Chapter 30
30
Rachel
Ifind it very sexy when a man can make me laugh – and Lars made me laugh harder than any man I’d ever met.
Add to that the fact he was already mind-blowingly hot…
And that he’d saved my life just a few hours earlier…
And the vodka (SO much vodka p>
Let’s just say my resolve to not sleep with him was fading fast.
I wanted to take him to bed – I absolutely did – but I’d seen it destroy other women’s careers in MI6. Not to mention I’d had a terrible experience in the past from merely flirting with a colleague.
But he’s not a colleague, a little voice whispered in my ear.
Plus, he’s staying in Afghanistan, and you’re leaving in just a few hours.
You’ll never see him again.
I told the little voice to shut up and leave me alone.
Unfortunately, all the vodka made the little voice much louder and quite persistent.
After another half-hour of trading idiomatic phrases in Italian and Swedish – and Lars nearly making me wet my pants with laughter – I knew I had to call an end to it, or I was going to do something I’d regret in the morning.
So I put down my paper cup and said, “Well, this has been absolutely lovely, but I should probably go grab a nap before my flight p>
“You’re in the visitor quarters near the main gate?” he asked.
“Yeah p>
“Alright. I’ll walk you back to your room p>
Ah.
So that was how he was going to play it.
“I can get myself back safely,” I said.
“I know you can,” he agreed. “But you’re also drunk, and this isn’t exactly the safest place to be drunk p>
A bit of unease shot through me as I glanced around the room at the Special Forces soldiers. “Are you saying p>
“No. None of these guys are like Delgado p>
Delgado.
What with the terror of nearly dying on the mission, and now the happiness I felt being with Lars, I’d almost forgotten about what had happened earlier.
I knew I could handle just about any attacker –
If I was sober.
But I wasn’t sober.
Lars seemed to know what I was thinking. “It’s not like that. Just – trust me. You’ll see p>
I gave him some more side-eye. “Maybe walking me back is just a ruse to try to get into my pants again p>
He smiled. “No. You already shot that one down p>
I playfully raised one eyebrow. “You better not try anything, Henriksson p>
“Oh, I know better than that. I saw what you did to Delgado p>
I thought about saying, Too soon –
But it actually was a bit too soon, and the joke felt forced.
So I didn’t say anything at all, other than my goodbyes to the other soldiers as we left the Swedish barracks.