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In this scene, Talia is a CIA operative in Canada, but her job is so TOP SECRET, she can’t tell her boyfriend Danny what she does for a living—even though that demanding job is pulling her away from him repeatedly this week. (She’s promised him to set aside Friday night, but as soon as she made that promise, work double books her evening.)
“Talia?” Danny’s voice draws me out of my thoughts. I’m with him right now, and that’s all that matters. For personal time, a spy has to live in the present.
In this present, Danny is looking at me like I’m too good to be true, like he can’t believe I’m really here. “You know you’re beautiful, right?”
I laugh the compliment off and turn away, trying to silence my mental whisper. It doesn’t work, and the No, you’re not. Don’t buy it echoes too long. He wouldn’t lie to me, but somehow when he says that, I can’t quite push myself to believe him.
He slides off the counter, wraps me in his arms, and continues. “Know what I love about you?”
“Um, no. After this week? I honestly don’t.” I silently pray it’s not my terrible sense of direction or my forgetfulness or any other part of “me” that’s a lie.
Danny leans closer, his voice soft. Serious. Sincere. “You never give up. You fight for the things you care about, and you won’t let anything stand in your way.”
And those are all true.
“Thank you,” he says.
“For what?”
“For fighting for time with me Friday. For not canceling.”
I bump his leg with my hip. “It was nothing.”
“No.” He holds me closer, those warm, genuine eyes locked on mine. “It’s not ‘nothing.’ Not to me.” He trails a finger along my jaw to draw me closer for a kiss.
The second my lips touch his, I can sense there’s something more behind this kiss. An electric current flows into my heart and my lungs and my brain, until I’m so lost in this kiss that I can’t tell which way is up.
Something slams right behind me and I jump away from Danny, whirl around, ready to fight.
Nobody there. I look back at Danny, leaning on one hand on the counter. A hand he just slapped down to catch us.
Right.
I’m an idiot. “You scared me.”
“Sorry.” He wraps his arms around my waist again. I look into his warm brown eyes, and that same overwhelming feeling threatens me again.
I don’t know what he’s thinking or trying to say, but I definitely prefer being lost in his kiss to just being lost.
Danny presses his forehead to mine, placing us eye-to-eye. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” I kiss him this time and try to forget everything I’m afraid of, everything that could go wrong Friday.
I won’t let it.
Come join in the I SPY A SECRET blogfest to share your stories (real or fictional!).
Talia has a lot to consider. It’s great that he likes her for something she actually is. Your post was great, I was engaged until the end.
I liked that Talia is searching and needing truth, even as she has to live a multitude of lies. I have often thought how hard it would to be good at certain jobs–like being a spy or an undercover cop, or a Navy Seal. You probably have to check part of your soul at the door to do the job right. This is a nice scene depicting the struggle to be true to who you want to be. Good job. 😉