"I can't believe I married an octopus," Amanda grumbled half-heartedly the next morning when Lee woke her with light kisses along the back of her neck and all the obvious signs of his intention to extend the honeymoon.
"You weren't complaining last night," he murmured, smiling at the way her body had already begun to respond to his.
"I'm not complaining now," she replied, shivering with anticipation at the path his fingers were taking. "I just didn't picture waking up with you wrapped around me like a koala. It's playing hell with your loner image."
"Hey, if I'm only ever going to be married once, I'm going to make the most of it," he retorted. "I can go back to being a loner tomorrow."
Amanda rolled over quickly, a frown in her eyes as she looked up at him. "Promise me you won't," she asked.
"Won't what?" he asked, confused by the sudden shift in mood.
"Promise me you won't go back to being a loner. I mean, the last couple of days have been crazy and I know that once we file that paperwork later, you'll be out of my life like a shadow – but that doesn't mean I won't think about you or worry about you. I don't want to think you're alone out there."
"Worry about me? Why would you do that?"
Amanda gave a tiny grunt of annoyance. "Lee, you're a good man, a kind man – the kind of man who marries someone to save them from a doomed marriage because it seemed like the best idea. You talk a good game, but you need someone in your life to wrap those protective instincts around. Promise me you'll look for her, and that you won't cut yourself off from someone because you're determined not to get hurt."
He'd pulled back, not sure where this was coming from. "Well, what if you're her?" he countered. "What if you were my only chance to act like a normal person and you're just vanishing back to a life in the suburbs because being with me is too complicated? Maybe I should be working on persuading you to stay with me." He began nuzzling her neck, his tongue darting out along her collarbone, enjoying the flush he was provoking along her creamy skin.
Amanda shook her head. "That's crazy and you know it. Just promise me… please?" Despite the distraction of the argument, her body was arching toward his like a magnet.
He lifted his head to look into her eyes. "I promise. Scout's honour. It'll be like your alimony, okay?"
She laughed but still looked doubtful. "I don't think you were ever a Scout."
"You might be right," he answered with a dimpled grin. "But I did learn a lot about knots from a girl in Hamburg…" She gasped as his mouth closed around her breast.
"You can tell me all about it… later," she said, rolling onto her back and pulling a laughing Lee with her.
Amanda, proving to be the morning person she claimed to be, was the first one to drag herself out of their bed and into the shower an hour later. "The clerk's office opens in an hour. If we're really first in line, maybe we can catch an earlier flight and I can be home by the time the boys get home from school."
"I never thought my wife would be so eager to get rid of me," he complained in a joking voice.
"I'm sure your next one won't be," she answered, sticking her head out the bathroom door.
"There won't be a next one," he muttered under his breath. He lay there until she emerged, wrapped in the robe just as she had two days before and once again, his body took notice.
"We could be second in line and be home in time for the boys' dinner," he suggested, but the eyeroll she gave him was answer enough. "Fine," he grumbled, swinging out of bed. "I'll be ten minutes. Fifteen if you join me."
"Only an extra five minutes?" she countered. "I'm not sure that's worth my while."
"Oh I think we both know it would be," he raised an eyebrow and cocked his head toward the shower, grinning when she blushed, suddenly shy again.
"I'm sure it would," she said softly. "But the honeymoon has to end sometime." She reached over to cup his cheek, running her thumb along his lips. "This one anyway."
Lee paused for a moment, watching her turn away and start pulling clean clothes from her bag before shaking his head and turning to shower. He found himself mulling over that promise he'd made her as he showered, then shaved. Maybe she was right, he mused, maybe it was time to at least give in to Billy and accept getting a new partner. He was a good agent, but he knew he was better with someone to bounce stuff off, to have someone at his back. Maybe Francine would be interested in getting back in the field more? He shook his head – bad idea. They'd edged their way back to friendship, better not to screw that up by trying to be partners.
He was still so deep in thought when he walked out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist that it took him a beat to realize the figure standing in the middle of the room wasn't Amanda. He froze, letting his eyes meet the implacable ice blue eyes of Boris Volkov, who gazed back with an unfriendly smile.
"Scarecrow, you're underdressed for our little party," he drawled in his thick accent. "Although I'm sure your… wife? …appreciates it." He waved the marriage certificate in his hand to somewhere over Lee's shoulder. His heart in his throat, Lee turned his head to meet Amanda's eyes as she stood rigidly beside Volkov's sidekick, eyes wide with panic and a Glock pointed directly at her head.