A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1)(44)

"When did you know you were in love with your beautiful wife?" Fernandez asked.

Garrett looked at Parker when he answered.

"The first moment I laid eyes on her eight years ago," he replied honestly. Garrett’s tone of voice immediately softened as he spoke.

Parker searched his eyes and swallowed past the lump in her throat. She so desperately wanted to believe what he said was true and not just some act. Parker knew it was impossible though.

Fernandez reached over and took his wife’s hand, placing it on the table and clasping her fingers with his in a show of affection.

“Love is a blessing which one can only hope for. I can see that the two of you have been tremendously blessed. I’ve watched you during dinner. I’ve noticed the way you look at one another. It brings me joy to see such a young couple so much in love.”

Parker could feel her face heating up with the President’s words. She felt stripped bare and like everyone at the table, including Garrett, could see right through her. Garrett finally broke from her stare when Fernandez spoke again.

“It’s a shame you have to work when you should be on a whirlwind honeymoon, enjoying the love of one another.”

Garrett mirrored the President’s previous action and reached for Parker’s hand, placing it on the table in between them and squeezing it gently to calm her nerves. It seemed as though his earlier anxiousness had transferred into her.

“It’s quite alright, Mr. President. My wife and I enjoy our work and are just grateful we are permitted to spend time together when we do it,” Garrett told him with a smile.

There were murmurs of approval all around them and more delighted smiles aimed in their direction.

“Is it not an American tradition to clink a piece of silverware against a glass signifying the husband and wife should kiss?” the Vice President’s wife asked excitedly.

Her question was met with sounds of approval and laughs of pleasure from those around her.

Parker and Garrett sat stoically at the table while news traveled down to the other end. Neither one of them wanted to let on that their nerves were threatening to eat them alive at the mention of the word kiss.

Before Parker could excuse herself to the ladies' room or Garrett could change the subject, a gentle tinkling sound began at the opposite end of the table. Pretty soon, all forty guests joined in, including the President, as they picked up whatever piece of silverware was closest and began tapping them against crystal goblets, Champagne glasses, and coffee cups.

The noise became deafening in the cathedral-ceilinged room as everyone smiled and laughed in Garrett and Parker’s direction while they continued clanging their glasses.

Parker took a deep breath and turned to face Garrett, realizing they were going to have to do it. They were husband and wife after all; it should be no big deal to give him a little kiss.

Garrett and Parker had kissed in a friendly manner on several occasions, usually in greeting, congratulations, or something similar. A quick peck on the cheek or a light brush of the lips. This would be the same thing, only it would be happening in front of forty strangers.

Garrett tried to keep the look of fear off of his face as soon as the clanging started. He’d always wanted to kiss Parker; he’d dreamed about kissing Parker. The few chaste, friendly kisses they’d shared over the years were never enough for him. But the idea of doing this in front of all these people was not good. He wanted to be alone when he kissed her. Preferably in a bed, naked.

Without giving it a second thought, Parker leaned over and placed a quick kiss against Garrett’s lips and then pulled away, smiling around the table. Garrett was grateful Parker took the initiative because he probably would have sat there all night thinking about being in bed with her.

Unfortunately, the clanging didn’t stop and the cheering grew louder.

“Come now, show all of us old, married couples how the newlyweds do it!” Fernandez encouraged loudly over the noise with a raise of his hands, indicating the crowd should cheer louder.

They couldn’t act shy or like they’d never done it before. They needed to act quickly or it would start to look suspicious. Parker felt like a fool for making such a big deal about this. She was CIA . She’d had to kiss a few men over the years and pretend they were involved and it was always no big deal.

Garrett and Parker turned back to face each other at the same time. Garrett stared at her lips and felt his heart speed up. He took his hand and slid it around to the back of her neck and pulled her forward until they were a breath apart.

The noise around them disappeared and all Parker could see, feel, and hear, was Garrett.

He angled his head and closed the gap, connecting his lips to Parker’s. Garrett slid his tongue against her lips, wordlessly asking for entrance. She immediately opened for him to deepen the kiss. His tongue pushed gently into her mouth, sliding against her own and sucking softly on it at the same time.

Parker felt a jolt of desire shoot through her body when their tongues collided. Garrett pushed and pulled, slid and swirled his tongue through her mouth, until she had to reach up and clutch the hair on the back of his head to steady herself. She knew kissing Garrett would be the breaking point for her, but she had no idea it would affect her like this. She wanted to crawl onto his lap and mold her body against his, feel every part of him sliding between her legs until she came. Parker didn’t care who was at the table or where she was. His kiss was lighting her on fire, and she couldn’t stop the moan that she breathed into Garrett’s mouth.