Free Her Spy to Hold (Spy Games Book 2) by Paula Altenburg

we’d have?” She threw that out there to see how he’d react.
    He set his fork down and pushed his plate out of the way so he could rest his forearms on the table. “That’s right. I promised you an explanation, didn’t I?” He leaned toward her as if preparing to impart important state secrets. “OK. Here’s the deal. I’ve been working nonstop for the past six or seven weeks. Right now I’m not at the top of my game. I might have missed a few things. I’m willing to bet you’d work twenty-four seven if you didn’t need to sleep, too. We could both use a break. This province has a beach that’s world famous for surfing and I’m not planning to miss out on it. So guess where we’re headed today? Bring a book if you like. Tonight, we’re ordering pizza and watching movies. Unless, of course, you can think of a better way for us to unwind?”
    Not at the top of his game, hmm? She begged to differ. Was he trying to tell her that he’d missed important information? That he wasn’t as prepared to handle an investigation as he might otherwise have been? Or was he simply trying to misdirect her?
    Common sense leaned toward misdirection. Under the table, she flexed her hands. Then, she drew a few breaths. She didn’t have a clue how to figure him out. He wasn’t at all the person he presented to the world. So the next question became, did she trust him?
    Yes and no. She believed he was CSIS. As for the rest of his game, the jury was out. For example, she was only ninety-five percent sure how he’d meant for her to take that last remark, and even then, only because she factored in the kisses they’d shared. The odds still weren’t quite high enough for her, however, so she hedged her response. “I’m good with whatever you’d like to do.”
    The heat in his eyes tipped the odds to one hundred percent. “You say that, Dr. Babe. But wait until tonight rolls around.”
    Forget the other games he might have going on. This one was about sex, plain and simple. Now she had to decide if she was willing to play along.
    Why not have fun?
    She couldn’t change who she was. But she could choose to be brave. While subtlety wasn’t her strength, and she wasn’t quick-witted with comebacks, she knew how to stand her ground and be direct. She met his gaze and held it, the same as she would if she’d been challenged by a peer during a presentation. “I’d only change my mind if you gave me a good reason to.”
    The incredulity slackening his jaw signaled she’d caught him off guard. Worry that she’d misread him dampened her palms. Perhaps he hadn’t been serious. Maybe she was a challenge who’d turned out to be no challenge at all.
    He found his voice. “In that case, I’ll be on my best behavior all day. Guaranteed.”
    A heady sense of relief, and perhaps triumph that, while she might feel awkward and uncertain around him, she could hold her own nonetheless, replaced her worry. Then, some of her bravery began to erode. Directness was one thing. Daring was a whole different ball game.
    “I can see you thinking, Irina.” His expression gentled, at odds with the awe-inspiring, muscled bulk of him. He’d straightened one of his long legs so that a bare foot, high-arched and well-shaped, rested disconcertingly close to her chair. Whether he did it intentionally or not, he constantly invaded her personal space. “Stop analyzing everything I say. There’s no need for it. When I watch movies with a woman, she gets control of the remote. It has a stop button.”
    She could feel her face flaming. She really hoped they were talking about the same thing. “I’m not very good at picking out movies. I don’t watch very many.”
    “Yeah. I figured that out. Don’t worry so much. You have plenty of time to make a selection. Remotes have pause buttons too. Now finish your breakfast,” he said, picking up his fork once again. “This morning we’re going surfing.”
    * * *
    They stopped at the surf shop closest