“Never?” she repeated. “But what if you meet someone and fall in love?”
His eyes dimmed again for a split second. “Love is for suckers.”
They were both quiet while Ben took a bite of his cake and Marin gathered the ingredients for a French toast casserole she wanted to make for breakfast. She thought back to something Agent Groesch had said the day before.Those three swore to remain confirmed bachelors for life.
“So, you, Adam, and Griffin have all decided never to marry?” Not that she cared what Griffin Keller did with his life.
Ben’s eyes twinkled as though he suspected she did care. A lot. “Yep, we’ve devoted our lives to the Secret Service instead.”
“But Griffin’s leaving the Secret Service,” she argued. “He said it was too stressful for him...”
She realized her mistake as soon as she heard Ben’s loud snort of laughter. Griffin had never meant to retire. Neither did he want a job with the Chevalier hotels. It was all part of the web of lies he’d used to reel her in. He’d been playing her the whole time. And stupid Marin had fallen for it. All of it.
Blinking back tears, she furiously chopped pecans. How could she have been so gullible? And why did she still care?
“Something smells good in here.”
Marin nearly chopped off her finger at the sound of Griffin’s voice.
“‘Good’ doesn’t even begin to describe Marin’s cooking,” Ben raved.
Marin kept her back to both men, mincing the pecans into sawdust.
“Just don’t tell my mom I said someone else makes shrimp better than she does,” Ben added. “This cake is unbelievable, too.”
As far as she could tell, Griffin hadn’t moved from the threshold of the kitchen. She could feel his eyes on her, though. Her mouth went dry, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her so distressed.
“Did you and Adam leave anything for me?” Griffin asked.
Before Ben could answer, Marin reached into the cabinet and pulled out a can of Spam she’d found in the pantry earlier. She turned and slammed it on the counter in front of Griffin.
“Bon appetit.”
She couldn’t help it. Her gaze drank him in. Marin suddenly felt appalled at her behavior. Casually dressed in faded jeans and a Boston Bruins T-shirt, Griffin appeared as though he hadn’t slept in days. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair wild, and dark stubble shadowed his face. He looked weary, rumpled, and amazingly, still incredibly sexy. It wasn’t fair.
He shut his eyes and sighed. “I came here to give you the news about Diego, Marin. Not to fight with you.”
Marin grabbed at the counter in order to steady her suddenly wobbly knees. “Diego? Is he—is he...” She couldn’t finish the sentence.
Griffin opened his eyes. They were filled with wonder. “He’s alive,” he said.
She gasped in relief. “He’s... he’s alive?”
“Yeah.” Griffin grabbed at the back of his neck. “And married.”
“Wait. What?” Marin’s head was spinning. “What do you meanmarried?”
“The reason he was AWOL is because his partner, one of the waiters in the Navy Mess, was having a difficult time coming out to his family. Once he did, the two men got married.”
“That’s it?” Marin cried. “He skipped out on work on one of the busiest days of the yearto elope? And he didn’t bother to tell anyone? I spent the last two daysworried sickover that man! I could kill him myself just for that.” She picked up the knife again, poured more pecans on the cutting board and began viciously chopping. “Well, isn’t that just like a man for you? All he cares about is his end goal. He doesn’t care about who might get hurt in the process. As long as he gets what he wants!”
“Damn it, Marin, I was doing my job!” Griffin was suddenly beside her.
The knife stilled in Marin’s hand. “Your ‘job’? Yourjob.” She slowly turned and pointed the tip of the blade at Griffin’s chest. “Was it your ‘job’ to kiss me senseless? Or how about when you had your hands and mouth all over my body, was that your ‘job,’ too, huh?” She jabbed the knife at him. “Or what about when you were making me—”
“For crying out loud, Ben, can you give us some privacy!” Griffin yelled, his eyes never leaving Marin’s face.
“Just when it was getting good,” Ben mumbled. “Come on, Otto, let’s go check your pee mail. Maybe we’ll catch up with Adam on his run while we’re out.”