Miss Classified (Book 3 of the Miss Series)

Thirty

Aimee

"The NSA have assigned me to work in Britain for Nemesis. We... I know we wanted to work together and now... Now we can't... Which means..." Noah starts, but I already know what he is implying and the thought murders my heart.

"That we won't see each other in a very long time." I whisper and the reality hits me like a slap in the face. I've always been a Lone Ranger. It's been easier that way. It's been easier to only have to care for myself, after all, there is no one to betray you or stab you in the back, and I've been okay with that. It's been easier to hold onto my heart and lock it away and be the leader of my own pack, which consists of me and me only.

Quinn is different. She's my best friend, but I've never, never had someone like I have had Noah. It's been easier to protect my heart from the heartbreak, because the person who once mattered to me the most left me in the dust... and I had to deal with the wreckage left behind and I had to face my dad alone. When Will left, it felt like my world was being ripped apart at the seams. We were best friends, always together, almost joined at the hip. We went everywhere together and he was my protector and in many ways, my soulmate, not in a romantic way, but in the most sacred friendship bond two humans could experience. We were kindred spirits - we were one in each other. It felt like my other half was being ripped from me.

Now, my heart belongs to Noah, and I'm no longer a Lone Ranger. "I've never felt this way before, Aimee. I've never felt the need to be with someone so badly that even the thought of leaving them hurts like hell. I think..." he starts, "I love you." The words shoot shivers down my spine and bring a smile to my face. When I look at him, he looks taken aback by his words. "Uh... Er... I... you don't have to say it back if you-" I cut him off with a kiss, and he smiles through it.

"I love you too." I whisper, and he kisses me and pushes me backwards so I lie on the sand, and his fingers tangle their way into my hair and mine find his neck. I take him by surprise and turn him into his back, so I am on the top, and kiss him again, and then I rush off and run into the sea.

"Aimee! Come back here!" He yells behind me and I laugh.

"No freakin' way! The water is too nice for this!" I splash around and Noah comes charging and tackles me into the water. Salt comes flooding through my nose, but it doesn't matter because Noah touches my lips again and we kiss under the moonlight and the shine of a thousand stars in the salty water all around us. It's better than all of the movies. We eventually decide to sit in the shallows, as it's pretty dangerous to be out too deep with sharks and stuff.

Noah intertwines our hands and I lean on him as we sit in the shallow water. "I can't believe they are making you leave. Why couldn't they let another agent stay?"

"Because, Aimee, it's pretty much a rule that agents shouldn't date each other, and if they do, the shouldn't be working with each other, let alone working at the same agency base... or on the same mission... Having a romantic parter, they say, clouds your judgement and gives you a very big and important weakness which any foe can use to their advantage. They are sending me away so that we will be forced to break up."

I blink. I've always known the unsaid rule. It's like protocol. The forbidden grey line that no one should cross, and if they do, they don't really stand a chance. The NSA forces you to break apart. It's nasty, but it's for the safety of both of you. But what they don't take into account is that Noah and I make a team so strong, even though we argue... a lot, that it would be hard for anyone to even think about using us against each other. We both know exactly what needs to be done...

It's moments like these that I wish I was normal. I wish I had a normal nine-to-five job, where I could work as a business woman or an attorney or an engineer and be normal and come home to my man and we could just be normal. But I'm a spy, and I have to protect my nation and my country and find the politicians and I have to put that before my personal life because that's what I've always done, and that's how is should work. But sometimes, I want to be selfish and I want to be with the man I am sitting next to.