Mission Gone Wrong

Chapter 7

I wake up to a warm breath in my ear. That and an arm draped around my shoulder. I groan, and want to slip back into my state of dreamless sleep, my state where I wasn't aware of what was going on or how good it felt.

No, LB, you can't think these things. First of all, he's your kidnapper. Second of all, he's on the wrong side of the law. Third of all, he has the gentleman act. There is no such thing as 'nice guys', only guys pretending to be nice so they can get something from you.

But Brady was a nice guy and he wasn't like that. Miguel is handsome. Really handsome. And, he's my type; accent, dark headed, intelligent, and he knows how to insult people if it's needed, and I'm pretty sure he knows sarcasm. He also hates Dirk, so he can't be that bad.

Gah, stop it. I must be getting close to my time, I always turn into a hopeless romantic when I'm getting close. Dreaming about my crush at that time kissing me, liking me back, so on and so forth. Usually, it's Brady who's still alive, though now that I have someone who's like Brady and still alive, of course I'm going to like him. Which is going to make everything a whole lot harder, but I can manage.

"Oh, gosh. I'm so sorry. I guess I'm a bit of a cuddler, I didn't mean to," Rings out, disturbing the peaceful silence.

"I gathered," I answer dryly. "Don't worry, I know you didn't mean to, you haven't broken your word yet. Besides, I get the cuddling; my boyfriend hated it because I had this ice cold personna, but with him I was practically a cuddle monster, and no one would believe them because there's no way the Ice Queen likes to cuddle," I answer, laughing slightly at the memory of Brady trying to use it as blackmail information. I dared him to do it, and he became the joke of the office.

Miguel looks slightly crestfallen, but quickly gets a fake smile on his face. "So, that's another myth of the Ice Queen? She is, in fact, fine with physical contact?" He asks, and I suddenly want to cry.

"You should stop putting on the mask, Love. Why do you hate physical contact so much?"

"Because, Brady, just because I didn't know about my inheritance didn't mean that other people didn't. I brushed it off as my father being the Admiral and such good friends with the king.

"Look, the reason I make people give something to Amelia first, but I'll take it first if it's for you isn't because I'm a jerk. When I was about ten, someone sent me a gift, without a nametag on it. I thought my dad had finally remembered that I existed, so I hastily opened it. It exploded, literally. I had bad burns all over my arms, and I couldn't go to the hospital. My babysitter didn't come until two days later, she was a day late, and treated it at home. I was lucky.

"My aversion to touch, well I'm sure you know why. I'm a trained spy; it could be so easy to hurt someone. And, my first reaction to touch is to lash out, because usually touch is someone hurting me. Do you know how many times I've nearly kicked you or punched you because you unexpectedly touched me, and I had to remind myself that it was you and you wouldn't hurt me?"

"I guess I never thought of that. You're really good at disguising your trauma. Too good, and you shouldn't have to, but I understand. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. I'll take it to the grave.

I must space out, because Miguel is asking me if I'm okay. "What um, yeah. I'm good. Just spaced out for a minute I guess. And, uh, no. I hate being touched. I actually only allow certain people to touch me, so I usually curl up around a pillow or something at night while I sleep," I answer, with a very, very distant smile. Thinking of when I didn't have to curl up with a pillow.

"You're a cuddler, but you don't like touch? Makes a lot of sense," He says sarcastically, and I laugh.

"I know, I'm a complete and utter paradox. Constantly contradicting myself, making sure you know nothing about me," I joke, and he shakes his head.