“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, but they both laughed.
Jenna heard the shifting of seats and didn’t bother to close her eyes as Mark appeared beside her.
“I didn’t know you were awake,” he said quietly, lying beside her again and resuming the position she’d fallen asleep in. “Was hoping I could sneak away and be back before you knew I was gone.”
“Sorry.”
“How much did you hear?”
She winced. “Most of it. Hope that’s okay.”
Leaning in, Mark kissed her forehead. “It’s not anything you don’t already know. I wanted to talk to Ian while it was just the two of us. And I don’t want to have secrets from you anyway.”
Her face flushed pink. “The way you say things, it’s like you’ve already decided something.”
She was careful to talk around it. She knew enough to know her heart was fragile, and as much as the idea of permanence terrified her, it was also what she wanted more than anything.
Mark had hit the nail a little too closely when he’d called her out about lying to her friends. She was embarrassed and lonely, and the idea of having someone who knew everything was intoxicating.
But how could it ever be real?
“How much do you want me to tell you?” he asked. “Because if you heard what I said to Ian, then you know that I have changes coming in my life. And yes, I’ve been thinking a lot about them and who might be involved in them.”
Instinctually, Jenna curled up more. She shook her head. “I know we’re the same in some ways,” she said. “I know we understand each other. But I need to ask why you would want to be with someone like me? I don’t know if you want a family, but how would that work? What kind of mother can’t go to her children’s sports games because she can’t be outside? What kind of person lets a past enemy control her entire life? I get tired of me, and there’s no way for me to leave myself behind.”
Mark studied her, and the look in his eyes made her heart pound. She saw complete understanding and trust there. Maybe more than that. “Do you like me, Jenna?”
It wasn’t the question she was expecting. “Yes.”
“Do you like being around me?”
She nodded. He made her feel safe when no one else managed to.
“Are you okay if we keep doing what we’ve been doing?”
Jenna laughed. “Yes.”
The idea of suddenly not touching him was unthinkable. Now that she’d had him, and felt both the tenderness and the strength he held, she very well could get addicted.
“Then, for now,” Mark whispered, “that’s all it has to be. Until this is over and neither of us has a million things on our mind or is worrying about taking down a terrorist. Then, after, we can talk about all the stuff we haven’t had a chance to. Sound good?”
“Sounds good.” She breathed out a breath in relief.
Mark was right. They had things to do that were more important right now than the future. The future could wait for a few days.
“Think you could get some more rest?” he asked.
“Maybe. But you can’t sneak away again.”
He smiled, and her heart flipped at the sight of it. “Wouldn’t dream of it, sweetheart.”
Jenna closed her eyes and faded once again into his warmth.
Chapter 20
By the time they reached the hospital in San Diego, Emily Richardson, who’d been arrested in the middle of robbing a clothing store, was not only still alive, she was awake and talking.
Law enforcement was at a loss for what to do with her. She’d been in the middle of breaking the law when she’d been arrested, but all the officers’ reports had said the same thing: she’d been nearly lifeless when they’d interacted with her. Cold, shut down… arobot.