The End of Games

by Tara Brown

  He cocked an eyebrow, "What?" He laid the playful tone on extra thick. I shook my head, "We need to leave today, how are we getting there?"

  He gave me a sly smile, "The best way ever."

  I rolled out of bed, "Fine, keep your secrets. What time are we leaving, sir?"

  He gave me a cocky grin, "You are going to get it, Evie, and I guarantee you're going to like it."

  I grabbed my sweater and jeans and walked to the bathroom, "We'll see."

  He laughed, "It's better than nope. I'll take we'll see."

  We all stood at the front porch an hour later. His father hugged me, muttering, "Stay safe, Evie."

  I nodded, "Thank you, sir."

  Rachel caught what I'd said. She looked a bit stunned by my calling their father sir. She hugged me next, "Have a safe trip and when you guys are home, make sure you call."

  I gave her a funny look, "Thanks."

  Coop rolled his eyes, "You all know I'll call on the next birthday."

  His mom hugged him again, "When are you coming back?"

  He gave me a look. I shrugged, "When we can."

  Suzanne hated that I answered, I could see it on her face. She hugged me with wooden arms. "Take care of my boy."

  I almost laughed. I managed to keep it under check and nodded, "Of course."

  Coop snorted, "That is her mission in life."

  I gave him a sharp look. His siblings hugged him once more as Suzanne gave my kids hugs. "Take good care of your mom and John."

  Mitch looked confused. I nudged him, "Coop's name is John." Mitch's face started to glow. Coop gave him a grin, "You better still call me Coop though. I don’t want to get confused and think you're talking to my dad."

  Mitch shook his head, "I like John better. I always thought Coop was a weird name."

  We all laughed. Suzanne hugged him again, "Out of the mouths of babes."

  Mitch started to look confused again. Coop ruffled his hair, "Okay, we have to go." He gave his dad a look, "Thanks for letting us stay."

  His dad winked, "Have a safe trip."

  We walked out to the SUV we had rented and drove into Anchorage. He parked the SUV and looked back at the kids, "Who is ready for three days of fun?"

  I scowled, "What?"

  He winked at me, "We are going to Vancouver, in Canada, by cruise ship. So we'll have to stay on a huge boat with heated pools, saunas, arcades, kids club, and all the restaurants you could imagine. It's going to be very hard to decide if this is the thing we want. I mean, I know it's a sacrifice to miss three more days of school, after already missing a few. So you'll have to decide if you want to do this or the drive to Vancouver? Either way, it’s three days."

  Mitch gave me a look. Jules was screaming and shouting and asking a million questions. I watched her attack Coop and nodded at Mitch, "Sound like fun?"

  He beamed and nodded.

  I didn’t know how he had done it, but I followed him to the massive cruise ship and boarded with him. He had our Canadian passports and boarding tickets. Apparently, we had been on the cruise the entire time and had only left the ship to explore Anchorage.

  I watched him point out things for the kids to see and laugh and joke, and felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.

  He had let all his guards down. He was letting us in.

  That scared me.

  When we got on board, I was stunned at how much he had pulled off without me knowing. Not that it was a surprise. He was always doing it.

  Our room was a suite. So the kids had their own room but no door out into the hallway. That made me feel better. What had me feeling a little strange were the bags we had in our room. Packed suitcases with swimsuits, dresses, raincoats, and yoga pants. He held up a pair as he opened the bags, "I didn’t forget your favorite."

  I looked at the Lululemon pants and smiled, "How?"

  He scoffed, "Jack, of course. The guy is a genius. This was all handled days ago."

  I shook my head, "How did you get the clothes on board?"

  He shrugged, "I work for this agency who has connections and they do things for their people so that our missions are easier. It's a good gig, unless your mission is in the desert somewhere and you're stuck sweating your ass off and eating dust."

  I folded my arms, "You're annoying sometimes."

  He walked over to me, wrapping his arms around me and tilting my chin upwards, "Are you over him?"

  "James?"

  He shook his head. I felt the sinking feeling in my stomach again. He stepped back, "Let me know when you are."

  I couldn’t fight the look on my face. It was obvious I wanted to say I was over him, but I wasn’t. I couldn’t lie to Coop. Servario had broken my heart, even if it was just a little and my own fault.

  He changed the subject quickly, "You know what Vancouver has?" I shook my head. He cocked an eyebrow, "Lululemon outlet stores."

  "Really?"

  He nodded, "Yeah. Rachel wears that crap too. She told me when we were at the house, she gets her pants there at the outlet, it's way cheaper."

  "Where do they all live?"

  He sat on the bed, "Brant and Sarah and the kids live in Anchorage, near Mom and Dad. Rachel lives in Washington, She works in Seattle but has a house in a suburb just outside of it. Louise lives in California where Maria and Stan also live. Stan is her husband, he never visits."

  I pulled my bathing suit out of the bag, "Do they know about your dad?"

  His eyes twinkled, "My siblings know Dad worked for the government in something he never talked about. They know when he retired, we all got new names and new ID's. They know what they need to know. I was a kid when we went underground. Maria was getting ready to leave home; she's ten years older than me. She was eighteen and so angry. But we had to start over. Mom and Dad moved to Anchorage and he hasn’t left since."

  "You started over completely?"

  He nodded, "Just like your kids. They get new names and new lives and new everything."

  "It’s hard for kids to leave everything behind. I feel bad for them."

  He laughed as if it were to something in his head he wasn’t sharing with me, "They'll bounce back. Kids are resilient."

  "That they are. So you and Rachel are the only ones who work for the government now?"

  He scowled, "Rachel isn’t one of us."

  I nodded, "Dude, she so is. She is one of us. I guarantee she is."

  "No, she isn’t. She's a photographer and a chaotic mess. Trust me, she is not an agent." He gave me a look of absurdity. Had I been imagining it?

  "Okay. I seriously thought she was one of us." I brought my bathing suit into the bathroom and pulled it on. The images of Rachel and the other siblings filtered through my mind. I looked at my own face and whispered, "She so is." I just needed to know why she hadn’t told him.

  I left the bathroom to find my two kids already in their suits and ready to hit the hot tub.

  When we left the room, Coop took my hand in his. We walked like a family, and I couldn’t help but wish that it was my kids’ real family. I wished I had been smart enough to date a guy like Coop when I was young, and not a dickwad like James.

  The kids ran to the indoor pool, both diving in. Jules went right for the climbing wall. She scaled it like it was nothing and dove off into the pool. Mitch swam over to the indoor waterslide and went down it.

  "Shouldn’t Jules have a lifejacket?"

  I looked at Coop with an absurd look on my face, "Someone needs to do his research better—she's on the swim team. She swims with the kids Mitch's age."

  He sighed, "You are going to have issues with that one."

  I scowled, "Why? She's smart, athletic, and sweet. She isn’t going to be boy crazy or anything."

  He climbed into the massive hot tub, never taking his eyes off the kids, "She is going to make the Olympics, and you'll have to invent some kind of amazing cover for that."

  I laughed, "I never thought about that. That’s probably true." The water was hot and amazing.
I sighed when I laid back in it, "This is nice."

  He swam over to where I was, pulling me into his lap. "Was my mom really mean to you? Brant said she is a complete bitch to Sarah."

  I nodded, "She hates me."

  He winced, "I'm sorry."

  I shrugged, "It's not like we're really dating, and she's really going to be my mother-in-law."

  He cocked an eyebrow, "Lucky thing."

  I pushed on his chest, suddenly noticing the way I was straddling him and his hands were making their way to my ass. He held me tight to him, "We could just try to date and see what happens."

  I laughed, "This from the guy who spouts I'll never love anyone ‘cause I have to save them and Jack is a moron?"

  His face flushed a little. He looked back at the kids, "Yeah, well… I think it's safe to say, I have eaten all of those words."

  I felt my lips curl up into a smile, "I did notice over the last few days at your parents’ house, you might have eaten those words."

  He shook his head, "You cheated. Firstly, you have Jules. Sweet and doe eyed and totally cute. She always says that thing that makes your heart twinge. Secondly, you have Mitch. He is funny and shy and sort of sad, and reminds me of me and Brant when we were little and our lives were taking a turn for the worse." He adjusted me in his lap, cupping my ass completely, "Thirdly, there is you. Absolutely beautiful and bumbling and needing me to save you, except in that rare moment when you become G.I. Jane for twenty seconds and start killing everything in the room. Then you're badass sexy. I know you're an amazing mom, and yet, you’re a humble human being, and for a hot chick, that is refreshing. You've been dealt a terrible hand and you aren’t giving up. You're fighting."

  I felt like I was melting. I shook my head, "I have wanted to give up."

  He laughed, "Evie, everyone wants to give up. It's human nature, but the fact you don’t give up is what counts."

  I grabbed his face with either hand and pressed my lips to his. It was rash and insane, and I was asking for things I knew he would give me. I wrapped my legs around his thick waist and held onto him for dear life.

  He kissed me the way he had in the casino, like he was made to do it. But this time I wasn’t scared of him or Servario or James or for my kids; I swooned like I had wanted to the first time. His hands dug into my ass, grinding me against him, pulling me into his embrace. He was wrapped completely around me, holding me tightly. His mouth caressed mine, sucking my lower lip and rubbing his tongue against mine. My hands ran up his neck to his hair. I let him lead the way in the kiss, but I ran my fingers through his hair, tugging it slightly. He smiled against my face, "You are in so much trouble."

  I nodded, barely able to breathe, "I know." My words sounded like a moan and my lips refused to stop caressing his. We were breathing each other in. Voices coming close to us were the only thing that saved us. He pulled back, giving me a passionate stare. I could almost see everything he was going to do to me in his eyes, like a movie playing on a screen.

  I swallowed hard and backed up from him. I sat on the other side of the hot tub as a group of elderly came and climbed in with us. His eyes never left mine until Jules shouted for us to watch her jump off of the high board. We clapped and watched, but really we were both still living out the memory and the anticipation of what was to come.

  Chapter Twenty

  If this boat’s rocking, don’t come a knocking

  I tucked the kids into bed and kissed them both. "I'm right next door if you need me."

  They were exhausted from the hours of swimming, running, and climbing. The cruise had turned out to be a veritable floating workout room. I closed their door and slipped into our bed. He wasn’t there yet. I was a bit scared he just wasn’t coming back.

  What had happened in the hot tub was crazy. We both knew it, and yet, neither of us wanted to stop.

  I laid there for a while, getting less excited and more worried. My worry turned to anger when I realized he wasn’t coming back. He was sitting somewhere drinking and fighting the urge to come to the room.

  I knew it.

  I knew it was too good to be true. He never was going to be a relationship guy. It was all about winning for him. I closed my eyes and let the subtle movement of the boat relax me.

  He stumbled into the room, flooding it with light and waking me up hours later. I sighed and rolled over. He reeked of liquor and cigars.

  "Evie, we need to talk."

  I lifted my middle finger up into the air. He chuckled, "I know you're pissed, but we need to talk, for real. Jack just contacted me."

  I turned over, "How?"

  He pulled a cell phone from his pocket, "We have to go and finish what we started."

  I scowled, "What?"

  He nodded, "The human-trafficking brothels. We have to go and shut them down. Commander contacted Jack, he wants it cleaned up. Us killing off the ones we did, started something. He doesn’t know where to start, and he isn’t sending us aid. He wants it on the down low as a favor to the Brits. Evie, they know it was us, somehow."

  He slumped onto the bed. I shook my head, "We are on the open ocean on a cruise ship. How are we supposed to help CI right now?"

  He laid down, "Whew, the room is spinning good." He looked over at me, "We should talk about earlier too."

  I turned and grabbed his face. I ignored the taste of whiskey and cigars. I rolled on top of him, in my bra and panties, kissing as fast and hard as I could. I rubbed my body up and down his, sliding myself like I was riding him. He was instantly hard and more aggressive than he had been in the hot tub. He rolled us both, pulling down my bra and kissing my neck. He licked and kissed until he got to my nipple. He flicked and then sucked and swirled his tongue over half of my breast. I reached my hands down, undoing his pants and releasing him. I stroked his cock, making him moan into my nipple. I slid my hand up and down his massive shaft, rubbing the head every time I got to the top. He moaned louder. I rolled him over and sat on his erection. I wanted to put him inside of me so badly. I was dying for it, but I didn’t. He was massaging my breasts, making me want it more, so I slammed his hands down on the bed. He nodded, "Okay, we can let you be in charge this time."

  I bit my lip and rotated my hips, literally rubbing my clit on the head of his cock. I took a deep breath, "I really want you, Coop."

  He nodded, "Me too. I mean, I want you."

  I bent forward, brushing my lips against his, "But…"

  He shook his head, "No buts, Evie. No buts. Just put it in. I know you're wet. I can feel it."

  I smiled wide, "I can feel it too. But… no. You were right from the start, this was a mistake. It always was a mistake."

  He shook his head, forcing my hands off of his wrists, "Evie, come on." He wrapped himself around me and rolled up back to him being on top. He slid a finger into the side of my panties, "You want me as much as I want you." He ran his finger up and down my pussy. I licked my lips, "No. I'm saying no."

  I felt the strength in his arm tighten, like he was about to stick his finger in anyway. I smiled wide, "No."

  He moaned into my neck, "Why did you start this? I was all cooled off."

  I nodded, "I know, but I wasn’t. Now we both feel like hell."

  He chuckled a drunk and loose laugh, "Evie, I cooled off when Jack messaged me. We need to get our heads back in the game. That doesn’t change how I feel about you."

  I lifted his face, "Back in the game isn’t drunk, idiot. How do you feel about me, Coop?"

  He looked like he might lie but he didn’t, "Conflicted."

  I nodded, "Until you don’t feel conflicted anymore, let’s not do this."

  "You know you feel the same way I do."

  I nodded, "Yeah, but it's like you said before. I fall in love too easily. I fall for every guy I do it with."

  His stare turned to ice, "You don’t want to fall for me?"

  I looked him in the eyes and brushed my lips against his softly, "Not like that."

  He smiled, "Wh
y do I have to be the guy you respect and shit?"

  I shrugged, "I don't know. You just do." I knew the answer was because a guy like him was the most dangerous kind of guy. He was the kind I could spend my whole life with. He was a coffee-shop guy.

  The next day, he took Mitch to mini golf and I took Jules to the princess shop. They did her hair, nails, and toes and made her into something that broke my heart. I wished my mom could see. I was sitting in the chair waiting when Coop and Mitch showed up. He took one look at her and turned and walked back out of the princess shop. I looked at Mitch, "What's his deal?"

  He shrugged, "I beat him, he's a sore loser."

  I laughed. Coop came back a couple minutes later with a disposable camera. He started taking pictures of Jules in her varying stages of princess. He tossed me a different camera, "This one is of us golfing."

  Mitch smiled, "And eating the largest slices of pizza I have ever seen."

  Coop pointed at him, "Best pizza ever." He continued to get Jules to smile. I actually felt bad I hadn’t even noticed there were disposable cameras on board. I hadn’t thought of savoring the memories, because I wasn’t sure if I should or not.

  How sad was that?

  I wanted to not think he was the sweetest person on the planet, but that was impossible. The cell phone he had rang. He answered and passed the phone to me.

  I scowled, "Hello?"

  It was Luce, "Hey!"

  I smiled, "Hey, how's the house and the town?"

  "Good. You don’t get to see it for a while longer I guess, huh? I am assuming you heard about that."

  "Yeah. Is my mom okay?"

  Luce laughed, "She's fine. She and Fitz have started canning. They're like the weirdest spies ever."

  I laughed, "I can see that. So what's the plan?"

  "I'm going to stay here with Fitz and the kids. Your mom is going with you guys, my lungs just can't take it yet."

  I lowered my voice, "Why are we being chosen to do this if we're in deep?"

  She lowered hers too, "We can't be traced back to CI or the US right now. The Brits are putting on a good show about the deaths. They're acting like it was some kind of terrorism but they know it was CI. As payment, they want the rest of the next job cleaned up and they can’t risk how deep this goes into their administration. They have moles. We all have moles. On the bright side, even though his boat is, Servario isn’t being linked to it. I have no idea what's going on. I just know the commander and Jack were in contact. He has asked that we do this as a favor to the Brits."