CHAPTER 8

"Lee!" Grabbing the robe from the door, she flew into the dark bedroom. "What if someone saw you? What were you thinking?"

Lee had already begun nibbling on her damp neck. "I was thinking..." his hands traveled over her hips, "that you might need a little 'physical comfort'."

Amanda fell against his body, weak protests falling silent as she inhaled every last bit of his scent.

When Lee hit a ticklish spot, a deep, smoky laugh came out of her body.

"Shh! You'll wake your mother!" he smiled at her.

She took his hand, pulling him to sit on the edge of the bed.

"You took a chance coming here."

Lee wouldn't meet her gaze.

"I know, but I missed you."

Amanda leaned back, forcing him to look her in the eye. She saw the pain and hurt in his face, the feelings he was trying his best to hide. "Talk to me."

He swallowed, watching her eyes. "Was it this bad when I was with Sonja?" he asked her, genuinely concerned.

She sat stiffly on the edge of the bed, still clinging to his hand and shrugged. "Yes and no. I didn't like doing it, but I didn't know you loved me then, either." At his surprised look, she quickly amended, "I mean, I *knew*, but, well...we... hadn't made any promises to each other."

"And that made it easier?" he whispered.

Amanda shook her head, tears glistening in the glow of the moonlight. "No, not one bit." She shut her eyes tightly. "It made me sick to my stomach."

Lee moved closer to her, the dip in the mattress pulling her toward him. "So, you do know how I feel..."

She nodded against his neck. "I do, but I don't see any other way to solve this."

He smirked. "So, great, I'll just keep setting up the woman I love on dates, and following them around." He sat up just a little. "Do you think it's Colin?"

"No, but then if it was that easy to figure out who the bad guys were, we wouldn't have jobs, would we?" There was little humor to be found in their situation, and she could only smile weakly.

Lee sighed, breathing in the scent of her hair. "Do you know when I miss you the most?"

Her eyes opened wide, asking.

"Just before bed. I miss talking to you on the phone. Hearing about your day. Telling you good-night."

She smiled, and he was lost.

"Know when I miss you?" She traced a finger down his jaw line.

He played with her hair. "Tell me."

"Every minute you're not with me."

Cocooned together against the world, they sat, entwined for a silent moment.

"I don't want to end up like this."


"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.

She couldn't find the strength to meet his eyes. There was the chance that he didn't see this as the prologue to something more. That he would change his mind about marriage, cold feet, all that. She didn't want to be made a fool, to mistake his lust for love.

"I don't want to end up hating you, to mean all those hateful things people say." The words spilled from the weakest part of her heart. "And I'm afraid that because my last marriage didn't work, maybe I gave up too quickly and maybe I don't know how to make this work either and I'll lose you."

"We won't let that happen." His gaze slammed into hers, driven by brutal honesty. "Why do you think I wanted to know what happened when you and Joe separated?" He kissed her gently. "I didn't want to make the same mistakes." He kissed her again, harder. "I didn't want to lose you." He held her, so close she could feel his heart beat in time with hers. "I *don't* want to lose you."

She sagged against him, shifting slightly to tighten her arms around him. "I'm a package deal, you know."

He smiled through tears he no longer felt the need to control. "I know." Lee made a mental note to ask the accounting department to figure in two dependents to his pension projection, once this operation was complete.

Lee had once again begun to nibble on his fiancee's neck when he was startled by a perfunctory knock on the bedroom door. The sweetness of their solitude was cut short by Amanda's loving order to "Hit the dirt, pal." Lee dove for the side of the bed, quickly skittering underneath the white eyelet dust ruffle.

"Amanda, darling," her mother began before she was even through the door. "Could you help me with this bottle? These child-proof caps are just impossible."

Amanda smiled, willing her racing heart to slow. "Of course, Mother."

"Were you on the phone before, dear? Not that it's any of my business of course, it's just awfully late for someone to be bothering you. Was it Lee?"

"On the phone? Um, yes, actually, it was. He said to say hello."

Dotty beamed. "Oh, he is so thoughtful. Wonderful man."

Amanda placed the bottle and the aspirin in her mother's hand, standing to herd her towards the door.

"You know, dear, playing hard to get is all good and well, but after a while a man might start looking for...well...someone who is a little easier to catch, if you know what I mean." Lee listened as his brilliant partner became flustered by a senior citizen. Russians she could handle, but her mother...

"Mother!" Amanda held the door open, ushering Dotty into the hallway. "I am not playing tag, I'm dating someone, and I can handle it, thank you very much."

As Amanda closed and locked the door, a parting volley slid under the door. "Maybe a little game-playing would spice things up, dear."

Amanda flopped across the bed.

"Come on out."

It amused her to see her secret agent man gracefully try to extricate himself from beneath a queen-size bed. Remaining prone on the floor, he smiled up at her.

She had to stifle her laughter in a pillow as he leered up at her. "Wanna play a game, little girl?"