“They’re not watching me.”
“I thought that was their job.”
“They’re watching everyone else.”
And that was a problem. I was part of the “everyone else.”
I shrugged that off and bit into the meat dumpling, moaning as the exquisite flavor hit my tongue. Dimitri’s eyes dropped to my mouth and he licked his lips. I wasn’t sure if that had to do with the sausage he’d just finished or my moan, but the combination was a hot one. It definitely took the edge off the winter chill.
A flash of long hair out of the corner of my eye had me jerking my head in that direction, but it wasn’t the man I was looking out for. I casually perused the crowd like I was taking everything in, searching out the familiar face I needed to somehow give the recordings I’d gotten from my cuff-link cameras.
One good thing about Alessio was that he wasn’t someone Dimitri would know. He preferred his tech cave the vast majority of the time, and he wasn’t a famous face, unlike some of my other Libertine brothers.
He was nowhere to be seen, not yet, though I had no doubt he’d be here eventually. I just hoped I didn’t freeze my ass off before he decided to make an appearance.
Actually, that sounded more like something Alessiowoulddo.
“Everything okay?”
I turned back to see Dimitri studying me with an unreadable expression.
“Of course.” I flashed what I hoped was a convincing grin. “Why do you ask?”
“You stopped talking.”
“I have been known to do that on occasion, you know. Like when my mouth’s full, for example.” I winked at him, but he wasn’t buying it.
“Maybe so, but there’s nothing in your mouth right now. Did something else catch your attention?”
Putain. Think fast, Benoit…
I’d clearly underestimated how closely he was watching me.
“Actually, I saw someone across the way making some blown glass ornaments. Would you mind if we double back and check them out?”
Dimitri looked across at the stalls we’d wandered by earlier. “You didn’t see them before?”
“I must’ve missed them with all the other things distracting me. Delicious food. Sparkling lights. Happy people.” I hooked my arm back through his and looked up at him. “A sexy man keeping me warm.”
Dimitri lowered his head and brushed his lips across mine. “We’ll circle back. Just this once.”
“Well, thank you for accommodating me.”
“You know how I feel about staying in one spot.”
“Oui, but we’re at a Christmas market. What could possibly happen out here?” As we started down the aisle, I glanced overmy shoulder at the men trailing us. “Plus, we have your men watching out for you.”
“And you.”
“Me?”
“Yes. It’s not just me I have them protecting.”
That was going to make this even more difficult. But I’d been in tricky situations before, and no matter what, I always managed to find a way out of them.
Like that time I got trapped in a duke’s walk-in closet and had to shimmy through his air duct to get out. It’d been years since I’d beeninthe closet, and I did not enjoy the return.
We passed by a little wooden toy shop and a puppet maker who was demonstrating his puppeteering skills. I would’ve loved to stop and enjoy the show, but it was in that exact moment I spotted a tall, broad-shouldered man in a wool coat, with a black beanie over long hair. It was time to get moving.
