Code Blue

Lexi vs. The Happy Ending

                  

2 years later

"Here you are, dear. Those book recommendations you asked me for." Jemima, the plump old lady who ran the local library, dropped a stack of books on the large oak table in front of me, startling me and forcing me to divert my attention from peering over the top of the guide on how to build your own birdhouse.

"Thank you so much, Jemima," I smiled widely, wondering if she knew that I had absolutely no interest in carpentry. "I can't believe how quickly I've run out of reading material."

That was an absolute lie. I'd read about half of one of the books she'd given me. The truth was that I needed an excuse to come to the library every day for the past week, so I was pretending I was some sort of speed reader and asking the librarian for more recommendations on each trip. While she searched the stacks for her favorite books, I'd sit at table in the corner with my face blocked by the closest book I could find and gaze over the top of it at the man who held daily afternoon tutoring sessions at a table on the other side of the medium sized room.

"Yes, you have been tearing through the library's romance section," she noted, her brow furrowing, as though she was a bit concerned. "You know, maybe instead of reading about romance, it's time you went out and found some of your own."

I had to refrain from snorting. "Oh, I won't be in town for much longer. I'm just taking a little vacation."

Another lie. Sort of. Technically, the agency had given me two weeks of leave after the successful completion of my last mission, but I wasn't spending my time off lying on a beach and drinking too many mojitos. Instead, I was staking out a new target of sorts. The agency just had no idea.

"And you're spending all of it in the library?" Jemima shook her head with a heavy sigh. "You should be out doing something exciting."

"I'm actually enjoying the slow pace," I shrugged. "It's relaxing."

That was actually true. I'd never heard of this town on the west coast of the country until Evan had given me its name a month ago. I'd come here as though I was on a mission: completely focused on my goal, but the small seaside destination turned out to be quite peaceful. I liked the salty smell of the air and the fact that I could almost always hear the ocean.

"I'm sure a night out wouldn't kill you," she insisted. Pausing, she glanced briefly to the other side of the library before a slow smile stretched her lips. "Maybe you should ask out the cute professor."

"What?" I blinked, my eyes going wide with horror. Surely I hadn't been so unsubtle that she'd figured out my ulterior motives. Because I knew for a fact that he hadn't figured them out. He hadn't seen me at all, or he would have said something by now. I'd been so careful about making sure I arrived while he was already occupied and left before he finished up.

Everything about my visit here had been carefully planned, because this was a top secret mission, just not one that was sanctioned by the government. Finding him had taken longer than I thought it would because the agency was extremely controlled in terms who got access to the files on people placed in the protection and relocation programs. Which made sense, and I understood why those files were so hard to get a hold of, and I didn't want to break the law, so I ended up having to grease a lot of wheels. This basically just meant a lot of sweet talking the director until, after months and months, she finally gave me his new name.

It was Evan who actually found Max; working as teaching assistant to a math professor at the local university while he completed his doctorate degree. I almost didn't recognize him when I got here a week ago and sat at this very table and watched as he gave one on one tutoring to a student in his class. He had dyed his hair blonde and somehow managed to do the same with the solid beard that he kept neatly trimmed and for a good five minutes after I'd arrived at the library for the first time, I thought I'd been given misinformation. It wasn't until he smiled that I was certain it was him; flashing that grin that was an enthralling mixture of adorable and stunningly sexy.