“Ever been there?”
“Twice. Probably the most romantic city in the world.”
“I have a week’s leave. I want to spend it with you. And only you. I want us to get as far away from crime scenes and clandestine ops as is humanly possible. I just want us to be… normal. Just for a week, Knox. And see what happens. Together.”
Knox seemed overwhelmed by all of this. She said, breathlessly, “Puller, we really don’t even know each other.”
“I know enough.”
“You know nothing. You only know what I told you. And as you quite rightly pointed out, I’m a liar.”
“Knox, I—”
She gripped his arm. “I can’t tell you how flattered I am.”
Puller took a step back, his whole body seemed to deflate, and he looked at his feet. “Flattered? Isn’t that what women say when their answer is no?”
She used her finger to lift his chin so he was looking at her. “Like I said before, you’re a ramrod-straight kind of guy. Honorable to a fault. And my life is…none of that.”
“But only the professional side. And only out of necessity.”
“I’m not sure there’re any distinct lines there, Puller. Not for me. Not anymore.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Whether you do or not is immaterial. A fact is a fact.”
Puller looked down at the plane tickets.
She said, “I hope they’re refundable.”
He grinned for a second but there was nothing behind it.
“But you might have need of them one day.”
He quickly glanced at her. “Why?”
She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him. “Because you just never know, do you?”
“So where do you go now?” he asked dully.
“Where they tell me to. Just like you.”
“Can you answer something for me?”
“What?”
“Why were you crying that day back in Charlotte? Was it because we were talking about your dad?”
She looked down at her bare feet, her toes pushing against the wet grass. “No. Like I said, I had gotten over him a long time ago.”
“So what, then?”
She let out a quick breath. “It was because I knew I was going to have to keep lying to you. That I was going to keep on using you.”
“So?”
“So before it didn’t matter to me. Suddenly it did and it hit me like a train that morning.”
“What changed?”
She grazed his cheek with her hand. “I think you know what changed.”
He remained silent.
Knox had her national security troubleshooting to pursue.
Puller had his criminals to catch.
Maybe one day their paths would cross again.
He put the car in gear.
Until then, John Puller would just keep doing what he did best.