him and kissing the tips of her fingers, despite the customers who might be watching. “Because our hearts speak to each other.”
She wrapped her arms around his head and hugged him to her stomach, no longer caring who watched. Happiness this great couldn’t be contained. “What would I do without you?”
“You’ll never have to find out.” Nick’s arms circled her upper legs and Carlie ran her hands through his dark hair, loving the way it felt. He raised his face and she bent to kiss him softly.
The front door opened and they broke apart. Although Carlie fought against more blushing since she’d let herself get carried away, she turned and watched a frazzled woman enter the shop. Her brown hair was windblown and her jacket buttoned incorrectly, hanging down on one side. It took Carlie a moment to realize it was the same woman who’d ordered cupcakes last weekend for her daughter’s fifteenth birthday party.
Once she spotted Carlie, she rushed across the room. “Please tell me the cupcakes are ready.” The woman clearly held back tears. “Something has to have gone right.”
“They’re ready. I have them boxed up in the kitchen.” Carlie tried to remember the name written on the order slip. “Are you okay, Mrs. Flair?”
Mrs. Flair wrung her hands together and shook her head. “The helium tank to fill the balloons is on back order, the party hall was double booked, and now—” She shook her head, a small sob coming from her throat.
Before Carlie could respond, the front door opened again and Muhammad walked into the restaurant.
He spotted them in the corner and smiled broadly. “Good afternoon, you guys.”
Though Nick hadn’t liked Muhammad at first, the past week the pair had gotten to know each other. They chatted each day when Muhammad came to get Carlie’s donations, and Carlie hoped they could become friends. Nick had even talked about donating money to the charity again, but said he wanted to check things out over there first. It made her trust him even more than she already did. While growing up, her parents always told her to find a man with a generous heart.
She waved a
nd then turned to Nick. “Could you help Muhammad? Have him pull his truck around back since there’s so much. Load up both pots of soup and the loaves of bread sitting to the left of the sink.”
He nodded, though a grin twitched at the corners of his mouth. “Two pots of soup?”
“Yes, two.” She put her hands on her hips, daring him to argue, but his smile only grew larger. “There’s also some lettuce and tomatoes in the walk-in cooler that he can take. The stuff in the front bin that expires soonest.”
Nick stood, squeezing her shoulder as he walked past. “Good afternoon, Muhammad. Looks like I’m helping you today.”
Satisfied Nick had that under control, Carlie turned back to Mrs. Flair. “Won’t you please sit down? Let’s figure out what to do about your party.”
The woman did as asked, and Carlie slid into the bench across from her. Luckily, Shelley checked on the tables, keeping the customers happy.
“I don’t think we can fix this party.” Tears spilled down Mrs. Flair’s cheeks. “My husband left me last Sunday for another woman. Julie’s birthday is ruined. No balloons, no place to hold it...no dad. He said he’d be there and pretend things were fine for Julie’s sake, and he’s certainly good at pretending.” She shook her head. “At least we have cupcakes.”
Carlie reached across the table to pat her hand. Sympathy filled her heart as she looked at the older woman. To be married all that time and then find out your husband didn’t love you, had only pretended to love you for some unknown amount of time—Carlie knew what that felt like. “Men can be such dogs.”
That startled a laugh out of the stressed-out mother. “That’s the truth.”
Then again, Nick had begged her not to judge all men by the bad apples. She’d certainly found a good one in him. The Ryans and Stephens of the world didn’t seem as important anymore. “They’re not all horrible though, Mrs. Flair. I’m sorry to hear about your trouble. Let’s see what we can do about making a great party for Julie, shall we?”
“You want to help me?” The shock was clear on her face. “Why? We’re total strangers. You don’t owe me anything except the cupcakes you promised.”
“I’ve recently been gifted with a great deal of happiness, and I want to pay that forward.”
“If you’ll forgive me for saying so, you don’t look like your luck’s been all that great. Your face looks like someone beat the crap out of you.”
Carlie nodded. “Someone did, but that opened the door for something great. Sometimes life knocks us down flat, but things can only go up once you’ve hit rock bottom.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” Mrs. Flair wiped some tears away. “Things have been down for a long time. I don’t know if they’ll ever get better.”
Carlie offered a smile, hoping to reassure her. “Good things happen when we least expect them. We’ll make this right.”
***
Nick left Carlie at the shop working on her books. She assured him she’d be fine. The store had closed for the night, so no one could get in to hurt her. He told her he needed to check things at his restaurant. In truth, Nick wasn’t really hands on in the projects he invested in, but it did give him a good cover story to take care of his real job’s responsibilities.
Paul finally text messaged today, asking Nick to call when he was somewhere alone and at his laptop. Nick had waited all week for the phone call, wondering what S.A.T.O. decided. He was anxious to talk to the boss.
He sat in the hotel room, laptop open, and called Paul.
“About time,” his boss barked.
Like Nick hadn’t been waiting on him all week. “Sorry. I’ve been staying at the shop with Car—uh, the target during the days like you suggested. She’s there doing paperwork now, so I was finally able to get away.”
“What have you seen?” Paul sounded slightly less angry. “She’s in tight with Muhammad Khan like I suspected, isn’t she?”
Damn. Paul still thought Carlie was guilty. “Sir, I’ve been present for any interactions between them all week. There’s no secrecy about what they’re doing. Carlie gives him food, and he takes it to his kitchen. If he’s running a terrorist organization, he’s also truly running a soup kitchen.”
“Well Carlie has been lying to you, agent. Make no mistake about that.”
He had to stop slipping up and using her name. Paul picked up on it every time, and Nick never had that problem with any other target. Not even the other females he’d investigated. Then again, Carlie was more than just another target now. “What do you mean she’s been lying?”
Paul cleared his throat and Nick heard him tapping on a keyboard. “I sent files to your e-mail. You’re not going to like them.”
The message beeped through on Nick’s screen and he opened it. There was no subject or message, just four attachments. He clicked the first one and saw a copy of a newspaper clipping. ‘Prince Rayhan Kollek to marry local girl, Stephanie Swanson.’ Nick read the details, which told the date and time of their pending nuptials. It also talked about Stephanie going from peasant to princess in what the article called a true-life Cinderella story.
“President Sharp and the S.A.T.O. board dug these up for me,” Paul said. “Whoever your target is, she was never Stephanie Swanson-Kollek.”
A picture at the bottom of the paper showed the happy couple in grainy black and white. The woman looked nothing like Carlie. For one thing, she was quite a bit larger, though Carlie could have lost weight after starting karate. However, the woman’s face didn’t resemble hers at all.
Frantic to find an explanation, Nick opened the next file. This contained wedding pictures in full color. The happy couple stood before a priest in a packed church. They cut their wedding cake and fed each other. Two other pictures showed the plump bride looking radiant in her dress with her bridal party surrounding her. And she was definitely not Carlie.
The last two files were reports of Rayhan’s death—and they reported it as a car accident, not the explosion Carlie claimed it was. Although it didn’t say so outright, the last report hinted another person was in the car with Rayhan when the accident occurred, taken from information gathered during an interview with the prince’s mother. Could that have been what happened to the real Stephanie Swanson? It seemed to say that she died too, but wasn’t spelled out on the page.
“What does all this mean?” Nick finally asked, uncertainty eating away at him. If Carlie lied about who she was, then she lied about everything. Was she, in fact, a terrorist?
“I’m sorry, Nick. I know you had your heart set on her being innocent.” Paul actually did sound sorry. “President Sharp wants you to stay with her, though. I assume things have moved to the physical level, since you’ve been living with her now for a week?”
“Yes.” Nick wondered when the shock would wear off. He knew the hurt had to come eventually. The nights spent locked in passion with Carlie were wonderful, and he thought he’d found true love.
“Can you stay with her, keep pretending everything is fine?”
“I’m a professional.” Nick’s hands felt like ice and his heart pounded too fast. “I can handle this.”
“Have you found the bracelet yet?” Paul asked quietly. “She can do a lot of damage with those microchips.”
Truthfully, Nick hadn’t even bothered searching. Carlie kept him busy with training and loving, and he thought she was wrongly accused. “I’ve never seen her wear any jewelry except what she borrowed from her friend.”
“She’d likely keep it in a safe place, hidden for now. You’ll have to figure out a way to get her to show you where she would keep something valuable.”
Nick thought about the safe at Carlie’s Creations. She kept all the money the shop earned in there while waiting for the armored car to collect it each day. However, she’d opened it freely in front of him several times, without any hesitation. That didn’t necessarily mean the bracelet wasn’t in there, but it must be well hidden.
“I’ll come up with something,”
Nick finally answered. “Do you or the other members of S.A.T.O. have any clue who Carlie actually is?”
Paul sighed. “Have you fallen for this girl? I’ve never heard you so upset on a case before.”
Rolling his eyes at himself for slipping up with her name again, Nick’s sigh matched Paul’s. “I’m going to be honest with you. I have fallen for the girl I thought she was. The one she pretended to be.”
“And now that you know the truth?”
“I told you before that if you had proof, I’d do things your way.” Nick’s heart spasmed with pain, but he stuffed it down, refusing to acknowledge it. “So, who is she? Her story was so convincing, I thought for sure no one could make something like that up.”
“We think she was Princess Stephanie’s best friend.” Paul’s voice held a softer quality.
After everything the boss had put him through the last year, Nick was surprised to hear that. It was almost as if Paul truly felt bad for him. He sounded like the man Nick had known for thirteen years, the one he admired. It made him feel a little better to at least have that back. He’d missed the old Paul the past year.
“What makes you think she’s Stephanie’s friend?” he asked.
“Look at the picture of the bridal party. Check out the maid of honor,” Paul replied. “I know this is hurting you, Nick. You’re usually so cautious and never get involved with a target.”
“I’ll be fine,” he said firmly. Even if he didn’t really believe that, he had to reassure Paul.
“You know I trust you completely, son, and I’m sure you’ll be fine. However, if you need anything, I’m here for you.” He sighed loudly. “Search for the bracelet. The important thing is protecting the innocents Muhammad Khan wants to hurt. I’ll be in touch soon.”
The call disconnected, and Nick closed the other opened files until only the picture of Stephanie’s bridal party was on the desktop. All the women smiled out at him, happy about the festive occasion. He studied their faces, particularly the face of the girl next to the happy bride.
She looked a lot younger. The years on the run, or whatever she was doing, had hardened Carlie. Nick wished there was another explanation, anything besides Carlie lying to him.
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