Suspects(68)

“It’s a miracle that you’re here,” she said and looked up at him. He kissed her and a moment later they were in her bed, thirsting for each other, and everything they brought with them. They were so much more together than apart, and their lovemaking drove them both into a frenzy of ecstasy. It had been so long this time because of his surgery. They couldn’t get enough of each other. It was hours before they emerged, and it was dark outside by then. They put on robes and walked into the kitchen. No one was around. She had bought the robe for him for his homecoming, for him to keep in Paris.

They sat at the kitchen table and shared what they found in the fridge that appealed to him. She had bought foie gras and some cheese and there was a roast chicken. It seemed like a feast to them both. The simple pleasures were so much sweeter together.

“I have a proposition to make to you,” he said when they finished eating. “I was going to wait till tomorrow, but I’m too excited about it to wait to tell you.”

“What kind of proposition?” She looked nervous when he said it. Everything was so perfect between them, she didn’t want to spoil it.

“I’ll have twenty years with the CIA in June. I want to retire. I know that sounds crazy at my age, but I’m ready and I know it’s the right thing for me. It’s not that I don’t enjoy getting shot in the chest every now and then. I love it. But I have a better idea for the next twenty years, or thirty or forty.” He smiled at her.

“But then what are you going to do, if you retire? You’re too young to retire, you’ll be bored stiff.” It didn’t sound like a good idea to her, even though she didn’t like the dangers he dealt with every day. He had been lucky this time, but he might not be the next time.

“I want to run your security, all of it: the people, the technology, your alarm systems, who you hire, how you train them. It’s a full-time job for someone and I want to do it. You could have the most state-of-the-art security setup, your very own little CIA.” He was beaming as he said it.

“You want to be my employee?” She looked shocked. “And give up a prestigious high-security-level government job? You’re crazy.”

“I’ve done that, for twenty years. That’s enough. I want to reinvent myself, and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather do it with, and do it for. Theo, I want to be with you, but I don’t want to be deadweight around here. I’m not a gigolo. I need to work, and I could give you something you really need, and I can do well. I’ve had twenty years of training for it. And you’re going to need bodyguards and a sophisticated security system forever. That’s real job security,” he said, and leaned across the kitchen table and kissed her. “What do you think?”

“I think you kiss better than any man I’ve ever met, and you make love better.”

“That’s separate from the security job.” He grinned at her.

“Oh, I thought it was included.”

“It’s a perk, for me,” he added, and she laughed.

“For me too. For a minute I thought you were going to propose to me.” She grinned at him.

“That can happen too, when you’re ready for it,” but he knew she wasn’t yet. The look of panic in her eyes a moment earlier had confirmed it. All the bad things that had happened were still too fresh.

“Speaking seriously for a minute, I want you here with me, but do you really want to give up the CIA for that?”

“Yes, I do.” He was sure of it, and had been working it out in his head all month. His pension after twenty years would be a good one. A lot of CIA agents retired at fifty and started new ventures.

“You wouldn’t miss New York?”

“Maybe, but Paris is pretty damn great too. And you’re here. I don’t want to be in New York without you.”

“What about your sister?”

“She can come visit. I can put her up in a hotel if she drives you crazy.”

“She won’t. I love her. She’d be fun to have for a visit.”

“I’m ready for a change. Getting shot in the chest told me that. I don’t want to do the same thing for the rest of my life. Setting things up right for you would be a challenge. Everything you have in place right now was done in a crisis. You needed to make choices and decisions and set things up fast. Now you can set things up in a way that really works for you. You know more about it yourself now. I can design it just the way you want it. I have to wait till June to leave the job, but I can be working on it before I start. You don’t even have to pay me, my pension is great.”

“If you’re going to perform a major function like that, you should be paid for it and have a title.”

“However you want me to do it.” She liked the idea. He had given her advice before, but this would be different. It would be entirely his bailiwick, and given his training, it would be perfect.

“Let’s sleep on it, and decide before you go back, so you can get the ball rolling in New York.”

“That sounds perfect.” He looked pleased.

They went back to her bedroom then and made love again. She loved the idea of his moving to Paris and living with her. It was just right for right now, and it could grow into more later. He had touched on it, and she hadn’t responded. But he was letting her set the pace, which was what she needed.