He started to laugh, "Smart girl. CIA. I was never CI. Counter Intelligence always felt like lying and being up front about the fact you were lying. I preferred to lie on the sly." He passed me a large glass of red wine, "Some cute kids you got there."

I nodded, "Yeah. They're literally all I have in the whole world."

His eyes twinkled, "You mean, besides John."

I frowned and then nodded, "Right, Coop. I always forget Coop isn’t his real name." I sipped the wine and nodded, "Yes, I suppose he is something I have too."

I didn’t have to tell him that Coop and I were not together. I could see it on his face. He assumed I was being protected. He knew the truth. I nodded at the stairs, "Does she know everything?"

He shook his head, eyes gleaming away and mouth in the same crooked smile Coop always got, "She does not. She knows I worked for the company, that’s it." He winked, "Need to know has always been her way."

I felt my throat get thick, "This might be one of those need to know things."

He laughed, "I'll let ya know when I think we're at need to know."

I frowned and drank a sip of wine, "How will you know when it's need to know?"

He chuckled, "Well now, miss, that’s need to know."

I lifted my hand in the air, "Fair enough."

He sighed after a minute of awkward silence, "I knew your dad well."

"Really?"

He drank a gulp of his bourbon, "Very smart man."

A disgruntled sigh slipped from my lips, "Sometimes being too smart is a bad thing."

"Well, I'll drink to that."

Coop came down into the living room and grabbed himself a beer. He cracked it and sat next to me. "You two already trading secrets?"

His father winked at me, "Telling bad stories about you."

Coop lifted his beer, "At least you'll never have an awkward silence." He smiled at me, "The kids seem to really dig the cool rooms they got. Mitch has wifi so we will probably never see him again and Jules discovered the Barbie bin my sister's kids play with."

I was about to remark when the front door burst open. Kids and adults came barreling in. Coop's eyes narrowed. He turned and gave his dad a look. John Senior shrugged, "You know what she's like."

Coop sighed, "You might have warned us."

His dad laughed, "First girl ya ever brought home, what did you think was gonna happen?"

A tall blonde with a beautiful face attacked first, "JOHN!" She ran at him. I watched as they swarmed. It made me miss Sissy. I wondered how she was making out with all the craziness in our lives. My family might have been small and full of lies, but we did love one another.

Coop was eaten up by the crowd. I sat, frozen and completely afraid. Our family had never been like that. Our version of love was mom kissing you and giving you a slight pat on the cheek. Dad only ever dolled out a rub of the head or a hug, and then he would slide the arm around the shoulders and make you 'walk with him'. Coop's family was scary. The small kids hugged Coop, screaming things like ‘chase us’ and ‘do the sock monster’. He chuckled and tossed children about. At least his skills with kids made sense.

His brother and sisters were obvious. They all looked like their dad.

Their mom came down the stairs after a minute, she was crying and hugging and loving everyone up. She was Nanny to the kids and they attacked her as much as they did Coop. She made a super-excited face like she was sharing a secret with them, "If you go upstairs very quietly, you might find something very interesting up there."

The kids squealed and raced up the huge wooden stairs.

Coop laughed, "Go easy on them, they're city kids."

I stood up and looked at them all, not sure what to do. The blonde gave me a look, "John."

He took a breath, "This is Evie. Evie, this is Maria, my eldest sister. Louise, my second-eldest sister. Rachel, the middle child. Brant, my brother."

I was wide-eyed and terrified, I waved softly, "Hi."

They all spoke at once, dragging me to them, hugging, and talking over each other. I opened my mouth to get at least one answer out, but they were savages.

The girls were pulling at my hair, and the brother was trying to tell me a story about when they were ten and eight. I was lost in it.

Coop started to laugh. He fought them off and grabbed my hand. He pulled me to his side and wrapped an arm around me, "Easy, guys. Jeeze. You act like I never bring girls home."

The brunette, Louise, gave him a sarcastic look, "Yeah, the last one was in middle school."

He shrugged, "It's not like there haven’t been girls, maybe it's you I don’t want anyone meeting."

They attacked again. I backed away as he was assaulted by all four of them. Their dad came and stood next to me, "You sure you know what you're getting yourself into?"

I shook my head, "No. That’s a firm no, sir."

Their mom carried over a tray of snacks which broke up the wrestling. I couldn’t be sure, but I would swear Louise was winning the fight when it ended.

I looked up the stairs but Suzanne interrupted my mommy-worrying, "Evie here is your age, Rachel."

I felt the heat in my face. Rachel winked at me, "Nicely done. A little Demi Moore action there, huh?"

I laughed, but it was something I had never heard come out of my mouth before.

Coop stuffed a piece of pickled herring into his mouth, "Rachel, you're just jealous I found her first."

Rachel laughed, "I switched teams again since you’ve been gone. I'm seeing someone of the male persuasion, thank you very much. His name is Oscar and he is lovely."

Coop gave her a blank stare, "What happened to Katrina? She was hot."

I cocked an eyebrow at him. He flashed me a grin, "She was. What is hotter than a hot lesbian?"

Rachel smiled sweetly, "Two hot guys kissing." She held her knuckles out for me to pound. Thankfully, Luce had taught me that one. I pounded them. Coop rolled his eyes, "You learned that like a week ago." He turned to Rachel, giving her the very same smile back, "Oscar sounds like he might be just your type then. What kind of a name is Oscar? He's gonna hit on me like that guy Lance you dated in college."

Rachel laughed but Brant looked uncomfortable, "He hit on me too."

We all laughed. All of us but Suzanne, who gave me a bogus smile until it looked like her cheeks had frozen up.

I yawned after a while and Coop steered me towards the upstairs, "Night everyone!"

By everyone, he meant everyone. The entire family stayed over in their bedrooms. The lodge was huge and I understood why. I kissed the kids goodnight and went back into the room I was sharing with Coop. He was on the bed in his boxers and t-shirt. I suddenly got how he felt. My feelings for him would compromise my ability to do my job. More so than Servario. I adored Coop in a way that was dangerous. He was suddenly something that could be taken away. He was safe and comfortable. I could imagine him in a coffee house or a bookstore.

I pushed the thoughts away and sat on the bed next to him. I smiled and resumed our conversation from the living room with his sisters, "What do you mean, you never watched The Bodyguard?"

He sighed, "I don’t watch movies with Whitney Houston in them."

I pushed his face away from mine, "Ewww. Those pickled herring fillets still stink and she is dead. Do not speak ill of the dead."

"I'm not. I just don’t like sing song chick flicks."

I pushed his face harder, "Dude, your breath stinks."

He laughed, "You sound like Luce. Evie, I flossed and brushed. What more do you want?"

I shuddered, "Sleep on the floor."

He groaned and pretended to roll over on top of me. I tickled him in the ribs, on the off chance he was ticklish. I never expected what I got. He started flopping about the bed and making a girlie giggle.

It made me giggle back.

"St-st-stop, Evie!" He was getting angry. I dug my fingers in harder. He cried out, "Your fingers, stop. They're skinny. They're taking the meat right off the bones. Please. I'll breathe the other way!"

I stopped and he moved over, still huffing and puffing. He laid on his back, "I hate being tickled."

I nodded, "Me too." I tapped my fingers against the bed, "But for real, you could have said I was a protection detail like The Bodyguard. We didn’t have to be dating."

He cocked an eyebrow at me. I held up a finger and wiggled it at him. He turned his face back up to the ceiling, "You are mean."

I giggled, "You stink."

He sighed, "My dad is a smart man. He would have seen me being your bodyguard, and he would have given me supreme shit."

"Are you beneath being a body guard?"

He shook his head, "Nope."

"Then why would he care?"

He turned his head a little bit, "He would have seen how I feel about you. He would have known how dangerous it was to work for you. It's why I never told him you were anything but my girlfriend."

My insides were frozen. "But you always say we could never do anything but screw around."

He nodded, "My words are always trying to keep you at arms length, but I think you can tell by my actions how I feel."

I nodded. I didn’t say that those hurtful words were always making me hate him. I just left it at that; I could tell how he felt, if I was being honest.

He closed his eyes and I lay there watching him. He was too perfect. Thank God for that mouth of his. Smart mouthed half the time and smelling like herring. It truly was the only thing saving him.

Chapter Eighteen

The End of Walls

Rachel winked at me, "He cheats."

I nodded, "I know. It's all about the win with him."

Coop gave us both a scowl, "Bitches be hating. Hate the game, ladies, not me."

Brant and his wife simultaneously rolled their eyes. I started laughing and nodding. Coop laid down a straight, jack high. He winked at me, beaming."