Page 103 of Tango

“Problem is I’ve fallen in love with her.”

“Congratulations,” Jay said, with a grin.

“Now I have to break up with her.”

“Wait. Why?”

Ethan stepped away from the table to grab a cup of coffee, signaling Tango to stay put.

“Because I told her I was in Delta Force. Now, she wants to meet my friends and family. But I made up who I am.”

“Come clean,” Jay leaned in. “If she spent any kind of time with you, she knows you’re not really special ops.” Jay pointed over to Ethan. “That’s special ops. You’re not diving off a damned bridge to save someone in the river. You should come clean.”

Owen shot Ethan a look, then turned back to Jay. “No.”

“If she loves you—”

“She loves who I told her I was.” Owen looked back at Ethan.

Ethan thought, like it or not, the girl deserved the truth of things. “Give her a chance. Tell her why. Tell her how you feel. Tell her how you’ll make it up to her.”

“What if some woman told you she was a pediatric brain surgeon, and she did heroic things to save lives.” Owen bladed his hand toward Ethan. “Then one day she comes to you, a year in, and says, ‘Just kidding, I’m a home health nurse.’?”

Ethan leaned his hips onto the desk and crossed one foot over the other. “That’s an important job.”

“Okay. Agreed. But you know her as a surgeon.”

“Hard to pull off being a surgeon and having a surgeon’s salary,” Jay said, “while living the lifestyle of a home health nurse. It seems to me that if you didn’t pick up on the clues, you’re a dumb ass.”

“Love is blind,” Owen countered. “And Delta Force are paid bad. I told her I got out of the military, and now I apply my skills in faraway places.”

“You didn’t tell her you worked here? You lied about traveling for your job?” Jay whistled in surprise. “Are you seeing more than one woman?”

Owen shrugged. “No, but I was leaving myself the option and some wiggle room. She’d want to have met my mom a long time ago if I weren’t on the road so much.”

“You’re a liar,” Ethan said. “And you’re a coward. Look at it this way: You tell her, she breaks up with you. Or you don’t tell her, and you break up with her. You’re still broken up. In the first case, you have a chance to redeem yourself.”

“And spend the rest of my life with that getting flung back in my face?”

“You’re an idiot,” Jay said.

Owen dropped his head. “I really love her.”

“No, you don’t,” Ethan challenged him, “or you’d be willing to face up to your shit and come clean. If you aren’t willing to even try, then you aren’t worth her or anyone else. I’m with Jay. You’re a piece of shit.”

“I said ‘idiot,’ but whatever. You suck, Owen. Hey, why don’t you give Ethan her number?” Jay asked. “She might need a real special forces hero to lend her a broad shoulder to sob against.”

“And you wonder why the dating scene is what it is now,” Ethan said.

“What?” Owen asked.

“Nothing.” Ethan pointed a finger at him. “Stop lying.”

“Here we go, gentlemen.” Tom rounded into the room with Jack and Gator following. He nodded toward Ethan. “You all know each other. That there’s Owen. He’ll be on the third floor. That’s as high as the elevators go, so he can stop people from wandering around. We want them on the second floor as much as possible without causing a scene.” He turned and indicated Jay. “Jay will be checking invitations in the reception hall. He’ll be giving directions and watching the front door.” Tom turned to Ethan. “Change of plans for you, Ethan. Mrs. Harcourt-Swain is a little anxious about tonight’s security. But she doesn’t want to alarm her guests or make them feel uncomfortable. The Harcourts are very anti-gun, and Mrs. Harcourt-Swain doesn’t want anyone to have heard of this week’s ‘unpleasantries,’” he made quote fingers, “and feel like they need to come tonight packing.”

Ethan sensed this changed something for Jack and Gator. The shift changed their posture.

“We’ve decided to put you down on the sidewalk.” Tom looked under the table at Tango. “She can identify weapons by smell, right?”