She glances down. “You think?”
“So beautiful.”
“Oh, good.” Her teeth chatter. “I’ll try to remember that when I have frostbite.”
I lead her to the chairs in the waiting room, but she doesn’t sit down. My forehead creases in confusion. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought about lying and saying that I came to play Farkle with Mary, but since I promised I’d never lie to you again, I’ll just admit that I came here looking for you.”
I can’t hide my smile. “I was just leaving to find you.”
“Oh, well, that’s convenient.” She scratches her head and darts her eyes around the lobby, bouncing them back to me. “I have a speech,” she blurts.
“You do?”
“Yeah, would you like to hear it?”
“By all means.” I gesture for her to start.
“It’s not a normal relationship speech because there’s nothing normal about our relationship. We’re two CIA operatives who both lied to each other. Although, my lies probably felt worse than yours because I was lying to my friend Park Bradshaw, and you were just keeping Lacee Warren in the dark about your highly secretive job. I get that there’s a difference.” She shifts her weight. “And in addition to lying, I was like the puppeteer behind the scenes, pulling all the strings. I can also see how that was hurtful. But the thing is,” she rolls her shoulders back as if she’d just received a second dose of courage, “I’m sorry about all of that. I’m sorry that those lies make you feel like you can’t trust me or that you don’t know who I am because contrary to what you think, you do know me. You know all the different sides that make up Lacee Warren and Sienna Prime. So imagine my disappointment when I realized the person that knows me the best can’t forgive me or trust me again. It’s really a bummer.”
She draws in a big breath as if she’s moving onto phase two of her speech. I hold back my smile even though I love the way she rambles on.
“I know I made up all of these stupid rules about how we need to part ways when Christmas was over. But don’t I get credit for the good things I did, like proposing we have a holiday fling in the first place? Don’t I get credit for kissing you at the mall? Because those were good ideas. And it’s not like I’measy. I wouldn’t have a holiday fling with just any stranger I met in the airport. And I wouldn’t have kissed justanyoneat the mall. I kissedyou.I already knew you, and I’ve spent way too much time over the years wondering what you’d be like if we actually met in person. Would you still be easy to talk to? Would you make me laugh and, in return, laugh at my jokes? Would I still feel the same level of interest for you that I’ve felt for years from a distance? And then I met you in real life, and you were better than I even imagined.” Her blue eyes pierce into mine. “I like you, Park. I’ve liked you from the first moment we worked a job together six years ago. I liked you again when we met in the dressing room. I liked you on the plane to Washington. I liked you in the car ride to my parents' house. I liked you in Leavenworth, and every moment we were on the run together. And I realized that spending time with you as Lacee was way better than working with you as Sienna.”
Shelikesme.
This will go down as the best speech I’ve ever heard, and by the way Lacee’s forging ahead, it’s not even over yet.
“So I’m sorry that I lied to you, but can you just get over it already? Because I like you, and you can trust that.” She rolls her eyes. “Okay, fine. In the interest of honesty, it’s more thanlike. It feels a lot like love. I love you. And I don’t care what you think I—”
“Lacee, stop.” I hold my hand up. “Can I say something now?”
“Uh,” she nods, “yes, I’d be very interested in hearing your response to all the things I just said, particularly the part about how I love you and whether or not you can trust me again. Because if I didn’t convince you to forgive me, I have other versions of the speech and—”
“Lacee.” I gently place my finger over her lips.
“Right, sorry,” she mumbles. “It’s your turn.”
“The minute you walked away yesterday, I knew I’d been an idiot.” I drop my hand, linking my fingers with hers. “I know you—the real you. I know you’re smarter than me. I know you love adventure and thrills. I know you’re open and share way too much about yourself, even when you’re undercover. I know you don’t keep a low profile. I know you’re full of playful energy. I know you like books and use coconut-smelling shampoo. I know you love your family and that you’re torn between your goals and staying in Leavenworth with them. I know you’re good at your job and an extremely skilled fighter. And somehow, I knew when you started your speech today that it would be an adorable, long-winded info dump.” I tug her a little closer, resting my hands on her waist. “And deep down, I think I knew all along that Lacee and Sienna were the same person because no other woman besides you and your alias has ever kept me on my toes and made me feel what I feel.”
She slowly lowers her chin, looking at me as her hands rest on my forearms. “And whatdoyou feel?”
“I was getting to that.” I pull her to me, slipping my hands behind her back.
“I think I would’ve preferred if you led with that.”
“You, of all people, should know, you never divulge all of your secrets right at first.” I smile. “But, I love you, too—all versions of you.”
A wide grin spreads across her mouth. “So we live to see another day?”
“It looks like it.” I wrap her in a full hug, feeling the curves of her body against mine. My chin rests against the top of her head, and we both hold each other.
“Did we just have adefine the relationshiptalk in the middle of an old folk’s home?” she asks against my shoulder.
“I think we did.”
“Wow.” She laughs too. “Did we just become more than co-operatives?”
