Kara Lennox - Under Deepest Cover

Her eyes widened. “Really? I’d love that.”

“And when you aren’t working a case, you could help me with the restaurant. The place needs a female presence. People respond to you-you’re a terrific hostess, you have good instincts when it comes to food…” He trailed off when he saw that he was not getting the response he’d hoped for. He’d been so sure she would love the idea. “You don’t seem too enthusiastic.”

“Oh, I would love the work, I’m sure. It’s just-”

“You don’t love me.”

“Of course I love you. Oh, shoot, I wasn’t going to say that. How pathetic is it, an accountant from Kansas falling for a millionaire superspy?”

Bryan couldn’t breathe for a moment. This was better than he’d dared hope for.

He thought maybe, if given more time, Lucy might be persuaded to fall in love with him. He’d never dreamed…

“If you’re in love, why do you look so miserable? Haven’t you figured it out yet? I want you to stay in New York because I’m head-over-heels crazy for you.”

She brightened, but only for a moment. Then her eyes filled with tears. “I couldn’t stand it, Bryan. I couldn’t stand having you disappear with no explanation, not having any idea when you’d be back-or even if you’d be back.

When I realized you’d been shot, I thought I was going to die myself. I’m not cut out to be a spy’s girlfriend.”

Bryan’s heart swelled. He held out his hand. “Lucy, come here, please.”

She did, though reluctantly, and he took her hand and squeezed it.

“If I was a little bit stronger, I’d pull you right into this bed with me, put my arms around you and never let you go.”

“But-”

“No, no, hear me out. As of right now, I’m retiring. No more fieldwork. No more danger, no more unexplained trips abroad. No more lying to my family.”

“But you…you love your work. You told me that yourself.”

“It’s exciting, yes. But staying alive is even more exciting. Particularly now that I have you to stay alive for. There are lots of other jobs I can do for the agency, or some other branch of the government. Intelligence gathering, sifting through data, coordinating efforts, debriefing agents, interviewing suspects-I’m trained to do all of that stuff. But I also want to spend more time at the restaurant. So we have lots of choices. If you stay in New York.”

“Can I keep the clothes?” she asked, and he suspected she was trying to distract herself from actually having to answer him.

“I’ll buy you all the clothes you want. Whoever that designer is who makes all those slinky dresses and whatnot, we’ll go talk to him. Maybe he makes wedding dresses.” He held tightly to her hand so she couldn’t escape.

She used her other hand to muffle a shriek. “Bryan. Don’t say things like that unless you mean it, it’s cruel.”

“You think I don’t mean it? I want you to be my wife, Lucy. And frankly, if I don’t marry you, my family is going to disown me. So, what do you say?”

“I think you’re crazy.” She tugged at her hand, but he refused to let her go.

“This isn’t how it’s supposed to be!”

“I’ll do the candlelight and violins as soon as they let me out of here. Put me out of my misery, Lucy.”

In answer she leaned over the bed and kissed him, until one of the machines monitoring his vital signs started beeping out an alarm.

A nurse rushed into the cubicle. “What are you doing?” She angled a severe look at Lucy. “You, out.”

Bryan kept hold of her hand. “Was that a yes?”

She nodded, her eyes filled with tears.

Two weeks later, on a hot day near the end of July, Lucy and Bryan were married at The Tides. Scarlet found her the perfect wedding dress, left over from a recent bridal spread Charisma had done. It was simple, with clean lines and unadorned silk. She paired it with an elegant pearl tiara.

Bryan sent Lucy’s parents two round-trip, first-class tickets to New York, and though they’d never been out of Kansas in their lives, they came. They’d never even realized their daughter had gone missing. They’d called once, got her answering machine, figured she was traveling on some lark and put it out of their minds. Since they didn’t know of her escapade, she didn’t fill them in.

She didn’t want them to spend the rest of their lives in church praying for her.

“You’re not pregnant, are you?” her mother had whispered almost the moment she got off the plane.

Lucy laughed, amazed that she could. “No, Mom. I’m just in love.”

“Well, I think you picked a good one this time. Have you ever traveled first class? Oh, my.”

All of the Elliotts came for the wedding, even a few more Lucy hadn’t met. She still hadn’t learned all their names.

Bryan closed down Une Nuit for the day and invited all the employees out to The Tides, except for the new busboys, who were now in jail.

Stash came, of course, driving his Peugeot, which now sported a few bullet holes. Bryan’s employer had offered to repair the damage, but Stash enjoyed showing off the holes and bragging, to anyone who would listen, about his small part in the takedown of international terrorists. Lucy tried to steer her parents clear of him.

Bryan looked dashing as ever. The bandages on his shoulder hardly showed through his tuxedo, and he dispensed with his sling for the ceremony and the photos, but put it back on shortly after. He wasn’t supposed to use his right arm while the tissues healed, but he claimed he wasn’t in any pain.

The ceremony itself was short and sweet. Then there was the feasting, the way only restaurant people and Elliotts could feast. Chef Chin took over Maeve’s kitchen like a general conquering a town. Maeve was more than happy to just get out of the way and enjoy the day.

The crowning glory of the reception feast was a four-layer cake, Bryan’s little surprise for Lucy. She hadn’t realized exactly what kind of cake it was until he fed her a piece of it for the photos.

Orange cake, garnished with chocolate and mint glaze. Not exactly traditional.

But at the first taste, Lucy could feel her face heating-and other parts of her as well.

“Lucy, something wrong?” Bryan asked solicitously.

“I’m just having a Pavlovian response,” she said, never imagining that orange cake could make her feel…amorous.

“I’m putting this cake on the menu, you know. Bryan and Lucy’s Orange Wedding Cake.”

She stood on her toes and whispered in his ear. “It would have been more appropriate as Bryan and Lucy’s Honeymoon Cake.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll take some with us.”

Amanda, Bryan’s mother, had arrived seconds before the ceremony, breathless and tense. Now he hugged her. “I was afraid you might not come, Mom.”

“I wasn’t about to miss my son’s wedding-even if I do have to be under the same roof with him.” She nodded toward Patrick, Bryan’s grandfather.

This family had more drama and intrigue than a soap opera. But all families had their little issues, and Lucy vowed to accept them all as they came along. She reveled in the laughter, the smells and tastes of the day. She even enjoyed the family bickering, which they simply were not able to refrain from. She loved that she was now part of this crazy clan.

“You happy?” Bryan asked Lucy quietly as they posed for yet more pictures.

“Deliriously.”

“You should be afraid. Very afraid.”

“Because…?”

“You fit in perfectly. You’ve become an Elliott.”

Lucy could think of nothing more wonderful.

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