Page 65 of My Super Sexy Spy
Walking back to my condo, I glanced over my shoulder and saw him on the other side of the street. Because I was feeling ornery, I flipped him the bird. He just waved and blew me a kiss.
“This has to stop,” I shouted across the street. He took the opportunity to cross to where I stood, as if that was some kind of invitation.
“I didn’t hear what you said.”
“You have to stop following me,” I told him. And I meant it. Mostly.
Night after night, lying in my bed and staring up at the ceiling, I kept going over and over what happened in Paris. He was the one to pull away. He was the one who, writing as Leigh, said our time together was over. So, this stalking routine now didn’t make any sense.
“But I feel like I’m making progress. Look at us,” he said with a smile. “We’re interacting.”
I huffed out my frustration. “You wanted to get rid of me. Remember? You pulled away when I needed you most. If I could get over the lying. If I could get over you taking Leigh away from me, I’m still not going to get over that.”
He winced. “I know. I screwed up. I was…afraid.”
“Afraid of what? You’re a freaking spy for Pete’s sake!”
“Ex-spy. And the reason I’d been a good one for as long as I was is because I didn’t really do feelings. I was dispassionate about people in general until you came along. You said I took Leigh away from you…butI’mright here. What we had in person and online was real. Maybe the most real thing I’ve ever had in my life. So I’m here fighting for it.”
“What do you want, Liam? Seriously, what do you see happening between us?”
He took a second to consider it, then started counting off on his fingers. “One, I want to fuck you. Two, I want to watch a baseball game with you…the sportswriter thing was a cover, but the hats are actually mine. Three, I want to fuck you again. Four, I wouldn’t mind a blow job…”
I pushed my hand over his mouth to stop his list, which was probably going to end somewhere around anal sex, which would shock the people walking by us.
“You’re incorrigible.”
He swiped his tongue along my palm and smiled when I made a gross face. “I have an idea. Let’s go back to your place, order some sandwiches and just talk for a while.”
“Talk?”
“If you would like to take your clothes off while we have this talk, I won’t stop you. But it’s not a requirement. We liked each other, Beth. When we were Leigh and Beth. Then in Paris we were close, until I screwed it up. Let me make that up to you.”
I could feel myself caving.
“Just sandwiches,” I said. “Non-naked eating.”
“And baseball,” he added, then glanced at his watch. “There’s a game on in less than an hour.”
“I don’t know if I like baseball.”
“Have you tried it?” he asked, with a lift of his eyebrows that made watching baseball sound like a deviant sexual act.
“Fine. Let’s do this and we’ll see if you don’t freak out again and bolt for the nearest door as soon as I say I want to snuggle.”
He grabbed my hand and linked his fingers in between mine. “I’m not going anywhere, Beth.”
The sad part was how much I wished I could believe him.
* * *
Liam
“That’s a curveball,” I said before taking a bite into my roasted pork with broccoli rabe and provolone. I almost cried it was so good. “I’m never leaving Philadelphia. Between the cheesesteak sandwiches and the roasted pork, I’ve decided to commit my allegiance to the Phillies forever.”
I watched Beth, who was sitting on the couch next to me, take a tentative bite of her sandwich and nod in agreement. She wasn’t a big eater, but even she could appreciate a Tony Luke’s special.
I had this impulse to feed her myself. To be the person who, every day, sustained her with delicious food, bite by bite.
