have fit in with the other women, performing household chores. At night she would have slipped into the village and figured out what was going on. He wished he could have been there to see her.
“You bonded with a goat?” he asked, teasing her.
She laughed. “Sort of. So I found the gunrunners, took care of the problem. The family’s oldest son was involved with them. I managed to get him out so he wasn’t caught and taken away to prison. They were very grateful.” She popped a french fry into her mouth and sighed. “Heaven. That night they prepared a special dinner. Goat, of course. I wasn’t too concerned until I went to go to sleep and my friend was missing.”
Zach tried to appear sympathetic, but he couldn’t help chuckling. “They served you your friend.”
“Exactly.” She shuddered. “I haven’t had goat since.”
“Try two weeks in the desert with no supplies. Goat would have looked pretty good.”
She reached for her glass. They’d ordered wine with dinner. “Where was that?”
“Africa.”
“James Bond makes it look so easy,” she said. “Fancy technology, close escapes, great clothes. In the movies, no one mentions how bad you smell after living with livestock or camping in the desert.”
“Agreed. But I still like James Bond.”
She leaned back in her chair and grinned. “Me, too. Okay-longest assignment and where?”
“Eight months, South America.”
She stuck her tongue out. “Mine was a year.”
He cut off a piece of steak. “Yeah, but where?”
“Berlin.”
“There’s a hardship. Living in a house, having access to electricity and stores. Boy, Jamie, what a rough life.”
“It was hard,” she said, sounding faintly indignant, although it was difficult to take her seriously as she licked the salt from the fries off her fingers. “I had to learn German. I did okay, but my accent was very shaky.”
“Strangest escape,” he said.
She thought for a second. “Pretending to be a sheepherder in the Ukraine.”
“Air balloon from China to India.”
“Oh, I guess you win that one.”
They continued to play the game, comparing assignments without sharing details. They were both too good to let secrets slip out, even with each other. It was an odd way to pass the evening, but he enjoyed it. He hadn’t ever shared much about his work. Jamie was different from any woman he’d ever known.
His experience with the opposite sex was limited to brief encounters. He’d had his share of lovers, although none of them had stayed long enough for him to get used to them. As a rule, he preferred those who didn’t demand much. He liked being able to walk away without leaving anything of himself behind. Someone easily bought off with an expensive bauble.
Jamie wasn’t like that. She expected more. With her he was often tempted to share all of it, even though he knew the danger. With her he wanted to believe it was possible even though it wasn’t.
She looked up at him. “Zach, when did you find the Bronco battery?”
“A couple of days ago.”
“Before we-” She cleared her throat.
“Yeah, before.” Before they had become lovers. Before she’d tempted him with the silky heat of her body.
“Why didn’t you leave?”
He didn’t have an honest answer for that. Not one he was willing to share. He hadn’t been ready to go. He knew this time when he left her, it was forever. She’d forgiven him once-he wasn’t going to get a second chance.
“We had a deal,” he said lightly. “I have to be able to run to the highway and back.”
She didn’t look as if she believed him. For a moment, he thought she might pursue the question, then she let it go.
She’d once asked him if he had regrets. He had one. Her. But he wasn’t sure if he regretted having her in his life or having to let her go.
Chapter 12
Jamie jogged in place at the stoplight. It was a perfect spring morning in Denver, the kind of day that made tourists think about permanently moving to a place. A few white, puffy clouds added contrast to the brilliant blue sky. The mountain peaks were still snowcapped, but the city was lush and green with budding trees and new grass.
It was barely after eight in the morning, and her breath formed small clouds as she breathed. Around her, businesspeople in suits hurried to their offices, their expressions intense, their strides inhibited by dress shoes. For once Jamie didn’t mind being dressed differently. Although she often thought about trying to look like everyone else, right now she didn’t want to be anywhere else. She was happy in shorts and a sweatshirt, no makeup and her long hair tied back in a ponytail. She fit in right where she was-at Zach’s side.
“You’re breathing pretty hard, Jones,” she teased.
He wiped sweat from his brow and grinned. “Don’t worry about me, Sanders. I can keep up.”
The light turned green, and they started across the street. Jamie set their pace. She kept them at a slow jog, knowing Zach wasn’t up to a hundred percent yet. Every step was a fight because she wanted to race around, running hard and fast with the sheer joy of being alive. She’d been happy before; she’d even felt joy. But she’d never experienced this soul-healing sense of being one with the universe, of knowing that it was all going to work out.
She turned and jogged backward. “Thanks for suggesting we come here,” she said. “I love this city.”
He shrugged. “It’s pretty nice. I usually avoid people when I’m at the cabin, but I’ve never spent more than a couple of weeks there at a time. All that solitude starts to play with my mind.”
“So you were suffering from cabin fever, too?”
His gaze met hers. Something wild and passionate surged to life. She felt the heat clear down to her toes.
“Oh, yeah,” he said.
She flushed and faced front again, so he wouldn’t see. Cabin fever brought on by her presence? She hoped so. She would like to think that she got to him.
After all, he got to her in a big way.
As they dodged pedestrian traffic, she thought about last night. They’d laughed about their time with the agency, something that didn’t happen very often. By an unspoken agreement, they’d only shared the funny times. Then they’d returned to bed.
They hadn’t made love. Instead, Zach had held her long into the night. He’d stroked her hair and whispered her name in the darkness. In a way, it had been more intimate than any physical joining. She’d known that time was specifically about her, and not because he had an itch that wanted scratching. She’d also liked that he was comfortable enough not to have to perform. She wanted their relationship to be about more than sex. She wanted to get him to see the possibilities.
She glanced ahead at another signal. “Think we can make it before it turns red?” she asked.
“Sure.”
“Great.” She sprinted to the curb, quickly checked traffic, then darted into the street. When she reached the other side, she was alone. Zach stood on the corner with his hands on his thighs. He was breathing heavily.
After the light turned green again, he started across at a slow jog. “Why don’t you go on ahead?” he said when they were together again. “I don’t have my speed back.”
“I don’t mind.” She jogged around him once, then slowed her pace to his. “I can think of this as my good deed for the day. Helping the elderly across streets and the like.”
He gave her a mock growl. “Thirty-seven isn’t elderly. I have the soul of a teenager.”
She grinned. “Other parts are pretty young, too.”
He raised his eyebrows. They both laughed.
