Chapter 3
But it was all part of the job, she told herself.
She’d be on her way back to Washington tomorrow, and she’d have the entire flight to read.
Hopefully she wouldn’t be sitting next to anyone who wanted to talk.
She hated that. Headphones helped to make it clear she wasn’t interested in chatting, but sometimes even that wasn’t enough to deter an overly extroverted seat-mate.
She was so lost in thought about what book she wanted to read on the plane ride home that she didn’t even notice someone standing outside her room. Before she knew what was happening, the man had taken hold of one of her arms and was walking her down the hall.
Ready to scream and pull her arm out of the man’s firm hold, she looked up just in time to swallow her protest.
It was Gage who had ahold of her arm. He had a determined look on his face and didn’t appear to be in any mood to argue.
Kinley looked back toward her room and saw Jangles, one of the Delta Force operatives assigned to protect her boss, standing outside her room.
He smiled at her and tipped an imaginary hat in her direction. “Have fun!” he called out.
Frowning, Kinley turned back around just in time to see Gage open the door to the stairs that led down to the lobby.
He’d ushered her through the door before she could say a word.
But instead of continuing down the stairwell, he put her back to the wall and let go of her arm.
He actually took a step back, giving her some space before he spoke.
“Sorry if I scared you,” he said gently. “But I wanted to get you out of the hall before Brown had a chance to come out and see you.”
“He doesn’t usually get up until around eight,” Kinley told Gage. “He stays up late. I think Drake Stryker, the US Ambassador to France, was in his room visiting last night. They hang out a lot when they’re at the same conferences, and he told me not to bother him under any circumstances.”
“Ah, okay. Anyway, I have a proposal for you.”
Kinley could only stare up at the man she’d been thinking about for months.
He looked different this morning, more approachable.
He had on a pair of jeans and a short-sleeve white polo shirt.
She could see a smattering of hair on his chest where his shirt was open, and on his left arm, she saw the intricate black tattoo she’d caught glimpses of in Africa.
She longed to push up the sleeve so she could see all of it, but managed to keep her hands to herself… barely.
His hair was sort of sticking up, as if he’d towel-dried it after showering then didn’t bother to comb it.
He’d also shaved recently; there was no sign of the five o’clock shadow she’d gotten so used to seeing.
Kinley wasn’t sure if she liked his clean-shaven look or not.
She liked when he looked rugged and a little unapproachable.
It made her feel as if no one would dare approach them when he looked a little on the rough side.
“Kinley?” he asked with a slight grin on his face.
“Oh…yeah?”
“I have a proposal for you,” he repeated. “I’d like to spend the morning with you. There’s nothing going on at the conference except for the social brunch.”
“Oh, but…Walter expects me to be there,” she said, the disappointment easy to hear in her tone.
“I’ve taken care of that for you. Bought you a few hours,” Gage admitted.
“How?”
“I talked to Merlin and his team. He’s going to tell Brown that you’re not feeling well this morning. That you’ve got menstrual issues.”
“Seriously?”
“Yup. I’m betting he’s not the kind of man who will get in your face about your period. Am I wrong? If so, let me know now and we can think of something else. Maybe I can get Merlin to slip him some laxatives after all.”
Kinley couldn’t help but laugh. “They would really do that?”
“For you? Yeah, they would. They like you, Kins, and they want you to have some time to explore Paris this morning. To have some fun.”
Kinley was shocked, but their concern felt good.
“I’m pretty certain that Walter won’t question it.
I mean, I had to call him once to tell him I had food poisoning, and I was throwing up and had diarrhea, and he couldn’t give me the time off fast enough.
I know you don’t like him, but he’s not always so horrible.
I think traveling brings out the worst in him. ”
She could tell Gage didn’t believe her, but he looked relieved that the excuse he’d made up to get her out of work for a few hours would suffice. She probably should be irritated that he’d planned this without talking to her ahead of time, but she was too flattered he wanted to spend time with her.
“Jangles will stay by your door just in case Brown decides to come down and see you, but I’m guessing that probably won’t happen after what you just told me. I’ll make sure you’re back by one for the last of the meetings today though.”
“Thanks,” Kinley told him.
“No need to thank me. I’d like to talk to you without having to worry about Brown deciding he needs you, and without you running off to solve the world’s problems. I’ve missed you, Kins…and I’d love to spend time with you in Paris. What do you say?”
Kinley didn’t think she could say anything. She’d been longing to talk to Gage since she’d first seen him earlier that week, but the longer she’d avoided him, the more awkward she’d felt.
“Just talk, Kins, Nothing scary. Have you ever been to Paris?”
She shook her head.
“We’ll play tourist and talk while we do it. I’ll find you some amazing macarons and we can stuff our face while we see the Louvre, what’s left of Notre Dame, and of course the Eiffel Tower. What do you say?”
Knowing she should say no and go to brunch instead, Kinley still found herself nodding.
How could she resist this man? He’d gone out of his way to give her a morning of freedom.
Wasn’t she just lamenting to herself last night that she was in Paris and hadn’t seen a single thing?
Her hotel room overlooked a damn alley instead of the Eiffel Tower, as she’d hoped.
It was supposed to be a romantic city for lovers, and she’d been sitting in her hotel room, too intimidated to go out on her own.
The smile that spread across Gage’s face was absolutely beautiful. “Good. I promise you’re gonna have a good time.”
Kinley wasn’t so sure about that—she was worried about this talk he wanted to have—but she’d take spending time with Gage over standing against the wall in a room full of politicians any day.
Then, as if he’d done it every day of his life, he reached out and took the strap of her briefcase from her. He opened the stairwell doorway and placed it on the floor inside the hall they’d just exited. Then he turned and took her hand and draped it over his forearm.
Being this close to him made Kinley feel even more awkward than usual, and that was saying something.
She felt short most of the time, but next to Gage, instead of being self-conscious about her size, she felt surrounded by him.
He was over half a foot taller than her, and she liked having him at her side.
“Jangles will grab your bag and make sure it’s at the meetings this afternoon,” Gage told her as he steered her down the stairs.
“Okay.” There wasn’t anything valuable in her briefcase…well, except for her government-owned laptop. She had her wallet in her purse, which was slung around her chest.
“What do you want to see first?” Gage asked as they walked through the lobby toward the exit. “How about breakfast? We can stop at one of those sidewalk cafes and get some coffee and some of the pastry the French are famous for.”
Kinley nodded. She didn’t care what they did. She was spending time with Gage, so she already knew she’d remember this day for the rest of her life.
Her head seemed as if it was on a swivel as they walked. Even though it was early, there were lots of people out and about. The sound of residents speaking French was all around them, making this adventure seem all the more surreal.
Gage found a small café and got her seated, then managed to order them breakfast even though he didn’t speak the language. It took lots of pointing and pantomiming, but before too long, they had small cups of espresso sitting in front of them and a huge plate of sweet, decadent pastries.
“This isn’t my normal breakfast, but since it’s a special occasion, I think I’m okay,” Gage said.
Kinley knew she needed to do more than just stare at the man, so she forced herself to ask, “Special occasion?”
He beamed. “Yeah. Our first date.”
Kinley was stunned. Her brows came down and she frowned at Gage.
“Aw, don’t look at me like that,” he said, reaching for her hand. “I wasn’t going to get into this so soon, but I think it’s better to just get this conversation out of the way so we can enjoy the rest of the day. I thought we decided in Africa that we were going to keep in touch.”
It wasn’t a question, but it still was. Kinley’s stomach rolled. She had no idea how to explain to him that she wasn’t worth his time. That she’d had doubts from the second she’d left Africa. She licked her lips and tried to think of the right words. But he spoke again before she could.
“It was brought to my attention that maybe you think I do this all the time…befriend women and give them my number and email. I don’t.
You’re the first, and I’m not lying about that.
We didn’t get a ton of time to spend together in Africa but I really thought we’d clicked.
I was looking forward to getting to know you better, even if it was only over the internet.
I was disappointed when you didn’t return any of my messages. ”