wanted, it just hammered home how ill suited the two of them were. Because that kind of life would strangle her.
And why the hell was she even thinking in terms of the two of them suiting each other in the first place? That was beyond nuts. Nobody suited Lila. And she sure as hell wasn’t looking to suit anyone herself.
He started to speak again, even got as far as saying, “But the thing is—” when the doorbell chimed, heralding the arrival of their driver. By the time they were seated in the back of the big black Town Car, however, Joel must have forgotten what he’d intended to tell her, because he never revisited the topic. Instead, he started a new one.
“So since you and I are going to be working together so closely for this assignment—”
“You mean living together?” Lila interjected, already knowing that the plan OPUS had outlined would involve their sharing living space. She’d read the entire dossier through last night and knew all the particulars of their undercover operation—at least, the particulars to which OPUS had decided she would be privy for now. There was no telling what Joel knew that she didn’t. He was, after all, the one in charge.
Talk about your odious little miscreants.
“Yeah, that,” he said. And if she hadn’t known better, she would almost have sworn he sounded a little flustered about the prospect of shacking up, even as a job requirement. “So maybe we should know a little more about each other’s habits ahead of time.”
“Like what?” she asked.
He looked at her in a way that indicated he didn’t like her asking him the question he’d intended her to answer first. But he replied anyway, “Like the fact that I’m the early-to-bed and early-to-rise type, but I suspect you’re not.”
“Oh, really?” she asked. “So what happened to Mr. Early-to-Rise this morning?”
Joel expelled an exasperated sound. “Okay, so today Mr. Early-to-Rise overslept a little.”
“Actually, he overslept quite a bit.”
“He hasn’t been getting as much sleep as usual,” Joel continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “People keep breaking in to his house in the middle of the night and trying to cuff him.”
Lila smiled. “Some people are so rude.”
“Aren’t they, though?”
“If I were you, I’d want a piece of someone’s hide.”
He arched his eyebrows at her suggestively, opened his mouth to say something in retort, then seemed to think better of it. Which was a shame, because Lila found herself looking forward to that retort. Among other things.
Ultimately, he only said, “I think I’ll just settle for alerting the authorities.”
“Oh, good idea,” she said. “The authorities always know the right thing to do.”
“Anyway,” he said, circling back to the original topic, “as I said, something tells me you’re not the early-to-rise type.”
She grinned. “Wow, you’re really good at this fieldwork.
I can see why they gave you this assignment. That was a brilliant deduction.”
“Hey, I work for an information-gathering arm of the U.S. government,” he told her with clearly affected self-importance. “It’s my job to make brilliant deductions.”
She waved off his concern quite literally. “Don’t worry about it. I’m highly adaptable. I can match my hours of operation to yours with no problem.”
He eyed her thoughtfully. “Something about the way you said that indicates you’d rather not.”
This time Lila shrugged off his concern literally. “I prefer to work at night—big surprise—but when the assignment calls for daytime activity, I don’t have a problem with it.”
“You’re just not as happy working during the day.”
“Happiness isn’t a word that appears in my job description,” she told him.
“But you’d still be happier if this was one of those nighttime infiltration things, wouldn’t you?”
There was no reason to deny it, so Lila relented. “Yeah. I’d be happier if it
And why the hell was she even thinking in terms of the two of them suiting each other in the first place? That was beyond nuts. Nobody suited Lila. And she sure as hell wasn’t looking to suit anyone herself.
He started to speak again, even got as far as saying, “But the thing is—” when the doorbell chimed, heralding the arrival of their driver. By the time they were seated in the back of the big black Town Car, however, Joel must have forgotten what he’d intended to tell her, because he never revisited the topic. Instead, he started a new one.
“So since you and I are going to be working together so closely for this assignment—”
“You mean living together?” Lila interjected, already knowing that the plan OPUS had outlined would involve their sharing living space. She’d read the entire dossier through last night and knew all the particulars of their undercover operation—at least, the particulars to which OPUS had decided she would be privy for now. There was no telling what Joel knew that she didn’t. He was, after all, the one in charge.
Talk about your odious little miscreants.
“Yeah, that,” he said. And if she hadn’t known better, she would almost have sworn he sounded a little flustered about the prospect of shacking up, even as a job requirement. “So maybe we should know a little more about each other’s habits ahead of time.”
“Like what?” she asked.
He looked at her in a way that indicated he didn’t like her asking him the question he’d intended her to answer first. But he replied anyway, “Like the fact that I’m the early-to-bed and early-to-rise type, but I suspect you’re not.”
“Oh, really?” she asked. “So what happened to Mr. Early-to-Rise this morning?”
Joel expelled an exasperated sound. “Okay, so today Mr. Early-to-Rise overslept a little.”
“Actually, he overslept quite a bit.”
“He hasn’t been getting as much sleep as usual,” Joel continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “People keep breaking in to his house in the middle of the night and trying to cuff him.”
Lila smiled. “Some people are so rude.”
“Aren’t they, though?”
“If I were you, I’d want a piece of someone’s hide.”
He arched his eyebrows at her suggestively, opened his mouth to say something in retort, then seemed to think better of it. Which was a shame, because Lila found herself looking forward to that retort. Among other things.
Ultimately, he only said, “I think I’ll just settle for alerting the authorities.”
“Oh, good idea,” she said. “The authorities always know the right thing to do.”
“Anyway,” he said, circling back to the original topic, “as I said, something tells me you’re not the early-to-rise type.”
She grinned. “Wow, you’re really good at this fieldwork.
I can see why they gave you this assignment. That was a brilliant deduction.”
“Hey, I work for an information-gathering arm of the U.S. government,” he told her with clearly affected self-importance. “It’s my job to make brilliant deductions.”
She waved off his concern quite literally. “Don’t worry about it. I’m highly adaptable. I can match my hours of operation to yours with no problem.”
He eyed her thoughtfully. “Something about the way you said that indicates you’d rather not.”
This time Lila shrugged off his concern literally. “I prefer to work at night—big surprise—but when the assignment calls for daytime activity, I don’t have a problem with it.”
“You’re just not as happy working during the day.”
“Happiness isn’t a word that appears in my job description,” she told him.
“But you’d still be happier if this was one of those nighttime infiltration things, wouldn’t you?”
There was no reason to deny it, so Lila relented. “Yeah. I’d be happier if it
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