A Thin Disguise - Catherine Bybee Page 0,108
Ex-bachelor . . .”
“Ex-boyfriend,” she teased.
“No. I don’t like that one.” He kicked his foot next to hers as if dismissing her idea.
She sighed. “I still can’t believe what you’ve given up for me.”
Leo placed a finger to her chin and made her look at him. “I didn’t give up anything for you. Ask Neil. My cold house in Glendale provided temporary shelter for a workaholic that took on unending undercover assignments because I had nothing better going on. And in the end, it was Neil and his team that brought closure to that. I completely understand how Neil recruits so many quality employees. The hands of the FBI are tied up in so much bureaucracy that nothing gets done. Or if it does, it takes years.” He reached for the job offer, waved it in the air. “Not only does the private sector pay better, something tells me it’s going to prove a lot more fulfilling. Especially with my wife at my side.”
Olivia shifted into a sitting position, her eyes wide. “Who said anything about a wife?”
Leo smiled. “You didn’t read that part in the contract?”
She reached for the paper, but he pulled it away and scrambled off the sofa. He then pretended to read what she knew wasn’t there.
“Since Harrison Shipping is investing such a large sum of money for your services, we would like the guarantee that Leo and Olivia form a more permanent bond in the form of marriage to ensure no one gets cold feet and runs off.”
Olivia was smiling, and even though Leo’s words were a joke, the insecurity she’d created by running from him twice was in his voice. “I love you, Leo. I’m not going to leave.”
Every time she’d confessed her feelings in the past weeks, Leo rewarded her with a kiss and a devotion of his own.
He leaned over the sofa and pressed his lips to hers. “Prove it.”
“Olivia Naught is dead. She can’t get married.”
“We have a quiet ceremony, and I remind Mrs. Grant how much I love her every day for the rest of my life.”
Mrs. Grant.
A real name.
One Olivia could keep.
“The FBI agent marries the assassin. What could possibly go right?” she asked.
“The ex-FBI agent and ex-assassin . . . Our life will never be dull.”
She reached her lips toward his. And when he kissed her, she grabbed the contract from his fingertips and scrambled off the sofa. “It says here I don’t have to wear a ring.”
Leo was smiling. “Why not?”
A small ache in her chest was still there. “A ring tells the world there is someone’s life that is more important than my own and uses that knowledge against me.”
“Shhh,” he coaxed as tears threatened in the back of her eyes. “All anyone has to do is look at me looking at you to know what you mean to me. Rings are not necessary.”
Olivia closed her eyes and wished she could erase her past.
All she could do was move forward and live a life to be proud of from this moment on. “I love you,” she said to his chest as his arms circled around her.
“I love you . . . Mrs. Grant.”
She leaned back and smiled. “I’m wearing red at our wedding.”
Leo’s smile illuminated the room. “Never going to be boring.”
They sealed their agreement with a kiss.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
That time has come again when I thank the people and chosen family in my life for all their help in making each book possible. This book was written in the challenging year of 2020, which may evolve into the “year we will never mention again” once it is over. But alas . . . here I am, typing and thanking my tribe.
Thank you, Montlake and Amazon Publishing, for giving me the freedom to write the books I want to write. Holly Ingraham for helping me shape this story and the others before it. Maria Gomez for your continual support book after book.
My dazzling agent, Jane Dystel, who I love and adore. Thank you for all you do.
My sisters from different misters, Kari and Brandy, who were with me as I was putting the finishing touches on this book. I could not have pulled it off without you. You are both always there when I need you the most. Kari, my guide to all things federal agency and now private investigator. Thank you for all the tips along the way. I still can’t believe you carry a gun for a living, and I ended up sitting at a computer typing.
Fiona . . . who is the reason I have more people to dedicate my books to. I cherish every moment of our friendship, and I’m deeply grateful for the technology that gives us the opportunity to keep in touch. Your daily support and whip cracking all the way from Western Australia is spectacular. Thank you.
Now, on to Ethan and Eloise . . . By the time this book is in print you will already be married, and the ceremony and time leading up to it nothing but memories and photographs. It saddens me so profoundly that COVID has robbed me of traveling to Australia and being there to celebrate your special day. However, marriage is more than one moment and one celebration. I remember holding you, Ethan, the day you were born. Perhaps I can be there again when and if the time comes for me to hold one of yours. I say this next part with a thickness in my throat and tears in my eyes. Your father would be so proud of you and your choice in a wife. He lives in you and is never far away . . . I hope you know that.
May you both hold on to your happily ever after and find joy in every day you have together.
Congratulations!
Catherine
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2015 Julianne Gentry
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee has written thirty-five books that have collectively sold more than eight million copies and have been translated into more than twenty languages. Raised in Washington State, Bybee moved to Southern California in the hope of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full time and has penned the Not Quite series, the Weekday Brides series, the Most Likely To series, and the First Wives series.