“I’ve done that, for twenty years. That’s enough. I want to reinvent myself, and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather do it with, and do it for. Theo, I want to be with you, but I don’t want to be deadweight around here. I’m not a gigolo. I need to work, and I could give you something you really need, and I can do well. I’ve had twenty years of training for it. And you’re going to need bodyguards and a sophisticated security system forever. That’s real job security,” he said, and leaned across the kitchen table and kissed her. “What do you think?”

“I think you kiss better than any man I’ve ever met, and you make love better.”

“That’s separate from the security job.” He grinned at her.

“Oh, I thought it was included.”

“It’s a perk, for me,” he added, and she laughed.

“For me too. For a minute I thought you were going to propose to me.” She grinned at him.

“That can happen too, when you’re ready for it,” but he knew she wasn’t yet. The look of panic in her eyes a moment earlier had confirmed it. All the bad things that had happened were still too fresh.

“Speaking seriously for a minute, I want you here with me, but do you really want to give up the CIA for that?”

“Yes, I do.” He was sure of it, and had been working it out in his head all month. His pension after twenty years would be a good one. A lot of CIA agents retired at fifty and started new ventures.

“You wouldn’t miss New York?”

“Maybe, but Paris is pretty damn great too. And you’re here. I don’t want to be in New York without you.”

“What about your sister?”

“She can come visit. I can put her up in a hotel if she drives you crazy.”

“She won’t. I love her. She’d be fun to have for a visit.”

“I’m ready for a change. Getting shot in the chest told me that. I don’t want to do the same thing for the rest of my life. Setting things up right for you would be a challenge. Everything you have in place right now was done in a crisis. You needed to make choices and decisions and set things up fast. Now you can set things up in a way that really works for you. You know more about it yourself now. I can design it just the way you want it. I have to wait till June to leave the job, but I can be working on it before I start. You don’t even have to pay me, my pension is great.”

“If you’re going to perform a major function like that, you should be paid for it and have a title.”