Page 15 of Double Take

He made a flowing gesture with his hands. “A blue-green oval bowl that curls up at one end like a wave. It reminds me of the ocean.”

She dropped her jaw. “You bought that?” He was the anonymous buyer who’d purchased her favorite piece? A funny lump formed in her throat.

He nodded. “It’s sitting on the dresser at the inn.”

“You brought it with you?”

“I brought everything important with me.”

“That was my favorite piece,” she said.

“Mine, too. I like all your stuff, but I love that particular piece.”

The rush of pleasure left her feeling awkward. She took a tiny nibble of her muffin, and he finished off his. The waitress warmed up their coffee with a refill. “Thank you,” she said and then narrowed her eyes. “You said Dark Ops kept tabs on me.They knew about my Cosmic Mates profile.” It hadn’t even been up for very long. “Why?”

He hesitated. “Because of the precariousness of the situation.”

“What situation is that? I’m no threat. I’m a nobody.”Why would they be monitoring me?

“Hammond was like Schrodinger’s cat. They needed him dead and alive, but you looked in the box.”

“That’s as clear as mud.”

“Sorry, physics analogy. It takes years to cultivate the kind of contacts he had. If Dark Ops lost Hammond, they would lose his informants, too. Normally, when an operative dies, his replicant assumes all aspects of his life. But you had started digging into Hammond’s background. Learning he wasn’t an accountant, you were on the verge of blowing his cover.

“If I had taken his place as your husband, you would have kept digging, raising questions, possibly exposing Dark Ops and Operation Double Take, the cloning program.”

True. She wouldn’t have stopped. She’d only begun investigating when he’d died.

“So, they allowed Mark Hammond,accountant, to be dead so you would cease your investigation. ButoperativeMark Hammond—aka John Bragg—still exists. The underworld believes the execution failed, but that he retired his alter ego as the accountant.

“However, that puts me in a dicey position. I need to stay out of the public light.”

She glanced around the café, filled with customers. “You’re in public now.”

“And Dark Ops would not be happy about it, although the risk of exposure on Terra Nova is practically nil. Even lower than in Patagonia. Only you and Amity would recognize me.”

“Patagonia?”

“When I applied for furlough, I told them I was going to the Patagonia region of Argentina.”

“How long are you staying?”

“That depends on you. I got approved for five weeks’ leave. I have three weeks left.”

“How does it depend on me?”

“Because I came to see you.” His gaze smoldered with a heat she felt clear down to her toes, and his meaning became clear. Her stomach fluttered, and her nipples tightened. Electricity of sexual attraction buzzed in the air. Her passion for Mark had died when her respect and love for him did. This man looked and sounded like him. How could she be reacting to her husband’s body double? Hadn’t she had enough punishment? But like people could tell identical twins apart, now she could see the differences in micro-expressions, gestures, posture, language, tone.

Her face suffused with heat, and air suddenly seemed in short supply. She drew in a ragged breath.After what Mark put me through, I must be crazy to contemplate…

Contemplate what? He hadn’t made any advances or proposals. She wet her lips. “What are you suggesting?”

“I’d like to see you again.”

“Like...a date?” She glanced across the street at the shop. Amity had finally vacated her post.

“You can call it that. I would like to spend time with you.”

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