Chapter 3
Zach POV
I pretended to read a case file as I watched Cammie close her eyes and fall asleep. She looked so cute when she slept… so innocent and fragile…
Can it Goode. I thought to myself, shaking my head. This is the girl that almost killed you with a chopstick last night. Still, I couldn't stop myself from sneaking looks at her out of the corner of my eye. God, she was cute.
Suddenly, the plane jerked, and her head landed on my shoulder. I was afraid she would wake up, but she just stirred a bit in her sleep and muttered something unintelligible. I smiled and wrapped my arm around her neck. Maybe I would get some sleep too…
I woke up to Cammie wriggling around, trying to get out from under my arm as the flight attendants announced that we would be landing shortly. Somehow, my arm had slid down to her waist, while my other arm held her to my chest as my head rested on the top of her hair. Needless to say, I was quite comfortable.
"Zach. Would you please get off of me?" She whispered, an obvious edge to her voice.
"Really? You didn't seem to mind cuddling a couple hours ago Sleeping Beauty." What can I say? It's fun to piss her off.
"Fine. I tried asking nicely." She stopped moving around and kicked me in the shin. Hard. I resisted the urge to flinch, but pulled my arms away from her.
She smiled smugly and sat back down in her seat as people started to pull their bags off from the overhead compartments. "You should be nicer to me you know." I said. "I am your husband after all." Her eyes squinted as she glared at me.
I smirked and stood up. Once we were back in the airport, I turned to whisper in her ear. "So here's the plan. We have until tomorrow to get into our covers- buy clothes, get some R&D nerds to do us some research, make up some fun 'family' story to use as small talk at the party, whatever. We just need to make sure that when we step into the Hunter's house tomorrow morning, we are the perfect embodiment of them, and no one will question otherwise. Granted, we have a few more days until the party, but you never know who is watching."
She nodded as I leaned away from her face before I could inhale more of her intoxicating scent. "When are the others coming? Bex and Macey?" She asked.
"Rebecca Baxter's flight is to arrive in about three or four more hours, along with her partner, Grant Newman. We can come pick them up after we go get checked into our hotel for tonight. Macey McHenry and Nick Cross are coming at around ten tomorrow morning."
As I pulled her large, heavy suitcase through the airport, I couldn't help but complain. "For someone who's buying an entirely new wardrobe, you sure didn't pack light." I said as I dragged it to the car lot outside.
"That someone might have known to pack lighter if her partner hadn't chosen to keep her in the dark about the details of the mission until the last minute." She sniped back. I rolled my eyes as I flung her bag into the back of the black sports car the CIA had provided us.
"Oh my god." She looked very annoyed as she slid into the passenger seat. "How many cars did the agency buy for this mission?"
"Five." I stated simply, turning my keys. "But the one back at New York was mine." I smirked and revved the engine, feeling totally badass. She just stared at me, completely unimpressed.
Damn. I thought as I clenched my hand on the steering wheel. What does it take to get this girl to like me? Normally by this point girls would fall all over me. Not Cammie, apparently. It was like trying to charm a brick wall. A witty, intelligent, not to mention beautiful brick wall.
We carried our bags into the hotel that we were staying at for the night. I approached the young receptionist at the counter.
"I have a reservation under Hunter." I said as I leaned across the counter.
"Of course sir," She said as she tapped a few keys on the computer before turning around to grab me a key. She batted her eyelashes at me few times before wishing us a good stay. Unbelievable. She thought I was a married man, yet she still tried to flirt with me.
I turned the keys to the hotel room and Cammie walked into the room and let her suitcase fall on the floor as she jumped face first onto the bed and let out a long sigh. I couldn't help but laugh. "Long night or something?" I questioned.
"Yes, actually, Zachary." She rolled over and sat up to stare at me accusingly. "I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night because I was worried some idiot might break into my house or something."
"Oh wow." I said, nodding and looking into her eyes sincerely. "I hope you had a lot of chopsticks lying around so you could defend yourself."
She rolled her eyes and stood up, walking over to the mini kitchen. I sat down on the spot she just vacated on the bed. "What'chya doing?" I asked, leaning back on the bed frame.
"Making a sandwich. I haven't eaten since seven this morning." She explained as she pulled bread out of the well stocked cupboards.
"Make me one too. I'm starved." I said, closing my eyes.
Her movement stopped abruptly. "What did you just say?" She asked. I knew from the tone of her voice I was in trouble, I just wasn't quite sure why.
I opened my eyes. Like an idiot, I repeated myself, not quite sure what she wanted me to say. "I said: 'Make me one too, I'm starved.'"
She put the butter knife down on the table and looked at me in the eyes. "Do you know what happened to the last boy who told a Gallagher Girl to make him a sandwich, Zach?" She said as if talking to a first grader. I shook my head no, not really wanting to know the answer.
"He woke up castrated. Make your own damn sandwich." She said, turning back around and continued what she was doing before.
"Fine. No need to be pushy." I said, getting up off the bed.
We spent the next couple of hours at the small coffee table, fabricating stories about the Hunter's personal lives, so that if anyone asked at the party, our answers would match up.
We were back at the airport a few hours later, waiting for Grant and her friend. "Bex is my friend, so just… be nice." She hissed into my ear as people began to flood into the waiting area.
"I'll see what I can do." I smirked back at her.
"BEX!" Cammie squealed loudly and ran to squeeze the caramel skinned girl coming towards us.
When Cammie finally unlatched herself from the girl, she decided to introduce me. "Bex, this is Zach, Zach- Bex." She said as I stuck my hand out in front of me.
"Charmed." I said in a British accent, smirking straight at Cammie.
"Oh, are you British!" I was surprised to hear an authentic accent coming from the girl's mouth. Guess I should have actually read her file instead of just looking at her picture.
"No," Cammie answered for me. "Just an ass."
I would have responded, but just then someone had grabbed me from behind and was squeezing the life out of me. "Zachy!" I heard the deep voice of my friend Grant exclaim.
"Dude, let go, you're choking me." I managed to say despite lack of air.
"Sorry." He said sheepishly and let go of me, standing next to Bex and putting his arm around her shoulder. She stared at his hand as if it were a poisonous snake, but he either didn't notice, or chose to ignore it. "I'm Grant." He said, shaking Cammie's hand.
"Cammie." She replied.
"Man, I'm so hungry!" Grant complained. "Airplane food is crap!"
"Shhhh…" I said, loud enough for the girls to hear. "Don't talk about food near Cammie; she'll threaten to cut your balls off in your sleep…"
Bex shot Cammie a look and she shrugged. "He told me to make him a sandwich."
Bex rolled her eyes. "Idiot…" She mumbled under her breath.
We drove them back to the hotel so they could drop off their bags, and then headed to the mall so we could buy new clothes to fit our covers. Grant and I were reasonable, and both bought new ties and a new dress shirt each.
The girls however, went all out, and we spent a painful amount of time there, not getting back to the room until eleven at night. As Cammie went into the bathroom to change, I finally noticed the fact that there was only one bed.
Assuming she would make me sleep on the floor, I started to lay out blankets on the hardwood. Cammie came out of the bathroom in very short shorts and a tank top. I tried my hardest not to stare. She noticed.
"You told me to dress for warm weather, now stop staring." She said, clearly embarrassed. She noticed what I was doing and sighed. "You don't need to sleep on the floor Zach. I'm a big girl; I think I can sleep in the same bed as you for one night." She said as she pulled the covers up around her.
"Are you sure?" I questioned. I was more than happy to accept her offer, but I didn't want her to be uncomfortable.
"Just so long as you know that if you touch me, you're a dead man." She murmured, her eyes already starting to drift closed.
I chuckled as I picked the blankets up off the floor and went to change into a pair of sweats. When I came out, Cammie was already asleep. I turned out the light and slid into the bed next to her, lulled to sleep by the sound of her rhythmic breathing and the feeling of her warm presence only inches away.
