Page 55 of Her Fearless Warrior

Linc smiled. It just kept getting better and better.

They started talking about one another’s work. Nothing deep, just funny stories about people. He knew that she probably signed NDAs for a lot of her assignments and she was smart enough to know that he couldn’t really talk about any of the stuff that he did.

“…so there I was, holding a baby, with a toddler tugging on my skirt and the Russian Under Secretary was continuing to ask me questions about the upcoming conference. I’m like hello, don’t you see that your wife just dropped your kids, literally, in my lap? And why the hell didn’t she drop them in your lap?”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“Nope, I’m not. So here he is, too good to deal with his own kids, but I’m supposed to be a nanny and his translator at the same time.”

“What did you do?”

“This was early in my career. I was only twenty-three, so I put up with it. But, when he asks me if, and I quote, if I would consider being his mistress for the summer, then I lost it.”

“Tell me there was someone, an American, that you could report him to.”

“Nope, he was my boss. I’d hired on for a five-month gig. I handed him his baby and walked out. Luckily, I wasn’t living on the premises. I immediately went to the American consulate and told them what had happened. There wasn’t much they could do except expedite my flight home and work with my landlord to get me out of my lease early.”

“Jesus, I just can’t imagine that happening. I guess it’s different in Russia.”

“There’s still a lot of chauvinism here in the US. I talk to my friends about it. Because the job I have is more white-collar, I don’t get it quite as much, but some of my other friends bump into it a lot.”

“Hmmm. I don’t have stories like that, I just have stories of my friends being dumbasses. Well, actually, I like that Lark, Kostya’s wife, led him a merry chase before they truly got together.”

“A merry chase, huh?”

“Yeah. You might have heard of her. Her name is Lark Sorensen. She’s a reporter.”

“I think I have. She does in-depth pieces? Something about those slums in Brazil, right?”

“Yep, that’s her. I can’t tell you how she and Kostya met.”

“Ah-ha!”

“What, ah-ha?” Linc knew what she was talking about. His Leila wasn’t a dumb girl.

“She’s like us. Kostya met her on a mission. Didn’t he?”

Linc cleared his throat. “As I was saying, when Lark and Kostya met at a bar in DC, she ended up having some troubles with one of her current stories.”

“What kind of troubles?”

“Suffice it to say that some of her leads were pretty unsavory and Kostya watched her six. It was great because Lark’s best friend is now Ryker’s girlfriend.”

“When did all this happen?”

“A couple of years ago. At least the part with Lark and Kostya. Ryker and Amy were still dating when we were in Turkey,” Linc answered.

“Sounds like some of my friends. It’s the age. People are pairing up. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

“Oh, I’m thinking it’s a good thing.” Linc reached out and picked up Leila’s hand and twined his fingers with hers, then brought it to rest on his thigh. “It has to be the right person, and if it is, then pairing up is definitely a good thing.”

13

“This place is beautiful, Linc. I don’t think I’ve ever stayed in any place so luxurious unless I was working with some high-falutin’ ambassador overseas. Are your parents millionaires and I don’t know it?”

Linc laughed out loud. “Hardly. I’m just as blown away as you are.”

He dropped the bags in the middle of the living room. There was a fireplace in front of a sofa and two winged-back chairs. They were definitely going to be making use of that sofa. He strolled over to the coffee table and saw that there was a bottle chilling in a silver bucket and two empty flutes. He picked up the card and saw that the bottle of champagne was a welcome from Amy’s friend’s dad. The card also said the meals were included with their stay.