Nicola bee-lined it for the shoe department, and he trailed behind, watching the tsunami effect of her presence. Nicola grabbed a pair of overstuffed, pink bunny slippers, walked over to the clerk and said, “I need these now. I’ll be back for different shoes in a minute.” She looked over her shoulder, pointed, and smiled. “And that beauty of a man over there plans on paying.”

That he did. He smiled his split lip. It stung as the fresh scab ripped open. She could have called him a lot worse than a beauty.

***

Decent shoes and a well-fitting outfit did more for Nicola’s mental state than she cared to admit. Cash glancing sideways a couple times to check her out was even more of a boost. Problem was, giggling like a school girl didn’t fit the persona she’d created at the CIA. Nope. Those who knew Nicola thought she was married to the job and needed to get out more. At least she assumed that’s what they thought.

Leaving the mall and heading to the airport was easy. Overthinking what Cash and Roman would say and do—that was a headache.

Not a lot of women did the whole intel operative routine, and fewer did it out in the field. Men assumed she played the game for a rush and that they’d swoop in to save the day just like Cash did, though, true enough, she had needed a hand in the Main Street rumble. Barroom brawls, even in broad daylight, weren’t her forte. She might be tall and strong, but she wasn’t oblivious to her physical limitations. There was a difference between knowing what might bring you down and being strong enough to say, “Fuck it. Let’s try anyway.”

Cash wasn’t keen on her doing field work. She could tell. He hadn’t said it word for word, but she got the gist. Every time his eyebrows hit his hair line, she translated it to, “Nicola, go home and watch Jeopardy!” Roman would be even worse. He didn’t like her to take out the trash at night. Well, ten years ago, he didn’t.

They breezed onto the private airstrip, sidled up to the plane, then Cash gave her a look. She foresaw an intervention in her future.

Nicola made a point to walk up the staircase in front of Cash. Roman and Rocco were already on board with Bonnie and Clyde. She wanted them to see her first, to show her extraction team that she wasn’t hiding behind a man. To show Roman that this was her job too. All good reasons, but she’d be lying to herself if the thought of Cash behind her in these ten-out-of-ten fitting jeans hadn’t crossed her mind.

God, no. She needed to erase him from her thoughts. The giddy school girl routine was going to get her into trouble.