Garret finally moved, shaking himself as if coming out of a trance.

“Didn’t Lexi drive you here?” he asked, and his voice, normally so calm and self-assured, shook a bit at the end.

Crap, she had. Damn him and his logic. “It’s okay.” I waved it off, though I still couldn’t look at him. “I can walk back, it won’t take too long. Or I’ll call Lexi to pick me up. If all else fails, I can stick out a thumb.” I just have to get home, right now.

“Ember, wait.” His voice, low and compelling, stopped me in my tracks. Even though I knew I should keep moving, head up the beach without looking back, I couldn’t bring myself to walk away from him.

I heard him pick up the surfboard, then splash through the water after me. My dragon instincts growled and shied away as he caught up, even though my stupid traitor heart leaped in my chest. “You can’t hitchhike all the way back,” Garret murmured, though he couldn’t bring himself to look at me, either. “I’ll drive you home.”

Garret

The drive back was…awkward was probably the word for it. Ember remained silent, gazing out the window and studiously not looking at me. I kept my hands on the steering wheel and stared straight ahead, though I could still see the girl from the corner of my eye. Neither of us spoke or looked directly at each other, which was good because my mind was churning like a tornado.

The simple truth was that I’d been dropping my guard around her. She was fun and disarming and easy to talk to. Potential target or not, I…liked spending time with her. But that wasn’t the most disturbing thing.

No, what was most troubling was the fact that when the kiss ended and Ember drew back, I’d almost stepped forward to kiss her again.

And now, with her sitting just a couple feet away, she called to me.

I was acutely aware of everything she did, every little motion, shift, or sigh. Even when I wasn’t looking at her, I could feel her presence, prodding against mine. And it was driving me crazy.

When we pulled up to her street, Ember was reaching for the door handle almost before the Jeep stopped moving. As her door opened, I wondered if I shouldn’t try to stop her, or at least talk to her. But the door slammed before I had finished the thought, and the moment was gone.

Numb, I watched her cross the street and stride up to the beach villa without a single glance in my direction, her surfboard bobbing under one arm. With every step, I wanted to call to her, go after her, but something held me back.

As she neared the front door, I felt eyes on me, and I glanced at the top window of the house. A figure watched me through the glass, the late afternoon sun gleaming off his red hair, before he turned away and vanished from sight.

Tristan wasn’t home when I returned to the apartment, which was a blessing, as I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. Instead, I went to the freestanding heavy bag in the corner of the living room and hit it hard enough to rattle the chains. I didn’t want to think. I needed to find my focus, calm this strange, restless energy coursing through my skin. I slugged the bag again, trying to drive the image of a red-haired girl from my system, erase the feel of her lips on mine.

I wasn’t even aware of how much time had passed when Tristan walked in. Stopping short of the living room, he regarded me with a half-amused, half-concerned look. Panting, I let my arms drop, my knuckles raw from pounding the bag, feeling sweat running down my face and into my eyes. With a start, I realized over an hour had passed from the time I’d walked into the apartment, and I hadn’t stopped or slowed down since I’d thrown that first punch.

“Soooo…” Tristan began, raising an eyebrow at my sweaty, exerted state. “How was your day?”

My mind still hadn’t calmed down. This whole time, I could still see Ember, still feel her hands on my shoulders, the instant when her lips touched mine. I gave the bag one last, resounding punch, then leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes, breathing hard. For a second, I considered not telling Tristan what had happened on the beach that afternoon, but quickly decided against it. I’d never kept anything from my partner before. Absolute trust was required when someone held your life in their hands.

“Garret?” Tristan’s voice was cautious now, and I heard him step farther into the room. “What happened?”

I scrubbed a hand over my face. “This afternoon,” I muttered, dropping my arm. “On the beach. Ember…she…she kissed me.”

Tristan’s eyebrows shot into his hair. “Come again?” he asked, as though unable to believe what I just told him. “Ember Hill, the girl we’ve been following all this time, the one we’ve pegged as a potential sleeper… kissed you?”

I shoved myself off the wall, unable to stop flashing back to that instant. “I’m too close,” I said, walking to the window. Beyond villa roofs and the tops of palm trees, the ocean sparkled in the sunlight, only reminding me again. “I lost focus,” I continued, “and it wasn’t the first time it’s happened. I don’t think I should see her anymore.

It’s just going to jeopardize the mission.”

“No,” Tristan said firmly, and I looked at him in surprise. “No, this is what we want, Garret,” he explained. “You have to get close. It’s the only way to discover anything, to really know if she’s the sleeper or not. The more she trusts you, the more likely she is to slip up. You can’t stop now. You have to keep seeing her.”

Continue spending time with Ember. The thought left me relieved and terrified all at once. “How do I proceed from here?” I asked, walking back. I had no frame of reference for this kind of thing, no experience to draw upon. And how was I going to pursue this girl, pretend to like her, if she didn’t want to see me again? “After she…kissed me…she almost ran away. It seemed to spook her pretty badly.

What am I supposed to do now?”

“Did you ask her out, make any plans to see her again?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I…I was…”

“Too busy being ambushed?”

I sighed, giving the bag a half-hearted punch. “Yeah.”

Tristan grinned. “Well, you’re just going to have to suck it up and hunt her down, partner,” he said, far too cheerfully, I thought. “Be bold. Don’t take no for an answer this time. It shouldn’t be too difficult. If she kissed you, she has to like you a little.”