Inês

“You don’t know everything.’ He was pronouncing everything very distinctly but his eyes refused to focus on me. ‘You think you do.’ ‘Everything about what?’ I was mystified. ‘The case?’ ‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘No. Not saying. No comment.’ He had been so determined not to let anything slip when he was out with the team that he had retained the need for secrecy without being able to recognise whether it was needed. ‘Josh, you can say anything to me. You don’t have to be careful.’ ‘Could be given in evidence against me.’ He waved a finger at me, blinking. ‘So no.’ ‘OK,’ I said, frustrated. I could wait until the following day for a proper debrief, assuming he could remember anything by then. He slid away from the kitchen counter and crossed the room to where I was standing, not quite managing to do it in a straight line. He put his arms on my shoulders and leaned his forehead against mine. ‘The thing is, I can’t.’ ‘Can’t what?’ ‘You know.’ He sighed and I leaned away.”
― Jane Casey, The Close

“The distance between us narrowed until I could feel his breath on my mouth. The next second, the room exploded with noise and I came back to earth so fast it winded me.”
― Jane Casey, The Close

“Before you say anything, there was someone right behind us. I had to shut you up in case you gave us away.’ ‘Is that it? That’s the reason you crossed that particular line?”
― Jane Casey, The Close

“Look, I’m not having this conversation. Not here in the middle of the road.’ ‘Is that it? That’s your response?’ ‘Shut up,’ he said through gritted teeth. I was angry enough and unwise enough to snap back. ‘Make me.’ Something flickered in his eyes and I knew what he was going to do before he did it: a stride as smooth as a dance step, his fingers caught in my hair, his mouth on mine. Inevitable. I asked for that, I thought, stuck to the spot like a moth with a pin through it.”
― Jane Casey, The Close