Page 48 of The Agent
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“HE’S ACOP?” GWEN EXCLAIMEDlater that evening, ten minutes before their shift was scheduled to begin.
Marley sat down on the bench with a weak nod.
Gwen shook her head, her eyes wide. “Acop?”
“Yes,” Marley said gloomily.
“And he only got close to you to find Patrick?”
“Yep, but apparently he developed feelings for me along the way.” Right. He’d been spying on her for weeks, yet he expected her to believe that he gave a damn?
She suddenly wished she’d called in sick. She’d spent the entire day stewing over Caleb’s lies. Be rating herself for being such an idiot and yet again placing her trust in the wrong man. Sam had wanted to stick around, even tried distracting her by saying they should work on the hall closet together, but she’d ended up sending him away. She couldn’t bear seeing the pity on her brother’s face.
Caleb’s betrayal continued to haunt her. It pulsed through her veins and buzzed in her mind and pretty much made it impossible to focus on anything else. She’d come into work only because she needed a diversion from her thoughts.
“I can’t believe this,” Gwen said.
Marley’s lips tightened. “Neither can I. I thought he actually cared about me.”
Gwen tied the drawstring of her scrubs and stepped toward Marley, gently touching her arm. “Maybe he does, Mar. It might have been a case for him at first, but that could have changed.”
“That’s what he claims, but why should I believe him? He’s lied to me about everything, Gwen.”
Gwen looked thoughtful.
“Maybe you should talk to him again, try to make some sense of all this.”
“Sense of it? Heliedto me.”
“He lied about what he did for a living,” Gwen clarified. “That doesn’t mean he lied about how he feels for you.”
Marley fell silent. She thought about the times they’d had sex, the emotion overflowing in his blue eyes as he’d held her tightly, as he’d told her she was beautiful. She hadn’t picked up on anything insincere in those actions, in those words, but how could she trust her own judgment after being duped. Twice.
“I don’t know.” She rubbed her forehead in frustration. “I keep thinking about all the time we spent together. It felt real, Gwen.”
“Maybe it was.”
“The way things were so real with Patrick?” she retorted.
“Patrick was a soulless jerk who dealt drugs and killed people. Caleb is a cop. A drug-enforcement cop, to boot.” Gwen sounded conflicted, a deep crease in her forehead. “He cleans up the streets, tries to make them safe—does that make him a bad man?”
“Helied,” Marley said through clenched teeth. She took a breath. “Whatever, it was just a fling and it’s over. I’ll just have to deal with it, the way I dealt with everything that happened with Patrick.”
Her friend sat down next to her and took her hand. Squeezing her fingers, Gwen searched Marley’s face, a perceptive glimmer in her eyes. “What are you really angry about, hon? Because if it really was just a fling, you wouldn’t care this much. You’d just chalk it up as another stupid mistake, the way it was with, what’s his name, the guy you went out with before Patrick.”
“Brad,” she murmured.
“Right, Brad. He was a total ass, remember? He stood you up on your birthday.”
Marley sighed. “I really pick winners, don’t I?”
“You’re missing the point,” Gwen said with a sigh of her own. “I’m just saying, some men are jerks. Brad was, and you barely blinked after you dumped him.”
“And Patrick? Are you saying I shouldn’t have been furious abouthim?”
“No, I’m not saying that. Patrick is different. You were with him for five months. You lived together. Of course you should have been furious. But you’ve only known Caleb a week. It’snormal to be angry, sure, but not devastated.” Gwen hesitated. “Unless you care about him more than you’re willing to admit.”
