and
Michael stood side by side, their arms crossed over their chests,
watching five women hop daintily and very slowly through a roped
hopscotch course.
Jack groaned when one of them tripped but
then righted herself before she hit the ground. “This is never
going to work. They run like girls. We are never going to get them
to look like they know what they’re doing out there. This is going
to be the biggest disaster in the history of T.A., man. I feel it
in my bones.”
“They’re fine. So . . . did you do it?”
Jack glanced at Michael, then at the women
again. “Just who is Leah to you, anyway?”
“Just someone I used to know. Why?”
“Because when I told her
you really were an ex-operative, she said, ‘ Really ?’ like she was surprised by
it. And I said, yeah, that you really were, and that I knew you
then, because I had done some flying for the Air Force, and that
we’d worked together.”
“Great. So now she believes me.”
“Not so fast. She asked if we’d been on any
dangerous missions, and I said some of them were dangerous. And
then she asked me what you did, exactly, and I said I didn’t really
know that much, as we were from different agencies, and it was all
covert operations, so strictly on a need-to-know basis. Then she
asked where you were stationed, and again, I said I didn’t really
know, that you’d sort of show up when it was time to go, and—you
get the picture. There were just a lot of questions. Women ask a
lot of questions in general. I dated a woman once, and it was six
months of one long question. Where are you going, who were you
with, when will I see you—”
“So what happened?” Michael asked, cutting
Jack off before he could catalogue all his dating woes.
“What happened is that in the end, she said
it was all very impressive, and that she was totally blown away,
because she couldn’t imagine how we managed, and I asked her,
‘Manage what?’ And she said . . .” Jack paused there, slanted a
look at Michael. “And she said it must have been hard to operate
with phones in our shoes, but at least our cameras were in our
watches, and that was probably more convenient, and then she
laughed and trotted over to her friends and apparently said the
same to them, because the next thing I know, they are all laughing
at me.”
“Shit,” Michael said.
“You’re on your own, pal,”
Jack said. “I’m not getting in the middle between you and any of
your female acquaintances. Marian! Pick up
your feet and run !” he shouted at one
woman who was strolling through the roped hopscotch.
Michael sighed and peered across the ropes
field. Damn it if Leah and her three pals weren’t looking at him
now. They burst out laughing when he made eye contact, then shot
forward at once, their heads together, talking and clearly enjoying
themselves.
Okay. No more playing around. Leah didn’t
have to accept his apology—shit, she didn’t even have to hear it.
But she had to believe this about him—his pride was at stake
now.
He knew what he had to do.
At the end of the workday,
Michael walked out to his car, rolling his eyes for every Bye, Double-Oh-Seven !
and Where are you going, another Mission
Impossible? HA HA . Everyone was a goddam
comedian. He slid into his T-bird, stuck his Blackberry in the
hands-free set, and dialed a number he hadn’t dialed in a couple of
years.
Chapter Eight
LEAH made it all the way to the 405 before
she pulled into a convenience store and pressed her forehead to her
steering wheel, her eyes tightly shut. He looked so good, he
sounded so good. And every time he looked at her, all she could
think of was sex. The really fabulous sex she’d only experienced
with Michael. No one else could do it like him.
This was really all so unbelievable—all the
times she’d thought and dreamed about Michael, and now here he was,
walking around, pretending he’d been some super-secret spy.
What really hurt is that during the day,
she’d catch
Michael stood side by side, their arms crossed over their chests,
watching five women hop daintily and very slowly through a roped
hopscotch course.
Jack groaned when one of them tripped but
then righted herself before she hit the ground. “This is never
going to work. They run like girls. We are never going to get them
to look like they know what they’re doing out there. This is going
to be the biggest disaster in the history of T.A., man. I feel it
in my bones.”
“They’re fine. So . . . did you do it?”
Jack glanced at Michael, then at the women
again. “Just who is Leah to you, anyway?”
“Just someone I used to know. Why?”
“Because when I told her
you really were an ex-operative, she said, ‘ Really ?’ like she was surprised by
it. And I said, yeah, that you really were, and that I knew you
then, because I had done some flying for the Air Force, and that
we’d worked together.”
“Great. So now she believes me.”
“Not so fast. She asked if we’d been on any
dangerous missions, and I said some of them were dangerous. And
then she asked me what you did, exactly, and I said I didn’t really
know that much, as we were from different agencies, and it was all
covert operations, so strictly on a need-to-know basis. Then she
asked where you were stationed, and again, I said I didn’t really
know, that you’d sort of show up when it was time to go, and—you
get the picture. There were just a lot of questions. Women ask a
lot of questions in general. I dated a woman once, and it was six
months of one long question. Where are you going, who were you
with, when will I see you—”
“So what happened?” Michael asked, cutting
Jack off before he could catalogue all his dating woes.
“What happened is that in the end, she said
it was all very impressive, and that she was totally blown away,
because she couldn’t imagine how we managed, and I asked her,
‘Manage what?’ And she said . . .” Jack paused there, slanted a
look at Michael. “And she said it must have been hard to operate
with phones in our shoes, but at least our cameras were in our
watches, and that was probably more convenient, and then she
laughed and trotted over to her friends and apparently said the
same to them, because the next thing I know, they are all laughing
at me.”
“Shit,” Michael said.
“You’re on your own, pal,”
Jack said. “I’m not getting in the middle between you and any of
your female acquaintances. Marian! Pick up
your feet and run !” he shouted at one
woman who was strolling through the roped hopscotch.
Michael sighed and peered across the ropes
field. Damn it if Leah and her three pals weren’t looking at him
now. They burst out laughing when he made eye contact, then shot
forward at once, their heads together, talking and clearly enjoying
themselves.
Okay. No more playing around. Leah didn’t
have to accept his apology—shit, she didn’t even have to hear it.
But she had to believe this about him—his pride was at stake
now.
He knew what he had to do.
At the end of the workday,
Michael walked out to his car, rolling his eyes for every Bye, Double-Oh-Seven !
and Where are you going, another Mission
Impossible? HA HA . Everyone was a goddam
comedian. He slid into his T-bird, stuck his Blackberry in the
hands-free set, and dialed a number he hadn’t dialed in a couple of
years.
Chapter Eight
LEAH made it all the way to the 405 before
she pulled into a convenience store and pressed her forehead to her
steering wheel, her eyes tightly shut. He looked so good, he
sounded so good. And every time he looked at her, all she could
think of was sex. The really fabulous sex she’d only experienced
with Michael. No one else could do it like him.
This was really all so unbelievable—all the
times she’d thought and dreamed about Michael, and now here he was,
walking around, pretending he’d been some super-secret spy.
What really hurt is that during the day,
she’d catch
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