Forbidden Fantasies Bundle(150)

NERVES JITTERING, Jed paced back and forth in the small private dining room on the second floor of the Blue Pepper. He’d never had trouble handling a woman, but he couldn’t for the life of him think of what he was going to do once Zoë walked through that door.

He’d think of something. He always did. Hadn’t he spent his life improvising to get himself out of tight spots?

In the past three days, he’d spoken with the director of the CIA, with more congressmen than he’d ever wanted to meet, and with a crack attorney Gage had hired for him. In the end, it had been the tape of Zoë’s conversation with Hadley Richards that had cleared his name.

And he owed it all to Zoë.

But he still didn’t know what he was going to say to her. He knew what he wanted, but the words simply hadn’t come. He hadn’t even been able to write a message on that card. All he could think of was writing the initials. Would she know what they meant?

Every time he thought about her, he replayed those moments in his mind in front of the Lincoln Memorial when Hadley Richards had been so close to her and he’d been so far away. When he thought about what could have happened—

The sound of the door opening had him whirling, and the moment he saw her, words flew out of his reach.

For a moment the silence stretched between them. All Jed could do was watch as she glanced around the room. Rad and George had decorated it for the occasion. Snow-white linen, flowers and gleaming silver graced the tables. Champagne chilled in a bucket and balloons hung from the ceiling.

Zoë frowned. “What is all this?”

He managed a smile. “I’m hoping it’s a celebration.”

“Oh, yes.” She relaxed a bit. “I heard that you’ve gotten your life back. I’m happy for you.”

Happy for him? Jed’s heart sank. She sounded as though they were nothing more than polite strangers. Was that what she thought? Was that what she wanted?

“Zoë…” He took two steps toward her before she held up a hand. “What?” he asked.

“You didn’t call,” she said.

“I—” He’d lost count of the number of times he’d dialed her number and disconnected his cell.

“It’s been three days and you didn’t call.” He took another step toward her, but she held up her hand again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come in here and accuse you of that. I know you must have been busy.”

“It wasn’t that. There are things I want to say that I couldn’t say over the phone.”

“Fine. Okay.” She drew in a breath and looked as if she were bracing herself. “Go ahead.”

But the words were still eluding him. How many times had this tiny woman robbed him of speech? Temper joined the other feelings that were tumbling through him. “No other woman has ever made me tongue-tied,” he snapped.

She crossed her arms in front of her and began to tap one foot. “Okay, since you seem to need help finding words, how about I say them for you? You want to thank me for helping you get your life back and regain your reputation. And you’re probably having this little celebration to show your gratitude. But it’s not necessary. We both know that I’m not the superhero that everyone is making me out to be. All of us worked on the plan to trap Hadley Richards, and it took each one of us to pull it off. I’d be dead now if it weren’t for all of you.”

“I know.” He also knew that she might have been dead anyway.

A beat of silence followed.

Her chin lifted. “As it is, I’ve got my life back, too. And Bailey just told me that the director would like me to come back to work for the CIA. Gage and Ryder have both offered me jobs if I ever want to leave the academic world. And I think I do. My parents will have a fit, but I think it’s high time I lived my own life. Meeting you and meeting Ethan has helped me make that decision.”

There was another beat of silence while Jed absorbed what she’d just said. They both had their lives back, and she sounded perfectly fine with that. In fact, she sounded grateful. He didn’t want her gratitude.

“And I know what else you’re going to say.” She moved close enough to poke a finger into his chest. “You’re going to say it’s been fun, but now it’s time to go our separate ways. And that’s—”

He cut her off by taking her by the shoulders and giving her a quick, hard shake. “Shut up. Just shut up for a minute. That’s not what I want—”

There was a knock at the door and Rad poked his head in. “They’re asking—”

“Get out,” Jed said, not taking his eyes off of Zoë.