Heart of an Assassin (Circle of Spies) (21 page)

Alex drove us to a grocery store deli and got a bunch of food. The more I thought about going to the lake, the more excited I got. To have Alex here with me was a dream come true.

And yet, what was I doing? I had been so caught up in the brilliant moment of having Alex come for me, that I forgot that in DC I had decided to let him go and had chosen Rick. Alex wasn’t the best guy for me, after all. I didn’t do good things while I was with him. I looked at him singing along with the blaring music, driving casually, and holding my hand as the wind blew in my hair. I swallowed hard. The reality was that Alex was here. He had chosen me. Rick obviously hadn’t. Did that make it alright to be with Alex now? Why hadn’t Rick called or Alex for that matter? I glanced at Alex, wishing I had the courage to bring it up, but I didn’t want to ruin a minute of the time we had together.

I’d never really thought he’d come for me. Could I have been wrong about him? Maybe this was a sign that I should’ve chosen Alex, that he was the better of the two guys for me. Goosebumps covered my arms as I thought about being with Alex. I wanted to see where things would go. Maybe it would be different, away from DC, and he would bring the best out in me. It was only one week until I was legal—in my parent’s eyes at least—and we could date for real.

My heart pounded hard on my ribs. I had to give Alex another chance, but why did I feel wary, still? I took a deep breath and looked at him again. He must’ve felt my eyes on him, because he turned to me and smiled. Yes! This had to be the right decision. He was perfect, after all.

End of chapter one

If you’d like to read more of PROTECTED by Cindy M. Hogan, you’ll find the purchase links on the sidebar of her blog.
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Thanks for reading.

Laura Pauling writes for all ages where the real and incredible combine in heart stopping adventures. She’d say that living her life of a suburban mom/author complete with minivan carpools, soccer games, and home-baked snicker doodles is really a cover for her exciting life of secret missions and covert operations, but she’d be lying.
 

She loves living in New England with her husband and children. She has yet to find someone who can beat her in Boggle.

She may or may not actually bake cookies.

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I’d love to hear from you!

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