Tell Me No Spies (41 page)

“Dave!” I hugged him
fiercely. “Goddamn, Dave, you scared the shit out of me! I’m so
glad you’re okay!”

He patted me on the
back and pulled away to meet my eyes. “Sorry I scared you. I got
another muscle spasm, and then when I tagged that guy with the stun
gun, he fell on me and wrenched my back. Couldn’t even move, it
hurt so bad. Tried to tell you I was okay, but I couldn’t catch my
breath.”

“I was so sure you
were having a heart attack.”

He smiled. “Told you I
was okay. Think I’ve had my fill of excitement, though. The chopper
ride was cool, but I’m ready to go back to driving now.”

I gave him an extra
squeeze before I released him. “That’s really good to hear.”

“Hey, get your hands
off my man!”

I jerked around at the
sound of Nichele’s saucy voice. I caught a glimpse of her bruised
face before she flung herself on me and hugged me half to
death.

“Thanks, Aydan,” she
whispered.

I extracted myself
from her embrace to frown at her. “What do you mean, your man?” I
glanced from her grin to Dave’s flushed, smiling face. “Uh,
congratulations…?”

I dragged her a few
steps away and bent to whisper. “What the hell, Nichele?” I shot
another look at plain, overweight Dave in his nondescript jeans and
T-shirt. “Don’t mess with him. He’s a sweet guy and you’ll break
his heart.”

“I’m not messing with
him. I know he’s a sweet guy. We’ve been talking non-stop since
last night.”

“Nichele, he’s not
drop-dead handsome, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t own a suit. I
know you. You’re just going to screw him and then get tired of him
and dump him and break his heart. Just don’t, okay?”

“Aydan, I swear I
won’t.” She grimaced. “I’ve developed a sudden allergy to men in
suits. And when I found out what a hero Dave is, I realized maybe
I’ve been looking in the wrong place. I’m going to give him a
chance.”

I sighed. I knew
Nichele. She had a heart of gold, but a ‘chance’ would probably
last a few weeks at best.

“At least let me give
Dave fair warning,” I begged.

“Okay. But I’m going
to surprise you this time.”

I couldn’t help
smiling at her. “You do that.”

I walked over to Dave.
His smile dissolved at the look on my face.

“Dave, we need to
talk,” I said.

He eyed me worriedly.
“…’Kay. About what?”

There was no way to be
tactful about this. I rubbed my headache. “Dave, I’m sorry, I need
to say something that’s going to… that you’re not going to want to
hear.”

He squared his
shoulders. “…’Kay.”

I suppressed a groan.
“Dave, Nichele is… um, flighty. She changes her mind really easily.
Um…”

He relaxed and
grinned. “Aydan, it’s okay. Look at her.” We both looked, taking in
her tasteful, expensive clothing and impeccable hair, nails and
makeup. Dave chuckled. “A guy like me with a woman like her? Maybe
for a couple of weeks, tops. But I’m ready to celebrate life a
little. I’m just going to enjoy this for as long as it lasts.”

I squeezed his hand.
“Dave, you’re an amazing guy.”

He flushed. “Thanks.
You’re pretty amazing yourself.”

“Come on, Dave, let’s
go.” Nichele bounced over and hugged his arm to her impressive
cleavage.

They made their way to
the door, arms locked around each other. Dave’s beaming face could
have lit up the entire town of Silverside.

I was standing there
smiling and shaking my head when a familiar gravelly voice spoke
from behind me. “Looks like a happy endin’ for Dave.”

I turned to see Kane
and Arnie approaching. I grinned. “Yeah. He gets the girl, and he
gets away with a small indiscretion involving an illegal weapon.” I
met Kane’s eyes. “Thanks for leaving that part out.”

He smiled back, but
his eyes were serious. “I owed him after all he did for you.”

“Will he get his truck
back?” I asked.

“Yes. And he’ll be
getting more than the truck, although he doesn’t know it yet,” Kane
said. “Sirius will compensate him for his lost load this week, and
I’ve recommended him for a Medal of Bravery for risking his life to
save you.”

“That’s wonderful.” I
savoured a glow of pure happiness for Dave. This probably marked
the end of his mid-life crisis.

I shot a look at
Hellhound’s bandaged face. “There’s somebody else here who deserves
a medal or three.”

Kane turned to regard
his friend seriously. “I wanted to recommend him, but he wouldn’t
let me.” His lips quirked up. “He’s already got a drawer full of
them anyway.”

Arnie shuffled his
feet and cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, anyway…” He gave Kane a
look. “I gotta talk to Aydan.”

He laid an arm across
my shoulders and guided me toward a couple of unoccupied chairs. I
looked up at him. “Drawer full of medals. I believe it.”

He shrugged, not
meeting my eyes. “He’s exaggeratin’. Listen, darlin’, we need to
talk.”

“Uh-oh.”

He didn’t smile.
“Let’s sit.”

Once settled, he
reached for my hand and gave me a steady look from the eye that
wasn’t swollen shut. “Aydan, there ain’t a good time to say
somethin’ like this, so I’m just gonna say it. I’m gettin’ too
attached to ya.”

I blew out a breath as
my heart contracted sharply. “I was going to talk to you about
that, too,” I interrupted. I was glad my voice had been nothing but
a hoarse whisper to begin with. It couldn’t betray me now. I
continued quickly before I lost my nerve.

“It’s too dangerous
for you to be around me. Every time we’re together, you end up
suffering. Sooner or later, luck will run out, and your death will
be on my hands. I won’t take that chance. Thanks for everything
you’ve done. You’ll never know how much it’s meant to me.”

I squeezed his hand,
wanting to hold on for all I was worth. “Goodbye, Arnie.
Thanks.”

I made myself let go
of his hand and stood, turning away quickly so he couldn’t see my
face.

I’d only taken a
couple of steps when his rasp stopped me. “Hang on. Did ya just
dump me?”

I sighed and turned to
face him as he rose. “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t qualify as a dump
when we were never together in the first place. It’s just a
goodbye.”

He scowled. “An’
you’re thinkin’ ya gotta leave so poor little baby Arnie doesn’t
get beat up anymore.”

I winced. “No, Arnie,
I-”

“Ya think I’m scared
of gettin’ a few bruises? We talked about this. I thought ya said
ya trusted me.”

“No, I do trust you,
you know I do, I just…”

“Ya just what,
darlin’?” His voice softened as he stepped closer. “Ya tryin’ to
protect yourself again?”

I held my head. This
is why you don’t let people in. It only hurts too much when you
lose them.

I straightened. It was
for his own safety. Like Kane said. Don’t get too close in our line
of work.

“No. I’m thinking of
you. I know how you feel about getting attached, and I’m getting
too attached to you, too.”

I knew exactly what to
say to end it forever. I forced the words out of my mouth. “Arnie,
I love you.”

He rocked back a step
and the unbruised parts of his face paled. He spoke uncertainly
into the silence. “You’re just sayin’ that so I’ll run.”

I sighed as the weight
of loss threatened to crush me. “No. I’m saying it because it’s the
truth. I love you. And we both know you don’t want that. So
goodbye.” I turned away.

“Aydan,” he said
hoarsely.

I stopped without
turning, closing my eyes to shut out the pain. I opened them again
when I felt his arms around me.

He tilted my chin to
look down into my face, and his voice was a rough velvet rumble.
“Aydan. Darlin’, ya got no idea how long I been waitin’ to hear ya
say that. I love ya, too.” He kissed me gently, and then sank down
on one knee in front of me, clasping my hands between his own.

“I joked about it
often enough, but this time I’m serious. Aydan, will ya marry
me?”

My breath went out of
me in a hiccup. I stared down at Hellhound’s battered, earnest face
in sheer horror for a few long seconds before my panicked gaze
darted around the lobby, searching frantically for an escape
route.

Kane and Spider were
staring at us, Spider’s mouth hanging open in an ‘O’ of shock.
Activity in the lobby ceased and conversations hushed while
everyone turned to watch.

“Arnie, get up! You’re
attracting attention!” I hissed.

“Not ‘til ya gimme an
answer,” he said. “I been waitin’ a long time for this. I knew ya
were the one the very first time I met ya, when ya slammed my head
into a wall an’ made a crack about my stayin’ power. If ya love me,
too, then let’s make it official.”

My legs gave way and I
dropped to my knees beside him. “Arnie,” I choked. “I can’t. I’m
sorry, I just can’t.”

“So ya were lyin’ when
ya said ya love me,” he said quietly.

“No, I was telling the
truth. I do love you. I love you for your big heart and your
courage and your dirty sense of humour and your brilliant
mind…”

“An’ I’m good in bed,”
he reminded me.

“And you’re
mind-blowing in bed. And in truck seats. And everywhere else.”

“But ya won’t marry
me.”

“No. I’m sorry. I
don’t want to marry anybody, ever again.”

He searched my face.
“Will ya move in with me?”

“No.” I dropped my
gaze, unable to watch what I was doing to him.

He raised my chin
again and eyed me gravely. “Will ya go steady with me? Not be with
anybody else?”

“Arnie, I don’t want
anything more than we have right now, and I never will. I’m
sorry.”

He bellowed out a
laugh and swept me into his arms. “I love ya, darlin’!” He kissed
me soundly, and I pulled away, staring at him.

“W-what…?” I
stammered.

He grinned. “I knew ya
were shittin’ me.”

Comprehension dawned.
“You… you… tricky bastard! You faked me out!” I gaped up at him,
not knowing whether I was going to laugh or cry or smack him.

He roared laughter
again. “Christ, ya shoulda seen your face!”

I was starting to
laugh in spite of myself. “You lousy bastard! You scared the shit
out of me! What would you have done if I’d said yes?”

He chuckled. “Ran like
hell, what d’ya think?” He stroked the hair back from my face and
took my hand. “Okay, let’s try this again, darlin’. I gotta say
this, ‘cause we promised not to lie to each other.”

I sobered, watching
him, but he smiled. “What I was gonna say was, I’m gettin’ too
attached to ya. I been down this road before, an’ it always ends up
ugly, ‘cause chicks think that means goin’ steady or movin’ in or
whatever, an’ that’ll never happen. But if ya don’t want that, if
we can keep what we got…” He met my eyes, serious for once. “Long
as you’re still good with our original deal. No commitments, an’ no
lies.”

I tried to swallow the
bubble of joy and relief, but it burst out on my face in a huge
grin despite me. His face lit up, too, and his shoulders
relaxed.

“Arnie,” I said. “That
is exactly what I want.” I threw my arms around him, and he held me
close in a sweet, lingering kiss.

Applause and whistles
made me jerk away to see everyone in the lobby clapping and
smiling, patients and hospital staff alike. A couple of women
dabbed at their eyes.

I turned back to
Arnie. “Oh, for shit’s sake.”

He burst out laughing
and stood, reaching a hand down to me. As I rose, he tucked an arm
around me and waved graciously to our audience, smiling. “Hell,
darlin’, they’ll never know any different,” he growled out of the
corner of his mouth. “Let ‘em think they’re seein’ a happy
endin’.”

I grinned up at him.
“They are.”

“That they are.” He
pulled me closer and kissed me again, and the crowd began to drift
back to its normal rhythm and flow.

After a moment, he
pulled away, his expression serious again. “Aydan, I know what ya
been through, so I’m gonna cut ya some slack this time. But don’t
ever pull that shit on me again. If ya wanna be rid a’ me, look me
in the eye an’ say so, but don’t play mind games, okay?”

I swallowed hard.
“Okay. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, darlin’.”
He kissed me gently before pulling back with a wicked grin. “An’ I
promise not to fuck with your mind by pretendin’ I wanna get
married.” We both laughed and turned to face Kane and Spider as
they made their way over.

Spider was grinning
from ear to ear, practically bouncing up and down. Kane wore his
unreadable cop face.

“I take it
congratulations are in order,” Kane said evenly.

Hellhound grinned and
squeezed my shoulders. “Yeah. I’m the luckiest guy in the
world.”

Spider flung his lanky
arms around both of us. “Congratulations! Wait ‘til I tell Linda,
she’ll be so sorry she missed the big proposal! When’s the
wedding?” he bubbled.

Arnie and I exchanged
glances. “Dunno, darlin’,” he said thoughtfully. “What d’ya think,
February 31
^st
?”

I pretended to
consider it for a few seconds. “Yeah, that’ll work. Hell should be
frozen over by then. We could go there for a skiing honeymoon.”

We turned to face the
other two. Spider’s expression of consternation almost made me feel
sorry for pulling his leg. Kane exploded in a bark of laughter.

“But… but… what…?”
Spider stammered. “That looked like…”

Hellhound chuckled.
“Hell, ya spy on people’s private conversations, ya get what ya
deserve.”

I relented. “Sorry,
Spider, I know what it looked like, but it wasn’t that. Arnie and I
are happy the way we are, and that’s the way we’re going to
stay.”

“But…” His
disappointment was almost palpable. “But you’re not… anything.
You’re not even together.”