Love & Deception (Agents in Love - Book 1) (31 page)

Carlie knew he was on to her. He supposed it
was possible she didn’t think he knew the significance of the
bracelet, but that seemed unlikely. Carlie wasn’t stupid. She could
connect the dots and realize he knew about the bracelet too, since
he questioned her about everything else.

But she left it, right where it had been all
along. His for the taking. At least he could lock it at the safe in
his hotel room, but he didn’t understand why a terrorist wasn’t
more suspicious of leaving her prized possession where he could get
it. It didn’t make any sense.

The burner cell buzzed yet again. Donovan
was the only person who had that number, and Nick knew he should
pick it up and talk to his friend. The problem was, he didn’t know
what to tell him. It seemed doubtful Carlie would still agree to
Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Plus, if they planned an attack for
this weekend, he really needed to let Donovan know so he could
protect his family. They should be home stockpiling food just in
case S.A.T.O. couldn’t stop Muhammad.

He raced to the living room to answer it,
but the call disconnected before he could. Almost immediately, his
normal cell phone rang. Nick glanced at the screen, shocked to see
Carlie’s name come up on the caller ID.

Heart pounding, he answered it, almost
afraid to hear from her. “Carlie? What’s wrong? Are you safe?”

Her sigh came over the line. “You’ve had to
rescue me way too many times, I take it, if you expect me to be in
trouble.”

He relaxed slightly. “That’s okay. I like
being your hero.”

“I don’t even know what to say to that.”

“Say you’ll forgive me.” He hoped she could
hear the sincerity in his voice. Ever since she walked out the
door, Nick had questioned his wisdom at confronting her. He had
felt betrayed and wanted to force her into the truth. Losing time
with her wasn’t worth it, though. He didn’t need the truth—he
needed her to choose him.

“Whether I forgive you or you believe me is
not the issue right now.” She paused and sniffed. Nick could tell
she’d been crying. After how cold she acted this morning, he had
worried that maybe she truly didn’t care. Relief flooded through
him upon hearing her emotion. She did care, even if she was
angry.

“What’s the issue?”

“Your friends are already over halfway here.
They decided to start out yesterday. They’ll be here tonight and
want to take us to dinner.”

“You talked to them?”

“Donovan said you weren’t answering your
phone.”

Donovan must have saved Carlie’s number when
Nick called him from it the first time. “I didn’t know what to tell
him.”

“Neither did I,” she admitted. “We’re going
to have to get along, at least through the holiday. They’ve already
traveled a long way. We can’t just ditch the plans now.”

“We can’t?” Nick wondered if he sounded as
shocked as he felt. If Carlie really wanted to end their
relationship, she’d cancel. Maybe this was her way of making up
with him.

“I already bought food for tomorrow and they
expect a nice holiday,” she replied. “What else could you do? Order
room service at the hotel?”

“We could, actually,” he said softly, “but
I’d rather be with you.”

“I’m not saying everything is fine between
us,” she cautioned. “Let’s just get through the next few days and
see where we stand.”

After the next few days, he was supposed to
kill her. Nick closed his eyes and ran his hand across his face,
wondering how he could sort all this out. He didn’t know what to
do. “I’d really like that. I do love you, Carlie.”

“I have a lot to get done today at the
shop,” she said. “You should call Donovan and finalize the plans.
I’ll be ready around seven tonight and you can pick me up at my
house then.”

Which meant she still expected him to be out
of it. “I can’t wait to see you. I’ll do whatever I can to make
things up to you.”

“I can’t talk about that right now. I’m
still too angry. Goodbye.”

The phone went dead and Nick lowered it.
Although he’d planned to cancel on Donovan, he was happy his friend
was almost to town. He needed advice in the worst way.

Carlie finished applying lipstick right as
the doorbell rang. She took one last look at her reflection,
deciding the fading bruises on her neck and cheek weren’t
noticeable enough to upset Nick’s friends or their children. Part
of her wished she’d just told them plans had changed and she
wouldn’t be joining them for the holiday, but that was the part
always running scared.

While she didn’t understand how Nick could
ever think she was a terrorist, especially based on what a stranger
told him, it didn’t stop her from loving him. She wanted to work
things out. Maybe she had been a little too hard on him. After all,
he had never had a deep, meaningful relationship by his own
admission. Yet, he persisted in saying he loved her. Maybe he
really meant that. Maybe he just let the FBI guy get to him because
he was looking for reasons to end the relationship, but having a
hard time finding any, and that scared him.

Sighing, she made her way to the front door,
checking out the peephole to make sure it was Nick before opening
the door. He looked extremely handsome, dressed in black slacks and
a deep purple dress shirt beneath his suit jacket.

“You look beautiful,” he said, though he
didn’t make any moves to touch her or enter the house. “Donovan and
Madeline are meeting us at the restaurant. That waffle house down
on Fifth.”

She nodded. “Great. I’ll grab my coat.”

Carlie pulled it from the front closet and
slipped into it. It was a shame to cover up the beautiful white
silk blouse Shelley lent her, but she’d freeze in the drizzling
rain that started up a few hours earlier. Nick’s friends probably
wouldn’t judge her on fashion anyway since they picked a waffle
house. At least, she hoped not.

Grabbing her purse, she stepped out onto the
porch and locked the door. “Okay, let’s go.”

Nick offered his arm, but Carlie started
down the stairs without taking it. Blindly forgiving him and
pretending nothing changed wasn’t something she wanted either.

He opened her car door and then went to the
driver’s side, sliding behind the wheel and fastening his seat
belt. He put the keys in the ignition, but glanced at her before
starting the car. “Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t want
to spend the evening fighting with you.” Reaching across the
console, he ran gentle fingers down her cheek. “Especially not when
all I want is to kiss you.”

Carlie closed her eyes, melting at his touch
and craving more of it. “I promise not to make a scene in front of
your friends, but I’m not sure kissing is a good idea.”

“Even though I love you and you love me?”
His dark eyes filled with an emotion Carlie couldn’t begin to guess
at.

“Nick, you decided to believe something a
total stranger said about me for no reason whatsoever.” Her anger
grew once again at his betrayal of her trust. “Maybe I could
understand if you had any evidence, but I’m honestly hurt.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I thought I
could help you, if that was what was going on. All I want is total
honesty between us.”

“So you assumed I lied?” She brushed his
hand away from her face and folded her arms. “Do you still think
I’m lying?”

He looked away, starting the car. “We’re
going to be late. Let’s try to have a good time. I don’t want to
spend the next few days fighting. Especially not when I...”

After waiting a few seconds, Carlie raised
her eyebrow. “Especially not when you what?”

“Nothing.” He pulled the car out of the
driveway and the tense silence became unbearable.

Carlie turned the radio on, bumping the
volume. Nick apparently still thought she lied to him, which cooled
her anger to an even deeper hurt. Maybe she should ask him to turn
around. She could always call a cab to pick her up if he wouldn’t
take her home.

She shook her head. The truth was she wanted
to be with him. Maybe he had a good reason for believing the FBI
agent, and once he decided to tell her what that was they could
work things out. That was the hope, anyway. Nick had been so hot
and cold the last few days. Carlie questioned her wisdom in staying
with him, but she wanted things to work.

They pulled into the parking lot of the
waffle house and Nick parked the car, clicking off the radio. “I’m
sorry.” His voice sounded flat. “I keep screwing things up. All I
want is to be with you and find happiness.”

“That’s what I want too. I’m not sure what
made you turn on me, but happiness is going to be dang near
impossible for us if you believe those things about me.” She
unfastened her seat belt and opened the door. “For now, let’s have
a good evening with your friends, a great dinner tomorrow, and deal
with the serious stuff Friday.”

She climbed out of the car. Perhaps it was
cowardly to put off talking with him until later, but if they were
going to part ways, she deserved at least one happy holiday
first.

Even if it was a lie.

***

Nick followed Carlie into the restaurant,
torn by her words. If they pretended to be okay until after the
holiday but not really work on their issues, that wouldn’t give him
much time to decide what to do.

All day he’d been tormented by the thought
of flying back to D.C. and leaving Carlie to the mercy of Stephen
Chance. Then again, if she didn’t really care about him and was
determined to carry out her plans with Muhammad, what could Nick
do?

The dining room was packed with large
families and crying children when they entered. A harried server
held her finger up and nodded their direction, but before she made
her way to them, Nick spotted Donovan sitting at a table in the
center of the room.

Without asking permission, he gripped
Carlie’s elbow and steered her to the table. She glanced at him
with wide eyes, but he just smiled. If she wanted to pretend things
were fine for the holiday, then that’s just what he’d do.

Nick looked over his friend’s family.
Jealous he didn’t have something similar warred with his happiness
for Donovan. “Looking good, man.”

The silver at Donovan’s temples had spread
to a wider patch and he put on a few pounds in the past year—that
infamous marriage weight. Other than that, it was the same old
Donovan. Relief at knowing he’d be able to confide his problems in
his friend flooded through Nick.

Donovan walked around the table to smack
Nick’s back. “Looking good, yourself, Edward. Good to see you.”

Nick widened his eyes and shook his head
slightly at the same time as Carlie sucked in a sharp breath, her
eyes darting between both men.

Donovan cleared his throat and smiled at
her. “You must be Carlie. Nick’s told me so much about you.”

Though she had to be curious about Donovan
calling him Edward, Carlie favored Donovan with her bright,
waitress-style smile and shook his hand. “Nick’s been looking
forward to your visit. It was nice of you guys to come all this
way.”

Donovan’s wife stood, leaning across the
table to shake Carlie’s hand and then Nick’s. “I’m Madeline.” She
was very tall, nearly Nick’s height of six feet, and thin scars
coursed down each of her cheeks, though they didn’t diminish how
pretty she was. “Thanks for letting us crash your party this week.
My parents are away and we wanted to spend the time with family.
I’ve been hearing all about you, Ed...err, Nick. Donovan thinks the
world of you. Glad we finally meet.”

Nick wondered how many times they’d slip up
and call him Edward before the visit was over. “Sorry I missed your
wedding.” Maybe Carlie didn’t notice that time.

Carlie turned to Donovan with a raised
eyebrow. “You’re family to Nick? I thought you were friends.”

“Well, I don’t have any siblings and neither
does he,” Donovan explained. “Nick’s as close to a brother as I
have.”

She shook her head. “Why do you keep calling
him Edward then, if you’re so close?”

Nick exchanged a panic-stricken glance with
Donovan, but his wife let out a deep chuckle.

“Donovan loves telling me the story.”
Madeline winked at Nick. “He mistook Nick for a suspect named
Edward when they first bumped into each other back in L.A. Now it’s
a little running joke between them. Donovan talks about him all the
time, but always called him Edward, so I got into the habit of
calling him that, too.”

Madeline and Donovan laughed, and Nick
forced himself to join in. Carlie smiled, but didn’t really appear
amused. At least there was a reason for them to call him Edward now
if they slipped up anymore. Madeline was quick on her feet. There
was no reason for Carlie to be suspicious.

“Enough about that,” Madeline said. “We’ll
have plenty of time to discuss the trouble these guys have gotten
into together, I’m sure.” She indicated the young boy sitting next
to her. “This is our son, Colton.”

He gave a shy grin and waved. “Hi, Uncle
Nick. I’ve been excited to meet you.”

The boys brown hair and eyes would fool
anyone into thinking he was actually their biological son, since he
looked so much like his mother. However, Nick knew they were
actually working toward adopting Colton, trying to give him a
better life than the one he’d had with his abusive birth
mother.

“I’m so happy to meet you,” he told the
boy.

“I’m sorry you can’t meet Josephine right
now,” Madeline said, pointing to a car seat resting on the ground.
A pink blanket covered the baby from view. “She’s teething and
fussy and
finally
fell asleep on the way to the
restaurant.”

“She’s a pain,” Colton whispered and Carlie
smiled.

“Well, then,” she whispered back, “let’s
just meet her tomorrow.”

Colton nodded, a serious look on his young
face.