Page 60 of Fighting for Lucy

There was a lightness to him that hadn't been there before. It was obvious that making things right with his sister had helped a lot, but she also wondered if it was knowing he had a team at his back again that eased some of his anxiety.

Being undercover must be hell.

Besides the obvious that you were never able to relax, that you had to remain “on” at all times or risk getting found out, you were all alone. There was nobody to watch your six. Nobody totake a turn being on guard so you could get some proper sleep. You had to do and say things that were not only distasteful, but downright disgusting in order to maintain your cover. And there was not an end necessarily in sight. A job could last days, weeks, months, or even years. For Zander, it had been eighteen months of pretending that he was a rogue former Delta Force operator who had faked his death and gone to the dark side.

It hurt to think of Zander alone and hurting, believing he had nothing to live for and nobody who would miss him when he was gone. To know that his plan had always involved him ending his own life at the end when he finally got justice for the team he had loved and lost.

“Babe?” Gentle hands brushed featherlight caresses across her cheeks, and she blinked to make Zander’s worried expression come into focus. “Where did you go just now?”

Since they had already decided there was going to be no more lies or half-truths between them, she lifted her good hand and grasped his wrist. “Just thinking about how much you went through and how glad I am that you're not alone anymore. You have Scarlett, and all of Prey, and you have me. I don’t ever want you to feel alone again.”

A smile transformed him from handsome to downright sinfully gorgeous. “Babe, can I tell you a secret?”

“Mmhmm.”

“As long as I have you, I can't ever be alone again. Want to know why?”

“Is that a trick question?” she sassed.

“No, babe.” The grin slid from his face, and he got all serious. “It’s because you're here.” Taking one of her hands, he pressed it to his chest, above his heart. “I don’t know how you got in there, but I'm glad you did. And because you did, I’ll never be alone again.”

Because when Zander was around, emotions she didn't usually have any problem controlling just bubbled up and insisted they be expressed, tears flooded her eyes, making Zander’s handsome face go all blurry. “No one has ever said something that beautiful to me before.”

Another smile lit up his face. “Good. I don’t want anyone else saying beautiful things to you again. That’s my job now.”

Again with the sweet words. He was killing her here. It wasn’t like she had been avoiding looking for a partner or that she was against the idea of falling in love, and she even believed that love existed, she’d seen it in her parents growing up. It was just that maybe, deep down, she’d believed that she would never meet someone who would see her as strong and capable, who could handle her condition and the limitations it placed on her.

Because no matter how many times she insisted to others and to herself that her epilepsy didn't control her life, there were a lot of ways it did in fact impact a lot of what she did and the choices she made.

But Zander looked beyond that.

He just saw … her.

“Your job, huh?” she asked, hoping he meant that and wasn’t going to disappear as soon as all of this mess, hers and his, was sorted.

“Hoping I don’t get fired.” Unlike last night, there was no doubt in his eyes this time around, no uncertainty, somewhere along the way over the last few hours he seemed to have just accepted the fact that they were together.

Now it was her having the doubts.

The doubts weren't about whether or not she wanted to be with Zander and give this relationship a real chance, they were about external factors. Raul Castillo, the mole, the terrorist’s brother who wanted Zander dead, his own demons that whiletemporarily quietened could come roaring back to life and steal him from her.

But today she wasn’t going to worry about the future, she was just going to enjoy this moment when everything with Zander was fresh and new. It was exciting, getting to know someone who was already so important to her, and she didn't want to miss any of it because she was worried about problems that right now, she couldn’t fix.

“I don’t think I have any plans to fire you anytime soon, Zander.”

His smile was magic, and the kiss he dropped to her lips made her body tingle and her toes curl.

When he pulled back, she mewled a protest. She could quite happily spend the rest of her life kissing Zander.

Actually, she’d love to spend the rest of her life kissing Zander.

The man knew how to kiss, and she absolutely loved how he poured so much emotion into it. All the things they hadn't talked about yet, she felt with each stroke of his tongue. They were both falling hard and fast and it was as scary as it was exciting.

“Can I take you out to dinner?” Zander asked.

“Like a date?”

“A proper date. No jungles, no sleeping in caves, no plane crashes, and no armed gunmen. Just a guy taking out the most beautiful girl in the world.”

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